My desire to learn more about reading development began when I was diagnosed with dyslexia in 1973. I was fortunate to have a self-educated teacher who was able to identify some of the characteristics I was displaying due to her own son’s struggle with dyslexia. I am positive these beginning warning signs would have been missed by someone without my teacher’s personal background. The principal of the school explained most of the cutting edge research was being conducted on the east coast and there were schools which specialized in this type of instruction. My parents understood this to mean there weren’t many resources available in our area.

In 1975 we moved to the Central Valley. My parents were encouraged to fight for additional services within the school district. They were told I could easily fall through the cracks of the educational system where the majority of the students receiving services were more severe than l. As a young student I knew instinctively the resource support available was not the specialized instruction I needed. I asked my parents to let me figure it out on my own. The resistance I had to resource services was out of character. For me, thankfully my parents made the decision to watchfully allow me to go it on my own. This was not the best academic scenario, but it was the only option given the resources available. During most of my school experience, it felt like I was “flying by the seat of my pants”. I continued to feel my own academic progress was out of my own control, I didn’t like this feeling but it was the best I could do at the time. I didn’t figure out my own learning style until I was in college.

When I was close to receiving my teaching credential I began to panic, I had learned mostly theory about reading instruction. What I was not confident in was the nuts and bolts of teaching reading. I was told most of my hands-on learning in teaching reading would begin in the classroom. This felt as if I was flying by the seat of my pants again, but this time, I would be responsible for a whole classroom of students. Once I received my teaching credential I chose to continue my education and take graduate classes in reading while I worked one-on-one with students who struggled to acquire reading skills within a conventional classroom setting.

This decision provided time to study the process of reading acquisition. I was recruited by the public school system when standards in Kindergarten began requiring students to read, spell and write when they exited to first grade. The school where I was offered a position was piloting a researched based curriculum. The additional time I spent taking course work and applying what I was learning in a one-on-one setting also gave me clear criteria in which to evaluate curriculum. I felt confident in my own ability and the curriculum I would be using when I stepped into the classroom. My success was in my students’ success! Dyslexia was the beginning of a long journey which provided unique insight into the reading process.

My experiences have given me a desire to provide the best instruction available in our area for all students; not just students with learning differences. I believe with the right intervention, every individual should be able to feel the elation of living up to their God given potential.

— Brook Sasin, owner