Location: Cabot, AR
Education: Bachelor of Science in Communicative Disorders from UA Little Rock; Certified Academic Language Therapy Training from Vicki King, M. Ed, CALT, QI; Nonprofit Management and Leadership Certification from UA Little Rock
Years Experience Teaching: 24
Years Experience In Dyslexia: 17
Teaching Experience
Homeschooling 14 years
Dyslexia Therapist 17 years, Private Practice for 14 years and Dyslexia on Demand for almost 3 years.
Professional Affiliations
Academic Language Therapy Association (ALTA)
Academic Language Therapy Association- Arkansas (ALTA-AR)
International Dyslexia Association (IDA)
Nonprofit Leadership Alliance
Programs Trained In
Take Flight
Preflight
Age Range You Feel Most Comfortable With:
I have worked with pre-K students, high school students, and all ages in between. I enjoy all ages.
Why did you decide to become a CALT?
I homeschooled my two sons, and I was struggling to teach my youngest to read. My son does not have dyslexia, but testing revealed a glitch that was causing difficulty in learning to read. I found Vicki King, M. Ed, CALT, QI, and obtained training in Academic Language Therapy with the Take Flight Program. This program worked great for my son, and he graduated high school with honors. He was awarded a full ride scholarship and attended college at UA Little Rock. He received a Bachelor’s in Business Administration Management. In the process of gaining hours for my certification, I discovered there were many students in our schools who were not being served adequately for reading remediation. This created a passion in me to become a CALT in order to help as many students as possible. I know I cannot help all of them, but I try to keep “The Starfish Story” philosophy in mind and remember that “I made a difference” to the ones I had an opportunity to serve.
Favorite moment working with dyslexic students?
My favorite moments working with dyslexic students are when the student corrects the teacher!
This tells me they understand what was presented to them, and they have enough confidence to tell me I am wrong!
Your goal when working with kids with dyslexia?
My ultimate goal is to provide information for my students to help them improve their reading.
It is amazing to see a student start as a non-reader and become a proficient reader.
Another goal is to teach my students to ask questions that will help them become their own teacher by helping them discover tools to improve their reading, spelling, and writing. I also want to help them build self-confidence, so they will be able to advocate for themselves during their educational journey.
Your teaching style, personality?
I love all my students. Each one is different, so I try to adapt my approach to match each student’s personality.
I am somewhat laid back. I provide structured lessons, but I am also ready to alter my lesson plan when I see it will benefit the student. I try to let students have fun, and I provide games when it is appropriate for the lesson. I am aware that attention deficits often accompany learning disabilities, so I am understanding and try to find some common ground to keep them interested in what we are trying to accomplish.
Any family details?
I have two grown sons and a daughter-in-law.
I have three dogs, two huge ones and one tiny one.
Any extra anecdotal info you want to add?
My sister has dyslexia, and it breaks my heart the way she was treated in school. I aspire to prevent this very damaging treatment of our dyslexic and other differently learning students, so they can reach their full potential and maintain self-esteem necessary to overcome dyslexia and other learning disabilities.
Together we will rise above dyslexia!
