Overcoming Dyslexia

by Sally E. Shaywitz, Jonathan Shaywitz

From one of the world's preeminent experts on reading and dyslexia, the most comprehensive, up-to-date, and practical book available on identifying, understanding, and overcoming reading problems--now revised to reflect the latest research and evidence-based approaches.

Dyslexia is the most common learning disorder on the planet, affecting about one in five individuals, regardless of age or gender. Now a world-renowned expert gives us a substantially updated and augmented edition of her classic work: drawing on an additional fifteen years of cutting-edge research, offering new information on all aspects of dyslexia and reading problems, and providing the tools that parents, teachers, and all dyslexic individuals need. This new edition also offers:

- New material on the challenges faced by dyslexic individuals across all ages
- Rich information on ongoing advances in digital technology that have dramatically increased dyslexics' ability to help themselves
- New chapters on diagnosing dyslexia, choosing schools and colleges for dyslexic students, the co-implications of anxiety, ADHD, and dyslexia, and dyslexia in post-menopausal women
- Extensively updated information on helping both dyslexic children and adults become better readers, with a detailed home program to enhance reading
- Evidence-based universal screening for dyslexia as early as kindergarten and first grade - why and how
- New information on how to identify dyslexia in all age ranges
- Exercises to help children strengthen the brain areas that control reading
- Ways to raise a child's self-esteem and reveal her strengths
- Stories of successful men, women, and young adults who are dyslexic

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, Parenting, Teaching, Psychology, Professional Development, Self Help

608 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2003

About the author

Sally E. Shaywitz, M.D., the Audrey G. Ratner Professor in Learning Development at the Yale University School of Medicine, is the Co-Director of the newly formed Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity. Dr. Shaywitz received her B.A. (with honors) from the City University, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and her M.D. from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She has devoted her career to better understanding and helping children and adults who are dyslexic. Her research provides the basic framework: the conceptual model, epidemiology, and neurobiology for the scientific study of dyslexia. Together with her husband, Dr. Bennett Shaywitz, she originated and championed the “Sea of Strengths” model of dyslexia which emphasizes a sea of strengths of higher critical thinking and creativity surrounding the encapsulated weakness found in children and adults who are dyslexic. Dr. Sally Shaywitz is the author of over 200 scientific articles, chapters and books, including the widely acclaimed national best-seller, Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete Science-Based Program for Reading Problems at Any Level (Knopf, 2003; Vintage, 2005) which received the Margo Marek Book Award and the NAMI Book Award.

from http://dyslexia.yale.edu/About_Shaywi...

Reviews

[jacky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose to read this book because when I was tested for a learning problems in about 1987, the testing resulted in my mother being told that I am dyslexic. When I received my permanent record as an adult, I didn't see the word dyslexia anywhere in the documents including my IEP. Growing up, I was told that dyslexia was why I made reversals in my spelling and it was why I read slowing, but that was the extent of my knowledge on the subject until I did limited internet research on the topic in college. About a month before this course, I was killing time in a Border's in the education section. Scanning the selves quickly, I saw Overcoming Dyslexia and read a few pages; I was interested but not enough to purchase it. When it appeared on our list for course work, I had to read it.
The biggest thing I learned personally was a better understanding of my symptoms as a dyslexic. I thought, like most of the public does, that all dyslexics make reversals and have trouble with right and left. It turns out this is not true! Instead, dyslexia really is based on problems with phonological awareness. As I learned more about how it is that the we learn to read and how the brain works, I understood my behaviors more. For example, I can read quickly now because I have memorized words, but when I encounter new words, or when I tired to learn a foreign language, I have a lot of trouble sounding out the words. I frequently leave out syllables or mess up the vowels. Another behavior I have is using vague words when talking because I can call up the exact term fast enough. I never knew that had to do with my dyslexia.
About half way through the book, I realized that the author had different political beliefs than me. She was behind NCLB and the National Reading Panel's interpretation of reliable research, while I disagree with both. She also continued on to endorse a strictly phonics approach to reading saying that research shows that it must be systematic and explicit. This contradicts the opinions I've heard in courses I have taken in this program and other research I read for this course. This made believing in her ideas whole heartedly hard for me once I saw these differences in our beliefs.
What my biggest question while reading was was that over and over again Shaywitz said that adults dyslexics read laboriously slow and were not fluent. That is not the case with me. I used to read slowly and have immense trouble reading aloud, but through practice I seemed to outgrow it, which Shaywitz said was impossible due to how a dyslexics brain is wired. So, am I really dyslexic? It isn't actually in my file anywhere, but I have so many characteristics.
I anticipated that I would learn a lot of information about young adult dyslexics and use that in my teaching. However, the information that I found most useful for my teaching was learning how we learn to read. I was never taught this in college and never received as in depth yet clearly presented timeline and descriptions as I had in this book. This information will help me to recognize problems of all sorts in my older readers, not just dyslexia. It also will be helpful when I become a parent, especially since dyslexia seems to be genetic, which I previously didn't know.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shaywitz explains that in brain imaging studies, fluent readers show activation in the back of the brain and very little in the front, while dyslexic people show underactivation in the back and more up front. She asserts that these images reveal "exactly where and how dyslexia manifests itself in the brain." I say they mostly just show us that dyslexic people don't read fluently. Um, duh.

