A Voice Where One is Needed

Children with dyslexia need to have their voice heard, and we hope that we're helping make that happen. Our short film, "What I Wish Teachers Knew About Dyslexia," is close to 10,000 views. We've received a few more comments on YouTube that show the common experience.

• "I cried when I saw this as I have dyslexia and I totally understand those kids. I wish more people know how much harder it is for us and not just label us as lazy, stupid because I work so hard and get no results an it's really discouraging so if you know anyone who is dyslexic, please help them. Just by helping/correcting my spelling makes any dyslexic kid day so much better. "

• "I hope every teacher can take the time to learn more about the most common learning difference they will encounter in their classroom year after year. The students deserve the joy of learning and learning how to read and write."

• I can really relate to this because I can't say some words correctly and I always get low scores on tests because I can't complete it due to me not able to read it correctly and my brother calls me stupid and dumb because I get low scores

• "I'm in an art college where we do filming and animation. I have few assignments they give that make me have to write a lot of essays. I'm struggling really bad. I can't understand…I wish my lecturers knew how hard this is for me."

• "i am a really good student with dyslexia and last year we had to read passages and answer questions about it, i read and reread and reread before answering and I would always get a 75 and below and my teacher would always say " your child is lazy and need to try harder " and reading that on the paper always made me cry because it made me feel stupid and worthless, that teacher never thought about the possibility of me having a learning disability when I really did, when I really needed the help, i had to help myself with dyslexia and i still do, when ever i get a bad grade on something the teachers always write " Olivia just needs to try harder " or " Slow down and reread" or " Olivia is very lazy and skims there the passage" like no, ask me if I'm having trouble reading, even MY PARENTS don't believe me when i say I'm dyslexic, that's my saying " please help me, i want help becoming a better reader" ever since I figured out in dyslexic I've been trying to cure myself because there is no adult around to help me or believes I have the learning disability"

Read our blog post called "More on our film" for more examples of how it's resonating with viewers. Please continue to share "What I Wish Teachers Knew About Dyslexia" with educators, administrators, school psychologists, friends and family. 

"Mama Bear" Creates Dyslexia Buddy Network to Support Kids and Spread Awareness

Thank you to our friends at SayDyslexia.org for this great blog on our group! 

(Reprinted with permission.)

When Illinois "Mama Bear" Kristin Paxton discovered her son, Mason, had dyslexia, she made it her mission to help connect him with other kids who shared similar academic challenges. That's when she started the Dyslexia Buddy Network, a rapidly expanding group serving kids throughout Illinois.

Here's how they describe themselves:
We are children in Illinois with dyslexia who are smart, capable, and talented. We are artists, musicians, debaters, hockey players, chess champions, swimmers, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts. We are ages six through fifteen, so far. We have thought for many years that we were the only kids going through this. We have believed for too many years that we are not smart. We are children who are terrified of being asked to read aloud. We are children that work harder than anyone knows, yet are told at school to try harder. We are children who are so sick with anxiety about school that it is destructive. We are children who are in the trenches at school.

To help the kids see a light at the end of the tunnel, Kristin brings in speakers who tell the kids of their own experience with dyslexia and organizes fun social events for the kids to build friendships.

But Kristin didn't stop there. Last month, she partnered with the director of Embracing Dyslexia and released a short film, entitled, "What I Wish Teachers Knew About Dyslexia." Its purpose was to show the common experience of the dyslexic student to the 300 teachers attending the 2015 "Everyone Reading Illinois" annual conference.  Perhaps even more importantly, Kristin wanted to show the dyslexia "buddies" that their voices mattered. 

Little did she know just how far-reaching her short film would become.  As of today, the film has been been viewed over 7,000 times.  As Kristin describes in this Dyslexia Buddy Network Blog, the film is having quite a "ripple effect," although Mason (whose favorite YouTubers have "millions" of followers), remains unimpressed! 

Well, Mason, your mom may not be producing captivating Minecraft videos, but we think her efforts are awesome examples of the power of a grassroots movement to foster connection and promote awareness.  Way to go, Kristin and all the dyslexia "buddies"! 

#SayDyslexia

“He said all the things that I think about dyslexia, but have never said out loud.”

