October is National Dyslexia Month and a local tutoring center in Newport Beach is helping spread awareness by offering free assessments, resources and special events throughout the month of October.
Owner of PRIDE Learning Center in Newport Beach, Karina Richland, reports, “Dyslexia is a learning disability that affects about 20% of the nation. That means that one out of every five children in the Newport Beach classroom struggles with dyslexia.” Richland, a dyslexia specialist and owner of 5 dyslexia-tutoring centers throughout Los Angeles and Orange County says “Most children with dyslexia in this area go undiagnosed for years. With early detection, proper intervention, and certain accommodations in school, dyslexics can actually improve their reading skills dramatically.”
Warning Signs in School-Age Children
• Child uses memory skills in reading not decoding strategies
• Reads a word on one page but doesn’t recognize it on the next page
• Confuses look alike letters like b and d, b and p, n and u, or m and w
• Makes many reversals
• Substitutes a word while reading that means the same thing
• When reading leaves out or adds small words like “a, the, to, are, of”
• Reading fluency is poor
• Avoids reading as much as possible
• Misspells many words
• Writes illegibly
• Appears lazy, unmotivated, or frustrated
“The sooner a child with dyslexia is given proper instruction, particularly in the very early grades, the more likely it is that they will have fewer or milder difficulties later in life” states Richland.
PRIDE Learning Center provides one-on-one reading help for students with learning differences, including dyslexia, auditory and or visual processing disorder and ADHD. PRIDE specializes in an Orton-Gillingham reading approach for students struggling with dyslexia.
Throughout the month of October, parents or grandparents can bring their child in for a free assessment that will measure their reading abilities. To schedule an appointment contact the Newport Beach PRIDE Learning Center at 949-891-0125 or visit the website at www.pridelearningcenter.com