So what's the difference between dyslexic and illiterate? Shaywitz offers the "sea of strengths" (i.e. disparity) model, according to which dyslexia is recognizable when it is surrounded by a "sea of strengths" like problem solving, comprehension, vocabulary, and general knowledge.

I stopped about halfway through this book because its prescription for overcoming dyslexia seemed to be don't be a poor kid who goes to a shitty public school in the ghetto. For struggling readers who have had neither good phonics instruction nor the opportunity to develop enough strengths to make a sea, Shaywitz's model is not useful.

I do not have any doubt that the ability to develop phonemic awareness varies tremendously, and that many very intelligent people have phonologic deficits. People with such deficits need more high quality instruction and practice in order to become fluent readers. But in fact, most people—dyslexic or not—need explicit instruction and everyone needs a lot of practice in order to master reading.

[Sheila · Rating 1 out of 5]

I listened to this on audio. I only got through the third cassette tape before I couldn't take it anymore. I thought it might have some fun ideas for playing with language with children. But it was so mainstream in its thinking about education. It spent so much time giving examples of children who had "problems" and proving why late readers had something wrong with them. There were example after example of kids who were in remedial reading programs and continued having problems into adulthood, but not one example of unschooled children. I understand the unschooled approach is still pretty far out of the mainstream and that this author might never have even heard of it much less taken the time to understand it (which is a shame!). But it was way too much in the "let's find out what's broken in children so we can fix them" mentality for me to stomach.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read lots of books about teaching struggling readers – what to teach, how to teach, etc., but never a book that digs into the science of why they struggle. The chapter on brain systems for reading just blew me away. It was so fascinating to see how struggling readers access different brain areas when reading compared to proficient readers, and how targeted instruction can actually rewire pathways in the brain. And of course, Shaywitz gave lots of great explanation about dyslexia – what it is and is not, how to accurately diagnosis it, and appropriate accommodations. Deep, very deep.

[Liesl Back · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally, a book that breaks down what dyslexia actually is, in layman's language. Very thorough but not so deep that it's unreadable. Explains dyslexic brain function, what goes wrong in the word processing of the dyslexic mind, and gives a plan of action for reading instruction for every age group (including adults). All of this is backed up by an impressive array of research and studies done over decades. Not written with homeschoolers in mind but still immensely helpful to me in teaching a dyslexic child and helping a dyslexic adult.

