My name is Louise Coulter and my story is my family's story.
My husband and our two children have dyslexia and I became a dyslexia tutor to help my family. My husband grew up with the shame of not being able to read as well as his brother and sister. It wasn't until 6th grade that he was finally diagnosed with dyslexia and put into Special Education classes. Unfortunately, that only caused further humiliation and years later, those emotional and psychological scars were still there from his childhood.
I'll never forget the conversation we had one night driving home after having dinner with my parents. I was expecting our first baby (our daughter) who was being very active, and because we were holding hands, I put his hand on my big belly to feel. We laughed and talked about how exciting and amazing it was, but soon our laughter turned into tears.
As he drove, his grip on my hand intensified. I looked over at him and saw tears streaming down his cheek. I asked him if he was ok, and as he continued to squeeze my hand he shared his heart (and fear) with me saying, "I just want to be able to read to our children." It was at that moment that I first wanted to learn how to teach someone with dyslexia how to read.
When our children were in elementary school, we didn't know dyslexia was hereditary, in fact, we didn't know very much about it at all. We kept an eye out for any warning signs and asked the teachers what they thought, but we were told "not to worry because all children reverse some of their letters", or that they would "grow out of it", or that they "just needed another year in Kindergarten or 1st grade" to catch-up with their peers. Sadly, we took this advice and retained our children.
It's frightening how little our well-meaning teachers and doctors know or understand about what dyslexia is and what it is not. As it turns out, our children do have dyslexia, but they are very different from each other.
Our daughter has mild dyslexia:
Strengths:
she has always been a "social-butterfly"
she is an exceptional artist
she is creative and able to "think outside the box"
Weaknesses:
chronic ear infections - needed Eustachian tubes and had tonsils & adenoids removed
she mixed up a few sounds in words; for instance she would say, “I want to peed the pish.”
she's "spelling-impaired" and spells words the way they sound
she's a slow reader
she finds it difficult to get her thoughts onto paper when writing a story or essay
Our son's dyslexia is more severe:
Strengths:
he loves technology and working with his hands
he is very friendly and easy to get along with
he has excellent spatial thinking and seeing the "big picture"
Weaknesses:
chronic ear infections - needed 3 sets of Eustachian tubes and had tonsils & adenoids removed
delayed speech - he didn't say his first word until he was 2 years old
needed speech therapy
he mixed up syllables in long words
reading was painfully slow and choppy - guessing on words based on context and pictures
he reversed and mixed up letters and numbers past 1st grade
he had pretty bad handwriting (dysgraphia)
his speech is slower because he has word-retrieval issues
My husband and I struggled for years to understand why our bright son struggled so much, and we were desperate to find help for him. We sat in IEP meetings year after year not understanding what all the testing and results meant. We would nod our heads and trust that they knew what they were doing. They classified him with a Specific Learning Disability or SLD, but ironically they couldn't explain specifically what was causing his academic struggles.
The public school tried several remediation programs like Title 1, Reading Recovery, Read Naturally - giving him several years of phonics instruction - but they still were not successful at helping our son. We took him to Sylvan Learning Center and although they told us they DO NOT provide any dyslexia services, they assured us they could help him with his reading.
Sadly, a year-and-a-half later he was no better off, he was going into 6th grade with a 2nd grade reading level. So that summer we chose to have our son professionally screened for dyslexia. The screener told us he was very bright and funny, and did in fact have severe dyslexia. This news was a relief - not a shock or negative in any way. For the first time, we were hopeful. We finally knew why he had been struggling for so long and what he needed in order to do better and succeed.
I began to research everything to find a way to help him, and that's when I learned about the Orton-Gillingham Method - the only teaching method scientifically proven to help those with dyslexia learn to read, write, and spell better. Of all the OG programs, I chose to use the Barton Reading and Spelling System with my family, because it is the most intense one-on-one tutoring program that can be used to help any student improve their reading, writing, and spelling no matter what age.
After seeing the success and confidence the program brought my children, I decided to attend Susan Barton’s training course to become a Dyslexia Consultant. I then got certified as a Barton tutor and opened my private practice in order to help others too. Susan Barton is a world renowned dyslexia expert, and I am very fortunate to have been personally trained by her to provide consultations, screenings and tutoring to individuals with dyslexia. What started as a venture to become a better parent has grown into a very rewarding career.
It is my passion to help individuals and families navigate through the world of dyslexia and bring them out of frustration and into understanding. There is no cure for dyslexia because there is no disease, but with the right intervention the brain can change in order to process language easier and faster.
Credentials and Certifications:
The Ohio State University - Bachelor's Degree in Psychology. Graduated Summa Cum Laude
Member of Psi Chi - National Honor Society for Psychology
Member of the Golden Key International Honour Society
University of San Diego - Graduate Studies in Screening Dyslexia
Dyslexia Screening Specialist
Certified Barton Tutor
Member of The International Dyslexia Association - Teacher Level
Learning Ally Specialist - a national non-profit organization dedicated to helping dyslexic students succeed in education