My Red Letter 2017 - E009 - Isabelle
Entry: 009Name: Isabelle
Age: Adult
Champion: Kristy (Tutor)
Kristy is our dyslexia champion, and more. We are infinitely grateful for what she has accomplished with Elliot. Our family feels whole again.
Before we met Kristy, we had a broken child. Kristyʼs thorough knowledge of how to teach literacy as well as her deep commitment, gentle demeanour and nurturing approach have given back to Elliot the happiness and self-confidence heʼd lost.
Only six or seven months ago, Elliot was a “clean slate”. When we started working with Kristy, he barely knew 3 letters of the alphabet after nearly 2 years of primary school (where he was unfortunately taught through a Whole Language Approach).
Our 6-year-old child was falling apart in front of our eyes and as his mother, I felt hopeless. I would read to him daily, attempt to teach him the alphabet... and even became his classroom helper —all to no avail. I soon suspected he had dyslexia, but I didnʼt know how to teach him to read. I was expecting school to teach him this fundamental skill —and basic human right. Little did I know...
His first school brushed my concerns aside, and so did our school in Melbourne after we returned to Australia earlier this year. I then decided to take the matter into my own hands, as I knew very well that my son would not “be fine”. We started an intervention before even getting Elliot diagnosed by an educational psychologist. It turned out I was right and he had mild to moderate dyslexia.
The evidence-based approach used by Kristy was very effective, very quickly. We saw massive improvement in decoding (reading) and Elliotʼs perception of himself dramatically improved in less than 2 weeks. There was nothing wrong with him! He wasnʼt “dumb”... He was starting to recognise and identify letter sounds... and read words! It felt like nothing short of a miracle.
Gradually Elliot stopped saying things such as “Iʼm stupid”, “I hate myself” and “I want to die”. This is what heʼd been telling us ever since he started primary school, and his mounting anxiety had been affecting all aspects of his life.
Kristy has answered our prayers and helped put Elliot back together. She not only gave him the gift of literacy, she also gave him his self-esteem and his zest for life back. Words cannot express how we all feel about Kristy and what she has achieved. She is our angel and we feel blessed that she is in our lives!
Thank you, Kristy, our Dyslexia Champion, from the bottom of our hearts.
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