CUTV News Radio spotlights Maryann Chatfield of Welcome Dyslexia

Centereach, NY – From grades one through three, children learn to read; from grades three and up, children read to learn. If they struggle to read, they will soon be far behind their peers.

The most common learning disability affecting young students is dyslexia. Dyslexic students have difficulty reading words, spelling words and writing or composing using words. According to dyslexia expert Maryann Chatfield, rather than treating dyslexia as a disability to be overcome, she believes one should see it as something that makes a child special.

Chatfield is the founder of Welcome Dyslexia, a specialized private tutoring practice for dyslexic students and struggling readers.

"This is about helping dyslexic students thrive and not have the print stop them short," says Chatfield. "I use strategies that bolster their weaknesses and scratch their brain where it itches. I tell them, 'I'm going to give you a toolbox. When you go back to class, things will start to click. You will learn to read. Then the sky's the limit.'"

Students with dyslexia must master the same basic knowledge about language to become competent readers and writers as everyone else, but they need more help recognizing and organizing the raw material of language. Chatfield is a Fellow of the Orton-Gillingham Academy, which uses auditory, visual, kinesthetic and tactile pathways of input to student brains. Skills are developed by having the student listen, speak, read and write all at the same time.

"I get calls from parents who are incredibly relieved and full of joy. I believe we should teach everybody as if they are dyslexic. This approach truly works."

For more information on Maryann Chatfield, visit http://www.welcomedyslexia.com.