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Throughout my school years, including college and my Master's program, I have struggled with reading comprehension. When I was young, my mom bought me multiple reading programs in hopes of helping me be able to study and perform better. Despite my efforts, none of them helped me understand and retain what I was reading. By the time she bought me the last one, I was already in college and had just resigned myself that no matter what, reading and studying were always going to be more difficult for me than other people. I even had to take a remedial reading class in college, it was humiliating.  

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Fast forward to when my son, Maverick was 4 years old. I recognized that he was having many of the same reading difficulties I have struggled with. I found a reading therapist about 45 minutes from us and he started going to therapy. He responded well and was making noticeable progress. Our therapist moved away, and I was at a loss for how to help Maverick. I did some research and made some calls, and decided to take the same training that our therapist had received. 

 

Over the next several years, I went to Dallas, TX and Oklahoma City, OK for training on how to help him. By the time I was finished, I had earned the Certified Academic Language Therapist (CALT) designation, then later, became a Qualified Instructor. (CALT-QI) This training not only taught me how to help children learn how to read, comprehend and spell better, it also significantly improved my own reading.  The entire process took 7 years to complete. Today, Maverick is an adult who loves to read and do research.

 

Despite my struggles, I have always enjoyed teaching and I knew that the knowledge and skills I had developed through my training would be very helpful to children who struggle with reading and comprehension. I wanted to do my best to help kids not feel the same things I did. However, I lived in a rural area and I knew firsthand the challenges of not living close to a therapist.  I wanted to help children regardless of where they live.  So I decided to create something that would work remotely so that my students could meet from home. I didn't want families to have all the challenges of driving to me, waiting in the car, then driving home and having to make dinner and the list goes on. That can be extremely stressful for both the children and the parents.

 

I did have a few local students, but I worked very hard and through many days and nights of trial and error. Three years later, in spite of a lot of criticism from other dyslexia therapists, I developed the necessary processes and strategies and my journey began in online therapy. Later, when COVID happened, nothing changed for my students and I.  I was already working online and had a full caseload of kids. It was difficult to know how much things would change during that time. Many of my fellow therapists, who previously insisted that effective online therapy wasn't possible, were now calling and asking me how to do it. It is funny how these things work out. LOL!!!

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Needless to say, I love being an online therapist and am inspired to work with kids. I love giving them the support they need to overcome challenges at school, teaching them to become more secure in their abilities and how to advocate for themselves. It thrills my heart to watch them grow up and not let a challenge in reading or spelling stop them from fully living their lives.