Important Information

Download Read On's Year-end Report to Supporters for a summary of the amazing strides Read On and our supporters have made toward changing the tide for struggling readers in Washington State.

Click here to download

How can I help my child?
Learn what you must do to help your child become a proficient reader.

Read On Resource Guide
Recommended reading and other sources of information about dyslexia and effective interventions.

Quotes

The following quotes are from leaders in the field of dyslexia research, teaching and outreach. In some cases, links to complete texts are available in this website’s Articles and News page.

"We now know that dyslexia affects one out of every five children- ten million in America alone. In every neighborhood and in every classroom worldwide there are children struggling to read. For many affected children dyslexia has extinguished the joys of childhood."

Sally Shaywitz, M.D. Codirector of the Yale Center for the Study of Learning and Attention, Overcoming Dyslexia


"So I really need to emphasize that with appropriate instructional intervention early on, much of the dyslexia can be eliminated. We estimated on that study that with the appropriate intervention only about 1% of the children would have dyslexia. What's different about dyslexics is they need explicit instruction, and they need explicit instruction at all levels of language."

Dr. Virginia Berninger, well known dyslexia researcher at the University of Washington, quoted from “Meeting the Challenge: Revealing the Secrets of the Brain,” Northwest Education Magazine nwrel.org/nwedu/08-03/


NW: "What should schools be doing to catch these kids before they fall?" KAPLAN: "In the ideal world, schools test kids for phonemic awareness in kindergartn, and then get a highly phonemic reading program that is tiered. If kids have problems, they get special help, up to and including private tutoring in a method like Orton-Gillingham or Alphabetic Phonics or Slingerland, one-to-one, if necessary. If we did this, we would save huge amounts of money. I look at the money the school district has spent on special education for students I tutor- thousands and thousands of dollars each year- and in many cases, if the school had done the appropriate thing in first grade, they wouldn't even qualify for special ed."

From “Meeting the Challenge: Letting Kids’ Gifts Shine Through” Northwest Education Magazine nwrel.org/nwedu/08-03/


"[Of] All children who display reading problems in the first grade, 74% will be poor readers in the ninth grade-a problem extending into adulthood unless children receive informed and explicit instruction on phonemic awareness. Dyslexic children do not naturally grow out of reading difficulties."

Tom Viall, Executive Director of IDA