My youngest son loved books. More accurately, he loved having me read books to him. I read a lot to my boys since I knew the importance of reading to develop their cognitive and language skills, and their imagination. I assumed it would also help them develop a love for reading. I never expected my youngest to hate it.
Being a working mother who was gone all day, I enjoyed spending quality time at night reading with my sons. They loved listening to the stories. We had a house full of great books for kids.
Imagine my surprise when my youngest entered elementary school and told me he hated reading. Once he moved to chapter books, he did everything he could to avoid reading. As the font got smaller, he struggled to get through a page and lost his place. He’d focus so hard on trying to read the words that he didn’t know what he was reading. It was frustrating for him.
As a parent, you wonder: Is this normal? Did he just need to try harder and practice more?
I took him to an eye specialist. She said he needed glasses and had eye tracking issues. We got glasses and put him into therapy to strengthen his eyes. But the reading didn’t improve.
When I had my oldest tested for ADHD, I mentioned to the psychologist about my younger son’s struggles in school and about his eye issues. Based on the look on her face, and several more questions, I realized what she suspected.
Comprehensive testing and input from teachers confirmed he had dyslexia. Learning about the disorder changed everything. It helped my son realize he wasn’t dumb, and he wasn’t alone.
I didn’t realize how embarrassing and stressful it was for my son to have to read out loud in school. Kids teased him for being slow. He coped with a good sense of humor and pretended it didn’t bother him … but it did. He felt stupid. We learned that dyslexia isn’t about being unintelligent but rather the way the brain processes information differently. While he struggled with reading and math, he excelled in other areas like non-linear thinking and creative problem solving. It helped my son to learn that some of the brightest or most talented people in the world were dyslexic, like Albert Einstein, Steven Spielberg, and Walt Disney.
This journey inspired part of the Under the Couch series. Justin, the younger brother in the story, struggles with reading. Yet, when their antique couch becomes a portal to magical worlds, Justin’s creativity, curiosity, and problem-solving skills become his greatest gifts.
I wanted children like my son to see themselves as heroes, not as kids “falling behind” or not being as smart as their friends. That’s why the Under the Couch book series is written for reluctant readers who struggle with reading. I saw how daunting thick books were for my son. I wrote these books to be shorter and easier to read. While the content is more advanced, the books are written at the second-grade level and in a font that helps kids decipher a “p” from a “q” or “g”, and an “a” from a “b” or “d”. My hope is that kids who struggle with reading will find the series interesting, enjoyable, and not hard to read.
If you’ve ever wondered whether your child might be struggling with dyslexia, know you are not alone. With the right support, they can learn to love to read … and maybe even discover hidden strengths along the way.
Here are a few good sites to learn more:
www.dyslexiaida.org — International Dyslexia Association
www.understood.org/en/topics/dyslexia — Understood.org
dyslexia.yale.edu — Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity
www.learningally.org — Learning Ally (audiobooks for students with dyslexia)