S3E25: Why Dyslexia Programs Must Be Tailored to Each Child

If you're feeling frustrated with the one-size-fits-all approach to dyslexia education programs and the push for a singular reading method, then you are not alone! The current system is failing to recognize the individuality of dyslexic learners, leading to a lack of effective support and a sense of being left behind. It's time to challenge the status quo and demand a more personalized and blended approach to dyslexia education that truly meets the needs of every unique learner. Let's uncover the truth behind the motives and agendas driving the current dyslexia education landscape. It's time for a change!

The key moments in this episode are:

00:00:02 - Introduction and Reading Programs Discussion 

00:01:53 - Motives Behind Pushing Reading Programs 

00:04:34 - Limitations of Teachers and Education System 

00:07:48 - Impact of Education System on Graduation Rates 

00:12:29 - Disgusting Treatment of Students with Learning Disorders 

00:14:40 - Education System Failures 

00:16:00 - Impact of Educational Policies 

00:17:32 - Financial Interests vs. Student Well-being 

00:19:50 - Diverse Learning Needs 

00:24:34 - Emotional Impact on Students 

00:27:32 - Importance of not judging based on appearance 

00:28:11 - The invisible struggles of dyslexia 

00:28:50 - Questioning intentions and pushing for change 

00:29:30 - The importance of doing thorough research 

00:30:19 - Final thoughts and call to action

Transcript:

00:00:02
Welcome back to Word Blindness. Dyslexia exposed. This is Juliet Hahn here with my co host, Brent Sopel. How are you? Sore, Tired.

00:00:11
Allergies suck. Oh, Happy Monday. Yep, good to hear. Well, we are going to dive right into it then. We're going to talk about how there's so much out there right now being like, this is the reading program, but people have to do.

00:00:29
And we go through this all the time. Right. We were talking about like when Montgomery was young, when Lila was young. When kids are young, everyone jumps on one thing. And we have been saying like, you especially have been very vocal on like it's not about one thing, but we wanted to clarify a bunch of things because there's a lot of science of reading information going out there.

00:00:51
And it's not that we are disagreeing with science or reading. We believe though, and I'm going to let you speak, but I'm just going to kind of recap here. We believe that it's an. You need a multiple things, not each. Every kid is different.

00:01:04
We talk about that a million times. We all learn different. We talk about how you. There's certain ways that you learn that are different than the ways I learn. So when you're dyslexic, even when you're not dyslexic, there's different things.

00:01:13
So saying that one program is the be all end all is incorrect. Now it's also incorrect when the people that are pushing it. We know that there's an agenda behind it. So when we are going on and talking about these things, it's more because we know the back end of what's happening. And those people are getting money in their pockets because they're pushing a certain thing.

00:01:33
So people have to be really careful about what they listen to and what they take in because you have to know the motives behind what is going on. And so I'm going to let you kind of dove in there and, and speak a little on that. You've got, you know, like some of the biggest tech spokes companies in the world. They don't acknowledge dyslexia. Why?

00:01:53
Because, because then, you know, dyslexia audio books, then they lose money.

00:02:01
The educators at the top are some of the most egotistical people. But the people that are trying to change legislation to be only science reading who aren't teachers, you know, they're like, it's, it's insane. You know, obviously, you know, one of the things for. With Midas X, right, I can see things coming. I can put pieces together that's you know, nobody can.

00:02:43
It's some of those selfish people, ego driven people, money driven. But it's not for the kid. You know, we are obviously our line is, you know, the kid in the chair. These people have never been in that chair. So they don't, they don't understand.

00:03:04
You know, obviously there's, you know, dyslexia. You got Wilson reading, you had Orden Gillingham. You know, you've got a few different reading programs.

00:03:16
You've got to be able to take pits and pieces of a lot of different things to put it together. You know, again, these people are trying to push legislation is, is insane. You're not gonna, you're just gonna do the same thing. So now we're gonna go out and it may be a method to teach, but then, you know, you, you've got to go rewrite all the books. There's money being made.

00:03:46
Let's, let's be correct, let's be clear why they, they change, you know, the math, you know, now the kids math now is, you know, way different because you're gonna rewrite all the textbooks. They gotta print new textbooks. So it doesn't matter how it comes down to dollars and cents.

00:04:13
Just because they say on the outside it looks nice and flashy and they're doing good things. Yeah, you gotta dig deeper. And I have, you know, obviously I have. And there's not one method that can work for everybody right now. There isn't.

00:04:34
And the teachers aren't taught, you know, like we say this all the time.

00:04:42
They're taught out of one way, out of a textbook. It doesn't matter if it's font. You know that lawsuit if it's science reading. When you know how to teach one way, you can only help a group of kids, one group, and the rest fail because you can't pivot. You know, you're getting taught out of a textbook.

