Category Archives: Dyslexia

Accessibility and Universal Design for Learning

| December 18, 2018
https://www.wilsonlanguage.com/accessibility-and-universal-design-for-learning/

Do you notice the differences between the three scenarios above? In the first scenario, each child gets exactly the same support. The second scenario demonstrates how each child gets what is needed to access the ball game. The third scenario presents a thought-provoking concept: Why don’t we make things accessible for all from the beginning? Herein lies the bedrock of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). According to the UDL guidelines from CAST, UDL diminishes barriers and amplifies learning for all students. Teachers that apply  UDL principles to their teaching provide multiple means of [...]

Texas District Enters Second Decade of Defying Dyslexia

| November 21, 2017
https://www.wilsonlanguage.com/texas-district-enters-second-decade-of-defying-dyslexia/

Eleven years ago, when the Ysleta Independent School District (YISD) in El Paso, TX, implemented the Wilson Reading System® (WRS) as its Tier 3 intervention program for students with dyslexia, it also created a new department in anticipation of the classroom and professional learning that would follow. Aptly named the Dyslexia Department, this team identifies, instructs, and serves more than 700 students each year, providing a high-quality education that includes effective, research-based instruction and best practices that meet the students’ academic and social needs. Wilson is proud to b [...]

Inspiring Peers & Educators

| November 1, 2017
https://www.wilsonlanguage.com/inspiring-peers-educators/

On his first day of fourth grade three years ago, Britton R. came home begging his mother for a tutor because he knew he wasn’t reading like everyone else. Despite trying many different programs and tutors in the past, he still struggled to make sense of the letters on a page. This changed, however, when he met Mollie Bolton, a Wilson® Credentialed Trainer, in November 2014. Through her tutoring and support, Britton learned to read using the Wilson Reading System®. “I really liked Mollie. She was teaching me how to read in a way that I had never learned before, and it started to make se [...]

2017 Parent Night

| October 18, 2017
https://www.wilsonlanguage.com/2017-parent-night/

Obtaining assistive technology (AT) for students with learning disabilities can seem overwhelming for parents or caregivers. Learning about what’s available, how AT can benefit students, who is eligible, and how to collaborate with public schools or districts to acquire services will help demystify and facilitate the process. During our annual Parent Night on October 3, Senior Educational Technologist Nanci Shepardson presented an overview of AT that included a review of students’ rights under federal laws, guidelines to follow when working with a child’s education team to determine app [...]

Dreams Fulfilled

| July 14, 2017
https://www.wilsonlanguage.com/dreams-fulfilled/

Forty summers ago in St. Louis, a handful of educators gathered with 21 struggling readers in donated classroom space and unknowingly launched a legacy.That first seven-week summer session for students with learning disabilities fulfilled a dream of parents who wanted to bring to their own community the type of support and instruction they had previously only found for their children in far-away boarding schools.Following three successful summers and with the support of the greater community and pioneering mentors, the burgeoning summer school expanded to become a full-time day program in the [...]

First Dyslexia Specialist Graduate

| June 5, 2017
https://www.wilsonlanguage.com/first-dyslexia-specialist-graduate/

This spring, Margaret Reilley, a teacher in New Jersey’s Stafford Township School District, earned her master’s degree, top grades, and the distinction of being the first graduate of Fitchburg State University’s new dyslexia specialist concentration.  From her home 260 miles away from the Massachusetts campus, Maggie tackled literacy, language disorders, assessment methods and other related topics to earn her M.Ed. in Special Education: Guided Studies – Dyslexia Specialist. The online program launched in fall 2015 in partnership with Wilson Language Training®, a nationally recogn [...]

Starting a New Chapter

| May 31, 2017
https://www.wilsonlanguage.com/starting-a-new-chapter/

“I suppose I did okay in kindergarten, but the rest of my formal education was pretty much a flop.” So shares Alby Lee Lewis in Life with No Words, a candid memoir about growing up in poverty in Chicago, masking his illiteracy for decades, navigating adulthood as a non-reader, and returning to school at age 55 to learn to read through the Wilson Reading System®. Al has shared his story on the Oprah Winfrey show, with Wilson® instructors, and with college students earning degrees in education. When a college professor suggested he write a book about his experiences, he said, “Why n [...]

Teen Advocate

| May 8, 2017
https://www.wilsonlanguage.com/teen-advocate/

As a student with dyslexia, 13-year-old Ainsley P. once would have balked at the sight of the four-syllable, 11-letter word “legislation.” Now, it’s part of her lexicon.For the past two years, the Virginia Beach eighth-grader has used her voice and experience to raise awareness about dyslexia by advocating for laws that address the educational needs of students with the learning disability.“Most people think dyslexia is just mixing up the letters b and d or m and w. They don’t realize how much it affects kids like me. If you can’t read, it’s very difficult to learn in all subject [...]

Leading the Way

| April 4, 2017
https://www.wilsonlanguage.com/leading-the-way/

While Allison McAvoy can’t predict the future, the veteran educator has a pretty good idea where she intends to be one spring day in 2026: celebrating the high school graduation of a student she met when he was a headstrong first-grader with dyslexia.“Some students come in eagerly and some come in kicking and screaming,” the Chattanooga, TN, educator explained about the intricacies of running a private reading center.“One boy was adamant when he arrived, protesting, ‘I didn’t sign up for this! I don’t want to be here!’ I’ve had him for two years now. He’s now in third grad [...]

From Struggling Reader to Honors Student

| December 16, 2016
https://www.wilsonlanguage.com/from-struggling-reader-to-honors-student/

Like many of her peers, Tegan C. will soon be flipping through college brochures and searching websites to determine where she’ll enroll after graduating from high school. What makes her college search remarkable is that the goal of earning an academic degree once seemed unattainable.The 15-year-old sophomore struggled with reading and writing throughout elementary school and into middle school before being diagnosed with dyslexia. Following intensive training with tutors using the Wilson Reading System® (WRS), she is an honors student at Babylon High School on Long Island, NY, and is looki [...]