Anne Kloth, Author at Reading Success Plus

March 23, 2017 By Anne Kloth

School to Prison Pipeline

Reading is Essential –

Reading is essential to increase graduation rates and decrease incarceration rates. The ability to read and write is essential for an individual’s success in school, employment and in life. Reading difficulties impact student’s learning in all subjects including, Math, Sciences, English and Social Studies. At least one in five individuals have dyslexia or a related learning disability. “Dyslexia is neurologically-based, often familial disorder which interferes with the acquisition and processing of language. Varying in degrees of severity, it is manifested by difficulties in receptive, and expressive language including phonological processing, in reading, writing, spelling, handwriting and sometimes in arithmetic. Dyslexia is not the result of lack of motivation, sensory impairment, inadequate instructional or environmental conditions but may occur together with these conditions” (International Dyslexia Association).

Dyslexia Does Not Discriminate

Dyslexia is a hidden disability which has no boundaries. Dyslexia affects individuals regardless of race, gender, culture and socioeconomic standing. Dyslexic individuals have average or above average intelligence but are often seen as being inattentive or lazy because they are not reading at grade level. Dyslexia often causes poor self-esteem, lack of confidence and a poor self-image of themselves as a student. Dyslexia is a life-long disability with no cure but with remediation and accommodations dyslexics can lead successful lives. Some dyslexic individuals also have AD/HD or other learning disabilities such as dysgraphia (handwriting disability), and dyscalculia (math disability). Dr. G. Reid Lyon, the former chief of the Child Development and Behavior Branch within the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development states that “substantial research supported by NICHD shows clearly that without systemic, focused and intensive interaction, the majority of children” with dyslexia “‘rarely catch up’. Failure to develop basic reading skills by age nine predicts a lifetime of illiteracy. Unless these children receive appropriate instruction, more than 74% of the children entering 4th grade who are at risk for reading failure will continue to have reading problems into adulthood.”

Decrease Incarceration Rates

According to the National Right to Read Foundation, “people who read poorly often end up in low paying jobs, on welfare rolls or in jail, at a cost to the country of $224 billion a year.” Dyslexic individuals are “at risk of joining the ranks of the 90 million U.S. adults who are at best, functionally literate, meaning they can read just well enough to get by” (Star Telegram). Learn to read or go to jail is unfortunately a true statement for some. The Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report on the Educational and Correctional Populations by Caroline Wolf Harlow, PhD. states that the percentage of state prison inmates who have not completed high school or obtained their GED include 66% of inmates with a learning disability and 59% with a speech disability (can be a symptom of dyslexia). According to the Citizens Alliance on Prisons, the state of Michigan incarcerates nearly 44,000 people and spends $2 billion a year on corrections. Education Week states that 75 percent of the crimes committed in the United States are committed by high school dropouts.

Reallocate Dollars

“Michigan’s high school graduation rate is almost 4 percent below the national average and is trending downward, according to the latest annual report on graduation rates from Education Week, a specialty newspaper for educators. Michigan graduated 70.9 percent of public school students in 2010, ranking the state 40^th overall” (Mlive.com). We have a choice to make here in Michigan. We are currently facing a crisis where we are increasingly spending more money on incarcerating people than we are on educating them. We have an opportunity to make a bold move in reversing this vicious cycle. We can choose to reallocate millions of dollars currently being spent on corrections and launch a daring new initiative to ensure that all of Michigan’s students are reading by the 3^rd grade through innovative programs to assess and remediate dyslexia and related learning disabilities.

Tackle Michigan’s Laws

In order to improve the graduation rate and lower the incarceration rate in Michigan, we must tackle the issue of dyslexia which affects approximately 20% of the population. Dyslexia laws must be passed by the Michigan Legislature to identify and remediate dyslexia in students so they can become productive and successful citizens. The State of Michigan needs to make a financial commitment to ensure the success of this endeavor. This can be accomplished by:

State recognition of dyslexia as a learning disability and assessment of all students. Test all new students by the end of kindergarten and test all transfer students as they enter their new school. Those students who are identified as being at risk for dyslexia must receive immediate, appropriate and continuing instruction.
Provide training for all teachers and certify (additional training) a dyslexia teacher/specialist for each school. Establish dyslexia and learning disability instruction in the colleges and universities within the state which provides teaching degrees.
Implement technology to aid dyslexic students such as text to speech software, books on tape, IPads, Kindles, etc.

