Helping Kids With

Reading Disabilities

To the Editor:

My husband and I have lived in Newtown for the past 17 years. I have worked as a paraprofessional in our school system, volunteered as a room mother, school store organizer, and many other things. I have been a Girl Scout leader for the past seven years. I have a degree in advertising art and design and just completed my degree and certification in art education. But my proudest achievement is being the mother of two wonderful children. Helping children to learn to the best of their ability is what I enjoy most. You can imagine how difficult it was for me to watch my son struggle daily in school without knowing how to help. You see, my son is dyslexic. For those who don’t know what that means, simply put, he has trouble with reading and writing.

As the mother of a child who is dyslexic I feel as if I have had to fight an uphill battle to help him keep his self-esteem intact, to motivate him to keep trying, and to help him to succeed in school. I have spent the past four years compiling information, speaking with professionals, reading books and articles, and soaking up any information that I can find about reading disabilities. As I did all of this research I found that I am not alone. So many parents are in the same situation, struggling to keep [up with] their child’s [lessons]; most of these children can learn to read and write as well as you and me. This is why I have decided to start a support group for parents of children with reading disabilities. Having a resource like this would have saved me much time and frustration. I would like to increase public awareness, share my research with others, create a place for parents to easily acquire information that is pertinent, and help to see as many children as possible getting the education that they deserve. Parent advocacy is the only way to make this a reality.

If your child has a reading disability or if they are struggling in school and you suspect that they my have a reading disability, please join me for the first meeting of this support group which will be held at the C.H. Booth library on Thursday, April 2, at 7 pm. It will be an informal meeting where you can gather information, meet other parents that are facing the same challenges, and begin to make a difference in your child’s life.

Suzanne Lang

3 Orchard Lane, Newtown                                             March 24, 2009