Our Dyslexia Buddy Network was fortunate to have Shawn Cork, a local college student, as a Champion Chat speaker twice. He spoke first to our families in the western suburbs and then to our families in the northern suburbs. He gave powerful testimony about the detrimental effect of a late dyslexia diagnosis; he wasn’t diagnosed with dyslexia until age 18. 

During the Champion Chats, he read two poems which he wrote, one before diagnosis and one after diagnosis. Afterwards, an eleven-year old girl told her mom, 

“He said all the things that I think about dyslexia, 

but have never said out loud.” 

Just let that percolate in your heads for a moment...that’s huge. 

How could we thank him, in a way that was a bit more meaningful than what we'd already given to him (which were an Award of Excellence ribbon, t-shirt, and Subway gift card)? And then it hit me - copyright his poems for him! Such an act of kindness from parents of kids with dyslexia would convey immense support. 

With his permission, our families contributed money to cover the copyright registration fees and I submitted the copyright registration claims in March 2015. In November 2015, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office completed the process. Congratulations, Shawn! You are a published author with two registered copyrights in your name!

Please read and share his poems. These poems speak for so many of our youth across the country.  Before diagnosis, poem entitled "Hate" and after diagnosis, poem entitled "Dyslexia". 

(Watch Shawn’s Champion Chat talk here. I was charged with this recording since our usual filmographer Luis Macias had a prior engagement. So, the quality is that of a home video camera, because...it was!)

More on our short film,“What I Wish Teachers Knew About Dyslexia”

“Can you believe our film has over 5,000 views on YouTube already?” I said to my son who’s in it.  “That’s nothing, mom,” he said with exasperation. “There are some YouTubers that have a million views!”

But we parents know that our film - "What I Wish Teachers Knew About Dyslexia" - is having a ripple effect. The responses tell us so:

• “I'm crying tears of joy knowing that our daughter doesn't feel so alone after watching your video and that I, too as a parent am not alone. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!!”
• “This is a video that all teachers and school administrators need to see.”
• “My daughter’s elementary principal is requiring all reading specialists to see it.”
• One of the girls in the film shared it with teachers at her school, and two told her they are dyslexic, too.
• Read more comments in this short blog post, "A Voice Where One is Needed"

A work colleague of mine tearfully shared her own painful experience with dyslexia after hearing Mia in the film say, “Please don’t ask me to read out loud to the class.”

The idea for this film came to me during an annual dyslexia-related conference for education professionals. Shouldn’t these professionals hear directly from the kids, whom this conference is meant to benefit ultimately? And shouldn’t they know there is a common experience for families of kids with dyslexia? Or, would they return to their jobs and still perceive the parent advocating for their dyslexic child to be a squeaky wheel?  

Fortunately, one of the dads in my group, the Dyslexia Buddy Network, is also the director of the popular documentary Embracing Dyslexia. Together we sought video submissions; our only criteria was that kids answer four questions:

1. Say “My name is…”
2. What are things that you like to do, or that interest you?
3. What do you wish teachers knew about dyslexia?
4. Say “I am your student…”

Not surprisingly to us parents of kids with dyslexia, their answers showed common themes:

• I want my teacher to know I’m trying as best as I can.
• Don’t call on me to read in front of the class.
• I wish my teacher knew how hard it is to learn.
• We should be able to use audio books.
• I am not lazy. I work harder than most.

It took a lot of courage for these fourteen kids to participate. In fact, I had to bribe my 7-year old son by paying him $2.

After hearing the kids’ voices, seeing photos of them playing sports or with their animals, viewers cannot help but to like them, cannot help but to smile when hearing Sydney say, “I am a creative thinker," and when Abby says, “I try as best as I can to stay ahead and not let dyslexia get in my way!”

Viewers cannot help but to feel empathy for these amazing kids upon reading our survey results of Illinois parents of kids with dyslexia

• 100% believe their child’s school is not properly equipped to teach dyslexic students
• 88% have been told by a teacher or school administrator they do not use the term dyslexia
• 87% say their child has suffered emotional difficulties due to challenges in school
• 54% say their child has been denied necessary accommodations

University-level teacher education programs do not include dyslexia remediation, despite the fact that dyslexia makes up 80% of learning disabilities. In fact, only 16 universities have programs accredited by the International Dyslexia Association. Our kids spend 8-hours a day in schools that cannot teach reading and spelling in the way their brains are wired, leaving them believing they're “stupid” and alone.