Dyslexia does not have to be a prison sentence. With Orton-Gillingham based reading remediation programs, dyslexics can be very successful. In fact, 35% of all dyslexics are entrepreneurs including Sir Richard Branson, Charles Schwab, Barbara Corcoran, Steve Jobs, Bill Hewlett, Ted Turner and Tommy Hilfiger. The key to success is early screening and proper remediation.

Anne Kloth is a co-founder of Reading Success Plus, a tutoring center for struggling readers and dyslexic students. She is also a founding member of Decoding Dyslexia – Michigan, and is a Board member of the Michigan Branch of the International Dyslexia Association. Learn more at: www.readingsuccessplus.com.

July 5, 2016 By Anne Kloth

Dyslexia: A Student’s Struggle with Reading

My Struggle with Reading –

Growing up is hard. From grade school to adulthood, the 21st century brings with it new challenges for all of us, especially students with dyslexia.

Dyslexia impacts more than just reading and spelling.
Dyslexia impacts many other areas of life as well.
Dyslexia can impact self-esteem.
Dyslexia makes short-term memory difficult.
Dyslexia can cause anxiety, depression and anger.

School Frustration

Take Michael Warner for example, as an elementary student, Michael bounced from school to school. Michael hated school, he acted out, and got bullied. He was frustrated and angry. Eventually, he was expelled from school for fighting. On the surface, Michael appeared to be a problem child with no desire to learn. In reality, he was not a problem child, but never learned to read. It wasn’t that Michael was unintelligent or lacked motivation, he was dyslexic. He was having a hard time in school and no one knew why. Can you blame him for being frustrated?

Dyslexia Diagnosis and Proper Remediation

Eventually, Michael was diagnosed with dyslexia. He was tutored in the Barton Reading and Spelling System, and has since flourished as a fluent reader. Once the root cause of Michael’s feelings and behavior was identified as dyslexia (and not anger issues) the Barton System was able to get him back on track to a happy and successful life. There are many people like Michael, and with the right reading and spelling program, dyslexics can learn to read and spell (Michael’s story).

We hope Michael will inspire struggling students to realize that they are not alone, that they are intelligent, and that the sky’s the limit! If you are concerned that your child struggles with reading, or may be dyslexic, and you want more information on how to make their journey a little less bumpy, contact us.

Anne Kloth is co-founder of Reading Success Plus, a tutoring center for struggling readers and dyslexic students. She is also a founding member of Decoding Dyslexia – Michigan, and is a Board member of the Michigan International Dyslexia Association.

July 5, 2016 By Anne Kloth

Dyslexia: the Brain is Wired Differently

Reading and Dyslexia –

Students who struggle with reading and spelling, or have been diagnosed as dyslexic, put a lot of effort into learning. In addition to reading, they may also struggle with learning their math facts, telling time, or following multiple step instructions. Research being done at the University of Texas at Houston, as well as Yale and Georgetown Universities, confirms that brains of people with dyslexia are “wired” differently.

Brain “Wiring”

In this video, Rewiring The Brain, Dr. Papanicolaou, from the University of Texas at Houston, describes what he has discovered about the brain through magnetoencephalography (MEG). In studying which side of the brain is involved in speech, he learned that while someone is listening and reading, the left side of the brain is activated. He notes that while the entire brain is activated when a dyslexic person is reading, a high-level of the right side of the brain is being activated as well, which he calls the “cerebral signature” (of dyslexia). When using the right side of the brain to read, a dyslexic is expending much more energy than someone who is not dyslexic. The good news is, the brain can be “trained” to use the left side, with the proper reading remediation, improving their ability to read.

Brain Plasticity

Today, it is understood that the brain is “plastic”, meaning it can grow and change. Dr. Dennis Molfese of the University of Louisville explains that when someone is learning, the neurons – or cells in the brain – are actually physically changing structurally. Dr. George Hynd, at Purdue University goes on to say, if dyslexics receive the appropriate, researched, intensive reading intervention, these neuro-patterns in the brain actually change, and in effect rewires the brain to read more efficiently.

Dr. Papanicolaou states that fancy testing such as magnetoencephalography (MEG) or functional MRI’s, which are being used at Yale and Georgetown University, are not necessary to determine if someone is dyslexic. This technology only helps us understand dyslexia better, and in fact has shown that the proper remediation actually rewires the dyslexic brain to read using the left side of the brain.

If your child is a struggling reader, or you think they may be dyslexic, contact us to learn more about the research and evidence based reading intervention programs we offer.