Greetings Eddies,
Faye Casell spent two decades in special education, then retrained as a licensed dyslexia therapist when her own son started to struggle. So when a mom she was working with mentioned she was relying heavily on a reading app, Faye asked to see for herself. On the app, the girl was doing high-level exercises. Sitting across from Faye, she was struggling to sound out simple three-letter words.
Bright kids pull this off all the time, Faye says - she has watched a child get every answer technically right by process of elimination, without understanding a bit of it.
That trick has a name - masking - and it is a big reason only one in five kids with dyslexia ever gets help. Her message to parents is simple: you do not have to wait on a system that can't move fast enough for your kid. You can spot the signs early, and you can start at home this week.
In the episode:
Why a child who aces a reading app can still be unable to read a single word
The reading method that quietly taught a whole generation to guess instead of read
Why dyslexia can be spotted with 92% accuracy at age five and a half - before a child can read a word
Why waiting until third grade cuts a struggling reader's odds of catching up in half - and triples how long it takes
The free, federal testing almost no homeschool parent knows they can request
The ten-minute check to run at your kitchen table if something feels off
Faye now runs Home Reading Coach. If you want to go deeper, read the full write-up of the early signs to watch for and the first check to run at home.
That's all for now.
- Ela
P.S. We officially closed fall applications, but we are holding a private door open for one more week (through July 10). If you have a friend or family member who missed the window, you can share this link: opened.co/friends-and-family.
