How to Build a Dyslexia Youth Group

I've been contacted by many moms across the country asking how they can build a dyslexia youth group. I've taken what I told them and wrote this handy guide. Feel free to share and I hope you find it useful. Creating a dyslexia youth group has been by far the most rewarding thing for me, and I know it will be for you too!

Download the PDF here

Download the PDF here

"Be a person you needed when you were younger!"

You know when something so fantastic happens to someone you know, and it fills your heart with happiness? My heart is so happy; I want to share this true story of an extraordinary young woman making a very powerful impact on the life of a little girl in the Dyslexia Buddy Network. If you are a parent of a child with dyslexia, get your tissues ready.

I bring in speakers to the Dyslexia Buddy Network (DBN) to tell our youth about their own experience growing up with dyslexia. A mom in our group referred me to her niece, Kathleen, a college student studying Sports Marketing Communication. I invited Kathleen to be a speaker and since her college was out of state, she offered to write a letter for DBN parents to share with their kids, and what follows after this letter is your Tissue Alert.

“I was diagnosed with dyslexia when I was in 2nd grade. I remember when I was little I could not remember my alphabet and struggled with math and could not read well, I also use to write backwards!  After I was diagnosed, I was put in the one of Scottish Rite Children's Dyslexia Centers that used the Orton Gillingham Approach. After a few months I remember when I could read my first billboard while driving with my mom. IT WAS EPIC! 

It was always a struggle for me in school when it came to my academic and peers. I felt stupid and had low self esteem because I had two very intelligent older brothers who always got straight A's and I ended up with C's. My dad was always positive and treated my report card like they were As because he knew I tried my best. I also took my test separate from my peers. I ended up with a lot of backlash from my peers, "why does she get special treatment", "how come you are never here to take the test." At such a young age they were ignorant to my learning disability and why I had to leave the room for every test. I was always the last one to get picked for class projects because kids thought I was "too Dumb" to be in their group to contribute. I would come home crying and very upset and did not want to go to school, embarrassed by the way I learn.

My mom taught me to look at my dyslexia as a gift and just tell people, I am just like you, I just learn differently. Even though I struggled in a lot of areas of academics and school life, I was a very outgoing little girl my mom said, and would go up and talk to just about anyone.

I eventually learned to own my dyslexia and not let it define me. I found things I was passionate about such as, writing my own stories, art, and sports! I was on the Varsity Tennis team all four years of high school, national art honor society and much more. I am a avid hockey fan (Go Blackhawks!). I took a liking to the Chicago Blackhawks Ice crew girls and they adopted me as their "younger sister". One of the crew girls eventually told me she was dyslexic too. She taught me to always follow my dreams and never give up. Since then I did just that. I went to college and knew I wanted to work in sports. I have had multiple internships with professional sports teams such as, St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis Blues, and even studied abroad and worked for Chelsea Football Club.

This is only a small portion of my story! There is so much more I would love to share with you and your children about my journey "growing up backwards". I would love to become a mentor to your young children and teach them tools and ways to deal with growing up dyslexia. I want to let kids know they are not alone. I would love to teach them they have the power to do anything they set their mind to and to always follow their dreams!” -- Kathleen

TISSUE ALERT

A DBN mom asked Kathleen if she’d be willing to provide some encouragement to her 10-year old daughter, Abby. Kathleen has embraced this with her entire heart, going above and beyond! She has talked with Abby on a regular basis - Skyping, writing letters, talking on the phone, providing much needed inspiration and empowerment. When Kathleen was back in Illinois after having graduated college (Yay!), she and Abby finally had the opportunity to meet in person. Kathleen showed up with a bunch of thoughtful presents - a Build-A-Bear wearing a soccer uniform (Abby’s favorite sport) which Kathleen named Ms. Confidence, and the book “It’s Called Dyslexia” which helped Kathleen when she was Abby's age. And as if that weren’t enough to make all of us Dyslexia Mama Bears cry, Kathleen took Abby’s Chicago Blackhawks jersey and had it autographed by Jonathan Toews!

Kathleen wrote on Facebook,  "Be a person you needed when you were younger!" Meet my favorite girl Abby! The most fun loving, confident, and smartest young lady I have ever met! I am so proud of how far she has come and the confidence that surrounds her!”

Abby had the exciting opportunity to present Kathleen with an Award of Excellence ribbon from the Dyslexia Buddy Network! We give these special ribbons to our speakers and also to our youth. Kathleen, thank you for giving of yourself and making a positive, life-long impact in the life of sweet Abby! [PS. You can hear Abby speak for herself in our short film, "What I Wish Teachers Knew About Dyslexia."]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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.  

Eagle Scouts & Great Ambassadors for Dyslexia, Dysgraphia

Eagle Scout William Bauman from Grayslake, Illinois, was asked to speak to Cub Scouts about dyslexia and dysgraphia (watch here). He told the kids that reading, writing and spelling are challenging for him, but he works hard and has achieved better than average grades. “A misspelled world does not define who I am or what I can do in this world.” 

Public speaking is a ‪#‎STRENGTH‬ of William's. In fact, he was invited by NASCAR driver Scott Lagasse, Jr. to speak at a press conference in Florida for the Alert Today Alive Tomorrow campaign. William’s Eagle Scout project on distracted driving prompted the invitation. 

• Watch William speak at the Daytona press conference here
• Chicago Tribune article on William's Safe Driving Campaign 
• William's On The Road to Safe Driving Facebook page 

Eagle Scout Scott Forsythe from Fort Wayne, Indiana, spoke to our Dyslexia Buddy Network about dyslexia and dysgraphia (watch here), and his message about perseverance, assistive technology and self-advocacy left our kids feeling empowered. Like William, public speaking is a #STRENGTH of his. Scott is the 17-year old founder of DyslexicKids.net and he plans to become a computer engineer. We have no doubt that he will accomplish anything he sets his mind to! Check out Scott's online resume, list of awards and speeches at ScottAForsythe.com

A few of his awards are

• Eagle Scout with 3 Palms, Boy Scouts of America, Project: "List of Dyslexic-friendly Books for Beginning Readers" now used by libraries nationwide 
• President’s Award for Educational Excellence from the U.S. Department of Education 
• Points of Light Award
• American Citizenship Award
• Robert P.Sheppard Leadership Award

For Boys Scouts of America Special Needs Accommodations, see the links on our Resource page .

Excellent job, William and Scott! We are proud of you and you are both great ambassadors for dyslexia and dysgraphia!

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.