Dystinct Magazine

There is so much wisdom in this piece of advice from Lisa Grissom, mum of Nick Grissom, who is featured in this issue (page 79). While we scramble to find our struggling children academic help and ferry them to and fro from their various therapy sessions, we should be mindful of what enriches their little hearts. Children need to feel like they excel at something and pursue it to their heart’s content. After all, the struggle with the school system only lasts until they graduate from school. These passions of theirs will most likely turn into a career path for them where they will excel. I hope you enjoy reading this issue and all the specialist content covered. Please get in touch with me if you have any feedback, ideas,…

Eleven-year-old Zavier Cruz has the most exciting classroom-a shed. His mother, Maelisa Cruz, has found the perfect way to combine her son’s love for building things and entrepreneurial spirit to keep him engaged in learning. Zavier has a diagnosis of dyslexia, orthographic processing disorder, and anxiety disorder and his experience at public school has been far from ideal. Zavier lives in Lakeland, Florida, USA, with his family, their two dogs, five ducks and a flock of chickens that Zavier helps raise. All three of the Cruz family boys are dyslexic. Since Zavier’s older brother Zander was already diagnosed with dyslexia, Maelisa knew what signs to look for when Zavier was a pre-schooler. She homeschooled Zavier in PreK and kindergarten and closely watched his development. Maelisa shares that she was aware…

Reading difficulties are the most common cause of academic failure. Recent research indicates gaps in teachers’ foundational knowledge of the structure of the English language. To teach reading effectively, many of the concepts that preservice and in-service teachers need to know must be acquired through study and coursework or professional development. Learning to read requires mastery of an array of language skills that must be taught explicitly and systematically, from simple concepts to more complex concepts. The revised Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers of Reading (2018) developed by the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) are designed to guide the preparation of all teachers of reading. They outline knowledge and skills that all reading teachers are expected to know to effectively teach students to read and write using a Structured Literacy…

Whether you are an educator or someone who is raising a child with dyslexia, the chances are good that somewhere along the way, you’ve made a mistake or two. If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably grappled with a fair amount of guilt because of those mistakes. Staying up all night regretting mistakes isn’t going to do anyone any good, though. And perhaps more importantly, there are some unexpected upsides to those mistakes if we dare to face them head-on. Everyone knows mistakes happen on any learning journey. It is through mistakes that we achieve proficiency, if not excellence. However, the benefit to mistake-making I am most interested in is not learning how to do a thing better, but the new angle on ourselves and our beliefs that only shakes…

Beth broke down in tears at John’s IEP meeting. He was expelled from another school due to violent behaviors. He refused to complete homework and wouldn’t get on the bus! John’s IEP spoke of autism, but Beth was skeptical. As Beth spoke, Kathy listened. Kathy had just completed my course and pinpointed hand pain, spelling problems, and difficulty writing sentences about why John struggled. That day, John’s IEP, and his life, changed forever. Research states that 33% of the population are struggling like John. Unfortunately, the longer writing is a challenge, the longer it will take to remediate it. That statistic means one in three people across the lifespan. Dysgraphia is a developmental delay with written expression. This pandemic has gone on long enough! It is time teachers had the…

When you think of “numbers”, – what comes to mind? For most adults, what we picture as numbers is really what we call numerals, such as “7" or “28”. These numerals are symbols that we use to represent quantities or numbers. Numerals themselves are in many ways random and, on their own, can be completely meaningless. It is only when they are connected to visual representations of quantity that they take on meaning. Numerals are a code, and their value comes in connecting the code to the actual meaning. The process of decoding math, then, is the process of seeing the code and activating the corresponding visual representation of quantity in the brain. The process of encoding math is seeing a visual representation of quantity and translating it into the…