[Shari · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book at my library and started to read it as one of my children has been suffering from reading issues for quite awhile. I wanted to educate myself on what dyslexia is and how I can help. Halfway through the first chapter I ordered it on Amazon because I knew this was a book I needed to own and to highlight and refer back to often. The author did an outstanding job explaining the science of dyslexia and based on functional MRI scans that scientists can now see how brains of dyslexics are actually wired and work differently from non impaired brains. The final part of the book details the importance of explicit phonological lessons and the best way to go about doing this. Where I part with the author/scientist is when I read the words that a parent is NOT capable of teaching their child (dyslexic or not) how to read “It should be left to the professionals.” Oh my... as a homeschooling mother who has successfully taught my other children how to read I was annoyed at the ignorance but not surprised as it was coming from a holier than thou neurologist from Yale. Treatment boiled down to finding a public school that used one of several explicit phonics programs she endorsed.
So my take away on this book is: if you want the scientific basis of how a dyslexic brain works this book is a must read. If you want concrete ideas on helping your child become a more fluent reader then I’d pass on this book and search for something more helpful.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally! This book has taken me years to read, but it was worth it! The college and careers portion of the book was especially helpful to me right now. I started this book years ago when my sons (8 and 9 at the time) were first diagnosed. I spent 2 weeks crying after reading because of the portion on the history of dyslexia and worrying what might be ahead for my boys. I decided to set it aside and read shorter, more immediately practical books on the subject. I’m glad I circled back, as the history really was such a small part of the book, and I found so much helpful information this second try. It’s a must for anyone who has a dyslexic loved one or anyone who believes they themselves might be dyslexic.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was never officially diagnosed as dyslexic but the descriptions of difficulties here are close to my own history. I was in 1st grade in 1984 or so. I remember being pulled out of class to go to the Sp-Ed room to be tested. I remember thinking I know what that means. I’ll get pulled out of class. I’ll be different. I didn’t want that. I must have read well enough as it wasn’t pursued further. I struggled with reading in school my whole life. I often wondered how could my classmates read all this every night. It would take hours and hours to just read one assignment. I flunked out of college due to a combination of youthful stupidity, difficulty reading and understanding and depression. In the past 10 years I described myself as a dyslexic when I struggled. I had heard the symptoms of dyslexia and they matched my symptoms. But felt guilty about using this, it felt like a cop out. I was never diagnosed as such. Despite my difficulties matching descriptions of Dyslexic symptoms. Well, last night I took an online adult dyslexia test. And I am mild to moderately dyslexic. My best gift to myself was taking a professional development seminar which talked about reading in columns increases retention. After learning that I struggled to adapt it to my everyday life. I mean I can’t change a book into a column format. Well for Christmas last year I bought myself a kindle and changed the font size so text read as a column. It opened so much to me. As someone who loved reading but struggled with it. It would take me a year or more to read a single novel. So far this year I’ve read 6. I had hoped this book would have more advice like that. I only scanned this book and read the parts interesting to me. I am an adult. I didn’t want to read the case studies of children struggling. I lived it. While it was interesting to learn why I have struggled. It wasn’t as helpful as far as teaching me ways to over come my disability. However, it was nice to finally be validated that my frequent struggles to find a word which is right there but out of reach, my difficulties with p, b, d, and q, and my difficulties with left and right are all part of the same difficulty I had in 1st - 3rd grade to read aloud.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read book for everybody. With 1/5 people having dyslexia you are sure to know somebody with this issue (although there is a large spectrum of how it affects people). I think there are more myths about dyslexia than any other disability out there. I consider myself a pretty well educated person and I believed every single one of those myths until I started researching dyslexia when my middle child was diagnosed with it earlier this year. I now constantly hear those same myths from the school personnel and my daughter's teacher (and she is currently getting her masters in special ed). I have had to educate them on what dyslexia really is. Anyway, this book is easy to read and is the source that most books on dyslexia quote. Dr. Shaywitz (along with her husband) was placed in charge of a study at Yale University by the NIH. They followed 400+, randomly chosen, kids for over 10 years and part of studying the kids was also studying the school districts and whether or not they were even able to identify the dyslexic kids. Her study results were replicated at John Hopkins and the University of Colorado,

The most exciting thing in the updated version of this book is that fMRIs now can show dyslexia in the brain. They have now discovered that with research based intervention before 3rd grade, a child can actually grow the part of the brain that they are lacking that causes the dyslexia. This is amazing news! For the commenter that said he didn't agree with her take on NCLB 2004, I felt the same exact way until I realized that my child had a hidden disability that the school was going to do nothing about (after several meetings). NOW, I have a different opinion of NCLB 2004 because it is going to help me get her the help that she needs. Dyslexia is not reversing letters, or seeing things backwards (although some do), it is a language processing disorder. Dyslexics also have trouble with processing information, sequencing (Ella can never get right if something happened today or tomorrow, and rapid retrievel of information from the brain. Anyway, it's a great book!