00:05:04
That's why the world is the way it is today. You know, you go to a therapist, as I always say, you got to go to somebody who's got, you know, two or three of your major traumas, right? Because they're going to teach you on experience. Tells you on experience. Not out of the textbook, on one page, 122.

00:05:21
You know that they don't understand. How many times people don't. I don't. I'm never going back to therapist. They don't understand.

00:05:27
You walk out of there more pissed off because you know, right. You can only teach. It's no different 20 years ago till now. It doesn't matter what method. There's only, it's only one way.

00:05:40
That's not how the world is used to be. And that's why dyslexic has been around over over a hundred years and we're still in the same spot, still driven by the researchers research based research base. Go fuck and stick a finger up your ass with your research. I live it every day. I don't need to, I don't need to sit in a room and listen to you talk monotoned and you pretend I, you know what I feel maybe if I come punch in the face then you know how I feel.

00:06:14
They only go have these big conferences and spend all this money and look at us and look at us and we're doing great things. We're gonna go past legislation, you know. Are you going to help, you know, a couple kids? Absolutely. But are you helping everybody that you're saying you are?

00:06:30
No.

00:06:33
Right. Because again as you said, they, and we're talking about a few individuals, if you didn't pick up on that. But they don't have dyslexia right now. You know, so is a cult. Right.

00:06:47
You know, um, it's like we're in Texas and you know, we're at the ranch, you know, on a ranch. Right. It's, it's, it's a call, you know, it's. Science arena has been around for, you know, 30 some years and now I think it's even been longer than that. Maybe longer than that.

00:07:00
Yeah. Yeah. So now it's the best and biggest thing. Just because you know, somebody's got a connection and I. No, it's, it's the new shiny toy on the market right now.

00:07:14
And what. And we've seen this with, with reading programs, with math programs. As Brent has stated in education. I know especially for like when Montgomery was in school, they changed it two times when he was early and so he not only is dyslexic and dyscalculia, but then missed so much important things because they were changing it and like. Well no, this is how the kids need to learn to know.

00:07:37
We don't know all the time how every single kid there, it has to be blended and you have to take individual kids or individual groups and. Yes. Does it take more? Yes. But how are we going to get.

00:07:48
When we look at these percentages? You know, you just said in Baltimore, Chicago, New York, there's 0% graduation rates, things are worse than they ever been. Is Covid a factor? Yes. Because of kids not being able to Read.

00:08:00
Because kids of having to do screens and. And the mental health and all of that. But we were headed down that path anyways because of. Of the education system being so up. Yeah.

00:08:10
You know, everybody can point their finger at Covid.

00:08:17
You know, where I'm going to point the finger in a Covid is the mental health of, you know, a lot of the parents, the adults never been. Never been worse. Right. So they're not getting their help. Right.

00:08:29
So who's it falling on? It's falling on the kids. Right. And that's getting worse is because there's no relatability, you know, not, you know, not having any clue or to understand how I feel. You'll never understand, but you don't listen.

00:08:50
You know how many teachers. You know, I'm the teacher. I know how many special ed meetings out there. This is what you need to do. Very few.

00:09:02
There's a small percentage that. That listen, they want to tell us what we need.

00:09:09
You got no idea what it feels like. You got no idea how I learn. And it's cut and paste. It's like, this is what they learned. So this is what they think you did.

00:09:17
And it's like, oh, this is what every kid needs to do. Here's the black and white. Right. So it's, you know, Covid just expedited that mental health. And then now that's the epidemic to me in this world is people who have no clue telling.

00:09:36
Right. You've got counselors. That's. That's, you know, somebody said there's an epidemic of shortage of counselors, you know, because it's nerds sitting in a chair listening to somebody. You're not going to have clue and understand what I've gone through.

00:09:53
And you know, it's counseling out of a book. That's all we do is out of a book. Oh, this nurse is rehabbing. You know, this guy's knee. Never been in there.

00:10:01
But this is what the book says, Doc. This is. This is what the book says. Right? This is.

00:10:06
No, that's. And that's where our problem is. Yeah. The education world, they all think that they're smarter because they got a degree or two or our masters, which is. I can put you in a loop before you even know I did it.

00:10:23
Right. But you can go and say you've got a piece of paper. Great. But that. That's got no understanding of me.

00:10:29
And the ego that comes with it is. So they hand you a piece of paper and they hand you an eagle same time. And they need to tell Us, they want to tell us this is how it's done. You know, my daughter did you know Wilson reading when they're Ed Montgomery did Orne Gilliam. Yeah, well, he did Wilson first, which didn't work with him because the way that they were teaching him wasn't good.

00:10:52
And then he did Orton Gillingham. And that is what you know. But it's also depends on who is giving it, as you said. And that's the huge part it, that keeps being missed here. It's like, oh, the science of reading needs to be done, but the teacher is first of all not being taught how to do it.

