• Private one-to-one reading instruction 

• Diagnostic Testing for Dyslexia by Certified Dyslexia Testing Specialists. Our highly trained, experienced, certified testers can test your child for dyslexia and will provide a parent friendly report. The report fully documents the test results and provides detailed recommendations for reading instruction and classroom accommodations. Dyslexia is a genetic condition that is not outgrown -- a child only needs to be tested one time in his or her life.
• Classroom Accommodations for students enrolled in ACS and information for students we tutor about the accommodations they should seek or implement at their public, private or home school.
• Education about Dyslexia through 6 annual Open House presentations. These feature video presentations about Dyslexia; Testing and Tutoring; and Classroom Accommodations, a hands on look at the program we use and other resources that are helpful to dyslexic children and adults. See the link at the right for the next Open House.

We at ACS and DRC believe that education should meet the needs of the child. Current reading education reaches about 80% of students while 20% are left behind. Research has shown that most of that 20% are dyslexic.

When you have an intelligent, creative, talented child (or adult) who has been given good phonics instruction, who wants to read and tries hard to read but just can't seem to get it, you are usually dealing with dyslexia. Dyslexia is currently understood to be a perfectly normal, inherited, brain pattern characterized by a lack of phonemic awareness which makes language processing difficult. This is a very simple explanation. Please check the link "About Dyslexia" on the side to learn the most up-to-date and detailed information about dyslexia.

Warning Signs of Dyslexia A person with dyslexia will have 3 or more, and usually many, of the following warning signs. The biggest warning sign of all is a close relative with dyslexia.

In Preschoolers:
• delayed speech
• mixing up the sounds or syllables in long words
• chronic ear infections
• severe reactions to childhood illnesses
• constant confusion of left versus right
• late establishing a dominant hand
• difficulty learning to tie shoes
• trouble memorizing his address, phone number, or the alphabet
• can't create words that rhyme

In Elementary School:
• dysgraphia (the slow, non-automatic handwriting that is difficult to read.)
• letter or number reversals continuing past first grade
• extreme difficulty learning cursive
• slow, choppy, inaccurate reading: guesses based on shape or context skips or misreads prepositions (at, to, of) ignores suffixes can't sound out unknown words
• terrible spelling
• often can't remember sight words (they, were, does) or homonyms (their, they're, and there)
• difficulty telling time on a clock with hands
• trouble with math memorizing multiplication tables memorizing a sequence of steps directionality
• extremely messy bedroom, backpack, and desk
• dreads going to school, complains of stomach aches or headaches, may have nightmares about school
• the biggest warning sign of all is a close relative with dyslexia

In High School:
All of the above symptoms plus:
• limited vocabulary
• extremely poor written expression, large discrepancy between verbal communication and written communication
• unable to master a foreign language
• difficulty reading printed music
• poor grades in many classes
• may drop out of high school

In Adults:
Educational history similar to above, plus:
• slow reader
• may have to read a page 2 or 3 times to understand it
• terrible speller
• difficulty putting thoughts onto paper, dreads writing memos or letters
• still has difficulty with right versus left
• often gets lost, even in a familiar city
• sometimes confuses b and d especially when tired or sick

For information about other testers or tutors anyplace in the U.S. contact www.BrightSolutions.US Used with permission Copyright © 2001 by Susan Barton. All rights reserved.

If you have concerns about your child's reading and spelling and would like to talk to me about tutoring or testing please click on Contact Nancy at the left.

Meet our Testers
Our experienced Certified Dyslexia Testing Specialists are Lynn Hietpas and Nancy Menn. Lynn has an AA in Science, a BA in Business Administration (with Majors in Finance and Human Resources) and is certified Cross Categorical in Special Education. Nancy is a co-founder of Appleton Christian School who has been involved in Christian and Homeschool education since 1986. She has a BA in Political Science and a law degree

Dyslexia Reading Connection (DRC) is a division of Appleton Christian School, a non-profit, educational 501© (3) corporation. We believe that every child deserves to read. DRC is open to children and adults of any race, color, nationality or ethnic origin and does not discriminate in any way in the administration of its educational or admissions policies.