From the beginning, Alyssa struggled in school with just the basics. Even though I would read to her every night, as I would for my other two children, she would never seem to pick up on things—even the ABCs. It did not seem to me that she enjoyed learning. Alyssa struggled with speech phonics and went into speech therapy. I practiced every night with her. Kindergarten isn’t supposed to be hard, but it was for Alyssa. By the fifth grade, Alyssa believed she was dumb. But things turned around for her when she was accepted to Children’s Dyslexia Centers of Cincinnati. Alyssa’s tutor was so wonderful and patient. I think she learned more from her tutor that first year than she did in any normal reading class at school. She actually started to read books by herself! Alyssa’s school work improved, and in the sixth grade she went from Cs and Ds to being on the honor roll. Through her work at Children’s Dyslexia Centers of Cincinnati, she is able to self advocate for herself by telling others just what it is that she needs to learn, such as typing things out on a computer rather than writing things down, or that she needs things explained again, or just to sit up front. I knew from the moment she was accepted that Alyssa’s life would be forever changed. The way an Orton-Gillingham tutor teaches a child stays with them forever. She went from not believing in herself to saying she wanted to go to college. Alyssa is learning the whole time we’re at Children’s Dyslexia Centers of Cincinnati, and that has been going on for almost three years—a result of the outstanding, expert tutors who have given my daughter the ability to read and understand.
— Catherine A.