[Skylar Burris · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is so much packed into this book, which, except for some excessive repetition (typical of most nonfiction of its kind), is easy and interesting to read. There are a number of practical suggestions (from details on fluency training to lists of prefixes, suffixes, and commonly used words to emphasize with your dyslexic child), a brief history of the recognition of dyslexia over time, the brain science involved in dyslexia, how to talk to your child about his dyslexia, what to look for in a school and reading program, how to do fluency training, and profiles and insights from famous dyslexics.

The subtitle is misleading. The book does not offer "a new and complete science-based program for reading problems at any level." Rather, it advocates that you use any program of your choice as long as it employs a systematic, phonics-based approach and you use it consistently (preferably daily). The book offers the names (and websites) of many such research-based programs.

Some chapters may not be of use to a particular reader; you may skip those about dyslexia in youth or adults, for instance, if you have a younger child with dyslexia, or you may skim those chapters about teaching kindergartener and first graders if you have only discovered your child has dyslexia in second or third grade. There is a bit too much emphasis on reading instruction in pre-K through first grade. I imagine most parents turning to this book will have children in 2nd or 3rd grade or beyond, because they will not have reached quite that point of concern until then. Unfortunately, parts of the book seem to imply an "intervene early or else" message, which is not encouraging. (And yet that is contradicted by other parts of the book that offer hope in cases of late discovery.)

The author's advocacy for systematic, phonics-based instruction for dyslexics and regular reading practice seems like a bit of a no brainer. I guess this may have been more of a revelation when the book was published many years ago, at the height of the "whole language" fad, which still lingers in many public schools. The emphasis on echo reading, and having a child read the same passage over and over again, however, was a good note for me. I am still puzzled that schools simply don't used systematic phonics based programs for all students in grades K-2. My son was lucky enough to attend a private school in K and 1st that did, so by the time he began to attend public school, he was only about 1/2 year behind his peers instead of the usual 1-2 years of dyslexic children. He didn't have such a program for most of 2nd grade, until we were able to get him admitted to the dyslexia program in the school toward the end of 2nd grade, which does use a research-based curriculum.

I could recognize my child in most of the symptoms she described in this book, including what the author aptly described as "being in pain." It was intriguing to get some insight into why he can sometimes sound out long words but then inevitably stumbles over little articles and prepositions and pronouns ("the" "an" "this" "they" "their" "on" "of", etc.) It was also interesting to learn that dyslexics compensate for not using the back of their brains by using more of the front when reading, but I wouldn't say that discovery is revelatory or particularly helpful – it just shows that dyslexics compensate as best they can for the fact that they can't seem to access the part of the brain that allows them to instantly recall words they have read. One other point that particularly interested me was her assertion that dyslexics do not actually *see* words differently, but only *name* them differently. My son does the typical "was" for "saw" and "how" for "who" and that sort of thing, and he sometimes described it to me as "the letters move," so I thought he was actually seeing things differently.

Especially for children of high IQ, reading problems can often appear as mere average or below average ability, and the suffering and intense struggle required to pull off an average reading may be hidden in school even while the pain is obvious at home. Also, the teachers, not seeing the very real struggle you see at home, and not really knowing how much time you have invested in keeping your child afloat, may very well think you are just one of those crazy high pressure parents who can't accept an average performance, rather than someone who has seen the odd patterns of reading struggle and the emotional pain it has inspired. Therefore, outside testing is often necessary before a problem will be acknowledged. (It was certainly necessary for us.)