To combat that unacceptable result, I created the Dyslexia Buddy Network to build a community for our youth in Illinois. We focus on their strengths and build them up! We have fun social events and inspiring speakers, Award of Excellence ribbons and cards recognizing our kids’ hard work. There is power in community and perhaps more important...hope.

---

Kristin Paxton is the Founding Mama Bear of the Dyslexia Buddy Network, which she created for her son, Mason, so he knows he is not the only one with dyslexia. The group has over 70 youth from elementary through high school across Illinois. Inspiring speakers share their own experiences with dyslexia, and fun social events have led to good friendships. New in 2016 is a summer overnight camp for kids with dyslexia and siblings.  

What I Wish Teachers Knew About Dyslexia

The Dyslexia Buddy Network & Embracing Dyslexia Present:

"What I Wish Teachers Knew About Dyslexia"

This film was created to show the common experience of the dyslexic student to the 300 teachers attending the 2015 Everyone Reading Illinois annual conference. This film was also created to teach our kids that their voice matters. Eleven of the youth in this film reside in Illinois, and the remaining three reside in Michigan, North Carolina, and California. Plus, read the next blog post to learn how this film came about. 

Champion Chat: Trent Jarrett

[Oct. 25, 2015] Our kids loved hearing Trent Jarrett share his inspiring story of success despite dyslexia and hearing loss. Trent is senior captain of the University of Illinois at Chicago's men's gymnastics team, and was a contestant on the show American Ninja Warrior. Thank you Trent for making a difference in their lives!

View complete photo album on Facebook

Read UIC's article on the event

Follow Trent on Facebook

Dyslexia Awareness Month October 2015

For Dyslexia Awareness Month, we arranged to have the 16-story Millennium Carillon in downtown Naperville IL to be lit in red lights! Our Buddy Network families met at the Carillon to see the red lights and celebrate our kids' hard work. Each kid received red goody bags with glow sticks and awesome comic books donated by Graham Crackers Comics in Plainfield IL. They promptly ran around waving their glow sticks. 

We are happy to join dyslexia advocates across the country who have arranged for public structures to be lit up in red lights too, such as Knoxville TN, Nashville TN, Oklahoma City OK, Portland OR, Buffalo NY, Minneapolis MN and Montgomery AL, Boston MA, Milwaukee WI, Charlotte NC, Sydney Australia, Brisbane Australia


Where it all began: RedeemingRed.org
View our photo album on our Facebook page

Thank you Graham Crackers Comics!

Thank you Graham Crackers Comics in Plainfield IL for donating these epic comic books to our kids for Dyslexia Awareness Month! Each day our kids with dyslexia show their superhero powers when they walk into school. 

Special shout out to manager Josh Kelly for this donation!
Visit Graham Crackers Comics, Plainfield IL

Champion Chat: Shane LeBaron

[August 8, 2015] Our Buddy Network kids had a life-changing experience this weekend. Shane LeBaron, one of the top golf instructors, taught them how to improve their golf swings, and shared his story of growing up with dyslexia. For our kids to hear an athlete they admire say he went through the same thing they are currently going through, that is powerful and validating. 

Thank you, Shane, for emphasizing that there is not one right way to learn; Thank you for helping them focus on their strengths and interests; Thank you for encouraging them to ask for help when they need it; Thank you for building them up as they deal with back-to-school anxiety. You have made a difference and we are grateful. 

Shane is a Level 3 Jim Hardy “Plane Truth” Certified Instructor, has been voted by Golf Digest 2013 “Best Teachers in Your State”, was nominated for 2013 “Best in the Valley”, and is a member of the Callaway Golf Master Staff. Shane was also nominated in 2014 for Golf Magazine Top 100 Instructors, in 2012 by Golf Digest for “Best Instructors Under 40″, in 2010 South Region College Golf Coach of the Year and a Top 50 US Kids Instructor. Check out his site: www.ShaneLeBaronGolf.com

Listen to Shane's inspiring talk on our YouTube channel:

Plus photos of our great group of kids