Rebecca Miller
Vocational Talk
Rotary February 2018
Thank you for the opportunity to share with my fellow Rotarians a bit about my vocation.
I am an Educational Consultant in addition to being the Owner and Managing Director of FixLexia a clinic dedicated to serving the needs of individuals with Dyslexia. I graduated from the University of Nebraska Omaha in 1994. Like most, my vocational trajectories has not been a straight line. For the first 8-9 years of my career, I worked in the financial services industry. While I enjoyed the work, I wanted something that "filled the bucket." I was fortunate to have had to opportunity to own a tutoring franchise for 14 years, and this was the impetus that fueled my desire to work with individuals with dyslexia.
The need for services in our state is great as it is estimated the prevalence rates of dyslexia are between 13-17%.
The official definition provided by the International Dyslexia Association is as follows:
Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.”
Adopted by the IDA Board of Directors, Nov. 12, 2002.
While this is the definition, there are many myths in the general public that unfortunately lead to delayed intervention. The most common myths include:
1. Dyslexia is visual; they see things (or read) backward
Extensive research has shown that while reading is primarily phonological, not visual
However, individuals can have visual processing difficulties, but this would be separate and distinct from a diagnosis of dyslexia.
2. That a child cannot be assessed until 3rd grade
When in fact children's phonological skills can be addressed as early a four years of age
3. Dyslexia is curable
Dyslexia is neurobiological; it is a lifelong condition
4. Children with dyslexia will never learn to read
This is NOT true, interventions provided in Kindergarten -2nd grade can significantly improve a child's reading writing and spelling abilities.
It is estimated that nearly 45,000+ Nebraska children in our combined public and private schools have dyslexia. I feel grateful to have the opportunity to serve individuals by assuring that those coming to my clinic are appropriately assessed and receive the interventions they need and deserve.