The author of this book takes an even sterner approach than "get outside testing." She pretty much concludes that you shouldn't rely on the public school. Get your kid into a systematic phonics program right away, even if you have to mortgage the house. Most public schools probably aren’t going to pull through for your dyslexic kid, though they are getting better, she argues, in part because of the No Child Left Behind Act's Reading First portion. That's about the first positive thing I've read about NCLB, though she did have a point – before state testing, it may have been easier for the schools to take a "let's wait and see" approach (which any parent of a dyslexic child, especially a child who is compensating with high IQ, is probably familiar with). And because funding is given only for scientifically researched based reading programs, that has probably reduced the number of useless reading programs employed in special ed classrooms. But, ironically, she goes on to talk about how useless and disadvantageous and how poor a judge of ability standardized tests are for dyslexic students, and of course NCLB is all about standardized tests. (She doesn't seem to notice the inconsistency.)

At times, the author talks as though dyslexics will struggle for life, always sounding out words from scratch and finding themselves behind their peers in reading; at other times, though, she speaks almost as though a systematics phonics program is some kind of magic bullet that will sort your kid out in little time.

The author is somewhat flippant in her dismissal of the parent as a primary teacher, and the possibility of homeschooling is nowhere on her radar. The parent is relegated to only fluency training, never teaching reading itself or new material. It is suggested parents work with their kids about fifteen minutes a day. Much better to rely on professionals (experts and specialists and experienced teachers), she says, and yet she repeatedly upbraids schools (which are presumably staffed with these professionals) for not identifying dyslexic kids soon enough. While I personally have no intention of homeschooling at this point, I expect to play a larger instructional role in my kid's reading struggles than fifteen minutes a day, and I fully understand those parents of dyslexic students who do choose to homeschool. That she would not even devote a single page to the possibility was odd to me.

I was really fascinated by the profiles of dyslexic writers. Writing is not a profession you stereotypically expect a dyslexic to enter. I am a writer, and I've always had horrible handwriting and been a relatively poor speller like these writers, though I've never struggled with grammar or vocabulary. I came to rely on a typewriter early and was thrilled to get my first word processor in fourth grade and was especially pleased when spell check came along. As far as I know, I'm not dyslexic. I was certainly not an early reader, but I don't think I was a particularly late one either. I can’t remember struggling to read beyond third grade, and I have read thousands of books in my life. Nevertheless, these stories were of particular interest to me.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an intentionally repetitive roadmap to both understanding dyslexia and overcoming it. For someone at the beginning of the journey, it’s a bit of a heartbreaking preview for the next X years of school that will just undoubtedly be harder and require more work, along with a preview of the battles yet to come over accommodations and people underestimating your child. But the book provides some critical keys to success through understanding and advocating.

First, it focuses on identifying and understanding dyslexia, with a specific focus on how the brain operates and how a diagnosis is particularly based on the disparity between a person’s intellect/IQ and how ably/quickly they can decode to read — consistently and constantly reinforcing that dyslexics are not idiots, and very often, are extremely intelligent. Second, it gives a roadmap to understanding dyslexia takes the brain longer to decode/read, thus reinforcing why academic accommodations like time and technology are necessary to truly evaluate the knowledge from someone who is dyslexic. If the academic goal is to prove that you understand the underlying subject matter, such as science, biology, etc., then a timed test only measures the extent to which a dyslexic is disabled by their slow reading — and the only way to measure their knowledge of science and biology is to give them enough time to demonstrate the knowledge that they’ve gained.

Third, it gives a roadmap for advocates in multiple ways, a) types of accommodations (time, technology, quiet setting, foreign language class exemptions, etc.) to request and why; b) questions to ask yourself, your child, and the school to check whether you’ve actually met the need and everyone is fully supportive; and c) models from multiple scenario-like situations of dyslexics who faced and successfully overcame challenges and by persuading someone to change or finding a way to remove the obstacle completely.

Bottom line: I left with more knowledge and understanding, more ideas for how to help now. I marked sections for later this year and sections to come back again many years later, when the time is right, and I need help with the next roadmap or explanation. I can see why this book came so highly recommended, and how it is a critical call to action for parents and caregiver advocates:

“But the reality is that in the overwhelming number of cases, the only way things will improve is if a knowledgeable and caring adult, a patient, persevering, and positive parent, takes the lead and actively creates change. … Perhaps most important, the struggling reader needs someone who will not only believe in him and take positive action but who understands the nature of his reading problem and then relentlessly works to ensure that he receives the reading help and other support he needs. Experience has shown me that if a child receives such help, she will succeed.”

[leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

:(

[Amy Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cannot say enough about this book! If you suspect dyslexia or already have a diagnosis, this is a must read!

[Sherry · Rating 1 out of 5]

No. Just no. Sally Shaywitz goes to great length to detail how a person actually learns to read, which was interesting. Then she adds in a hefty dose of the history of dyslexia, meticulously citing sources. Great. However. Shaywitz does not actually include any concrete methods a parent / teacher can use to teach a struggling child to read. Although she devotes a good amount of page space to listing a bunch of different phonic based reading programs that you can buy. And if you just practice phonics over and over again, the child will eventually learn. No. Just no. Been there done that with school administrators and my child still struggles to read and feels lousy as a result.

The only redeeming chapter in this book was the very last one where Shaywitz offers sage advice on how to explain to your child what dyslexia actually is. Here she uses age appropriate explanations to share with your child that were actually really helpful.

If you are like me, a parent with a ten year old child still reading on a first grade level despite interventions at school, an IEP, and private tutors...well, skip this book. Just don't bother. My search continues, but this book didn't offer anything that wasn't already apparant and already being done.

[Allie Rodrigues · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part of my job is to support students with dyslexia- something I really did not know a whole lot about just a few months ago.

This book is a FASCINATING deep dive into dyslexia and the ways in which our brains learn language. I learned SO MUCH - there is a plethora of research and case studies that give a profound picture of the experience of dyslexia for both students and parents.

I have so much to say about this book, its topics, and the research behind it all, but it’s way too much for a Goodreads review - Ask me questions if you want to know!

If you’re a parent of kids who are still learning to read- read this book!! Even if your kids don’t have dyslexia, you learn so much about the way their brains grow and learn as they mature.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I definitely glossed over many paragraphs of this tedious book. This is clearly not meant to be read in its entirety, which I was required to do for Orton-Gillingham training. Shaywitz repeats the same information in every section. I did get to learn the brain science behind dyslexia and reading, but everything else I knew from my B.A. in special education.

Some parts of this book seemed to serve the sole purpose of bragging/selling Dr. Shaywitz's services. She included SEVERAL letters and transcripts of phone calls from patients that raved about how she changed their life.

If you want to read about dyslexia, pick something shorter.

[Tara Hendershot Beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

My only complaint about this book is that, while it stresses the importance of early identification, it doesn't draw enough attention to those Kindergarten and first graders who appear to be good readers but are relying on context clues and memorization to get themselves by. These kids often show signs of their Dyslexia, however, in their writing and sometimes in their speech. They may not start to show that they struggle with their reading until later grades. Recognizing that dyslexia affects more than just a students reading is important in that early identification.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent nonfiction resource to find a way through dyslexia. I really care about this. For my own personal notes:

Diagrams on pp73-80 showing how dyslexics do not use the left side of the brain inferior frontal gyrus (articulation/word analysis), parieto temporal (word analysis), and Occipito-temporal (word form). These areas are critical to analyze a word, identify letters, connect to sounds to create word and assign the word to meaning. A skilled reader can identify a word form on sight instantaneously, but a dyslexic reader has to manually identify all the sounds and put them together. Dyslexics lack automaticity.

pp113-114 Dyslexics often have difficulty rhyming

p126 time spent reading each day. 20 minutes a day leads to 1.8 million words per year.

Part III Helping your child become a reader
Systematic Explicit Instruction using:
-phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension

Use What Works Clearinghouse to find Evidenced-Based Practices p288-290

- Material on the challenges faced by dyslexic individuals across all ages
- Rich information on ongoing advances in digital technology that have dramatically increased dyslexics' ability to help themselves
- Chapters on diagnosing dyslexia, choosing schools and colleges for dyslexic students, the co-implications of anxiety, ADHD, and dyslexia, and dyslexia in post-menopausal women
- Extensively updated information on helping both dyslexic children and adults become better readers, with a detailed home program to enhance reading
- Evidence-based universal screening for dyslexia as early as kindergarten and first grade - why and how
- Information on how to identify dyslexia in all age ranges
- Exercises to help children strengthen the brain areas that control reading
- Ways to raise a child's self-esteem and reveal her strengths
- Stories of successful men, women, and young adults who are dyslexic

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

The intended audience for this book is “activist parents” who suspect their child may have a reading problem. There are sections in the book which slip in to the second person implying that an older dyslexic student may be the intended audience for some sections.

My copy is a 2003 edition and is a bit dated. Given that the book recommends schools and specific reading programs, this limits its usefulness. It also recommends high level reading intervention start in Kindergarten and 1st grade, but my experience is that many parents don’t realize their children have a problem with reading until they are well in to 1st and start to lag behind.

This book is also overwhelmingly pessimistic about public schools meeting the needs of dyslexic readers. I haven’t seen much evidence to be more optimistic, but that doesn’t make this book particularly useful for me.

On the plus side, there is a bunch of brain science, reading science, and stories about famous dyslexic people that I can share with students and parents.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very in depth and thorough look at how dyslexic brains work differently and what specific help they need. Some great suggestions on steps to take to help your child learn to read, reading programs to check out as well as accommodations to ask for at school. A great book for parents with a newly diagnosed child, or for anyone who's child (or themselves) has reading problems. I will say, the middle chapters were very long and difficult to get through - chapters detailing when to have your child diagnosed and which tests to have done, etc. If your child (or yourself) already has a confirmed diagnosis, you could easily skip these chapters entirely and save yourself the headache. There are also some parts of the book that could use updating, specifically regarding technology - she actually references using a palm pilot at one point. If you can ignore those few negatives, the rest of the book was very informative, enlightening and empowering!

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. I sped-read this so I know I missed some of the finer points. And I skipped a couple smaller chapters that didn’t seem applicable. A great, research-based approach to understanding and overcoming dyslexia at all ages by one of the eminent scholars on the condition. The goal of the book is to equip people, mainly parents, to understand and tackle the handicap of dyslexia and creating a success in spite of it. While the book does provide steps and exercises, it shouldn’t be seen as a practical guide. The steps to success and exercises are largely suggested outlines of activities that teachers and tutors could be utilizing.

[Lauren Fee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really helpful read for any parent helping their child navigate a dyslexia diagnosis. After reading, I understand dyslexia better myself, I feel much more equipped to explain dyslexia to my child and to others, I will be on the lookout for dyslexia signs in my other children so that I can intervene earlier if there is a problem, as well as generally feeling more confident in our reading program. I will definitely come back to reference as my child moves on to higher realms of learning outside of our homeschool where accommodations and technological resources will be more important than they are to us now.

[Tiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! As the parent of a dyslexic child, this book was recommended to me numerous times before I actually read it. I really enjoyed the first part of the book that covered the history of Dyslexia and basically defined and explained what Dyslexia is. The middle portion about developing the skill of reading in a typical learner was helpful information. I was so looking forward to the end section about choosing a school and accommodations, but actually found myself discouraged because I know how hard it is to find exactly what my child needs. We do not have the access or support to the programs that she describes, and that’s hard to swallow. All in all though, I valued the guidance the book offers and will also recommend it to other dyslexics or parents of dyslexics. I also believe it would be a great read for any teacher!

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was on the reader’s list for the Wilson Academy. I was recently trained to lead in Fundations and Wilson reading programs for my students. Sally Shaywitz uses science based programs to help students with dyslexic type tendancies. She is the co-diector ay Yale Center for the study of Learning and Attention. Much study about the working brain and its connection to reading was the science basis for this book.

[Bergen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Appreciated the information around the brain, and the science and stats. Some of it felt more geared towards pumping up her own program and research. The ending felt lackluster. If you’ve done LETRS 2 you got the information already.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, informative, and pragmatic. I read the updated edition.

[A S]

For grad school -audio. Listened to it all so I decided it counts

[Amy Goode · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every educator should read this. Such great information for educators and parents.

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super informative, but not as useful as I'd hoped it would be for my specific situation. Still an enjoyable and interesting read.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though this book is out of date (initially published in 2003), it still has excellent information for parents that suspect that their child has a learning disability and/or dyslexia.