00:11:07
And then also it's not just the one thing. It needs to be a blend of everything. You need your phonics, you need your, you know, the, the system, whatever. I'm not going to go into all the freaking details because it's, but because it's, it's maddening. You know, it's, you know, you, you know, somebody dies and, you know, you got $50 million was given it to you and I'm gonna go buy a.

00:11:31
Go buy a business for $50 million, you know, whatever that is, you know, and just, just buy it and think you know how to run it. It's not how it works. You've gotta, if you're gonna invest. That's why you got some successful companies. Obviously they started from the bottom.

00:11:52
They've done every job to understand every job, to be able to pivot from every job to have full understanding. Except for us, except for education, right? No clue. How does that make sense? You want to teach us, but you have zero clue about us.

00:12:12
No understanding, no relatability.

00:12:17
That makes zero sense to me. And that's why we keep spending the money. That's why the world is getting the way it is.

00:12:29
You see now, obviously, with the Education Department in Chicago, zero percent efficiency, some graduation rate. Zero percent.

00:12:42
They don't care. You know, here in Chicago, obviously that's a whole different story. They care about green buses. You know, if you cared that much about kids, it'd be a whole different story, right? Then that's where the political side comes in.

00:12:54
That's where, you know, their paycheck is more important than the kid. You know, Liz was telling me one of the girls that her mom babysits, you know, she's kindergarten and teacher said, I'll give you four weeks if she acts like this. After four weeks, she's gone.

00:13:18
You know, obviously, you know, you know her, we've talked about what she has. She's got Other things going on, learning disorders. And four weeks they're going to kick her out. That's what the teacher said. You or the, the other lady was special edge teacher looks at the mom, said, you're, you're exhausting for advocating for my daughter.

00:13:43
No, you're fucking exhausting, you fucking bitch. Because you don't understand. You're not listening to me. You're not listening what I go through every day. Because, you know, and that's, that's where it is.

00:13:57
You know, you're a special education teacher coordinator, whatever title, and you're looking at a parent saying you're exhausting when the kid's got learning disorders and she's trying to advocate for your kid. Yeah, I mean, it's, it's disgusting. And you know, just to bring it, and we've talked about this before, but just to kind of bring it not full circle, but to give also more examples, you know, top really successful universities, you know, top of their education. The people that run the education programs didn't realize there are certain things in certain states that you can't put in. They had no idea of how an IEP worked.

00:14:40
They are running an educational program. So teachers are going through this, but they don't know what it is on the streets. They don't know what the teachers actually are going through and what the kids in the chair are going through. But they have all the degrees, they stayed in school to be able to run this educational program because I'm sure they were good in school. And it was like, oh, this is great.

00:15:03
I have all these credentials and I can help. And, and I'm sure that they have a heart, that they really, really wanted to help and see things. But when you, as you said, when you don't live it and you don't have the experience, how can you actually be the head of something and preaching to the people that are supposed to be in the chairs and supposed to be helping the kids on the street. How does that make any fucking sense?

00:15:27
None of it makes sense. And that's, that's what this all comes down to is, you know, obviously, you know, with Trump abolishing the education and putting it back on the states, you know, you've got, I don't care, the head of the educator, whatever Randy or whatever the fuck her name was, yo, you know, going nuts. Chicago, you got some schools, I think it was 30 something schools. And at 0%, 0% graduation rate, like, how is that okay? How is that okay?

00:16:00
And Baltimore too, that just came out too. Yeah, you Know, we're the average. We're less than 20% efficiency in reading, you know, in the country. Why? Because they know best.

00:16:17
Because now, you know, I've got the next best reading program. So now I'm going to sell it to you so you can buy it. You know, I know there's another program lady in New York, Canadian, you know, built a program. Great. And she's selling it to school districts, more expensive.

00:16:34
And she said, ah, it's business now. It's a business when I put your fucking curb around your teeth and I fucking knock them out. Because when is it about the kids? No, it's a business. This is all a business.

00:16:49
It's all money. Don't tell me you care. Because if you care, did. Listen, you know, obviously, you know, there's certain people, but science reading is a cult. We're going to look back, right?

00:17:01
You know, it's these, these people think that Ohio is the best state. Oh, you can't say recognize the word dyslexia in Ohio. So that's a great state, right? That's awesome. You know, in Illinois, if you go get a neuropsych, the schools don't need to take it anymore.

00:17:19
With a new bill in 24, you know, they give their own, they give their own diagnosis of what they want. Oh, that's for the kid, right? Uk, they got rid of the word dyslexia for the whole country. Now it's learning difference, right? Why?

00:17:32
It's cheaper, right? They don't have, they understand. They don't understand. So, you know, I think some people are, you know, obviously it's right. Talking about the way, you know, school is, is just to make, make faculty workers or, you know, that's what it was when, you know, school, right.

00:17:54
The first school systems came about or the school. First school came about, you know, so assembly lines. Yeah, look at, you know, look at the cell phone. We have one now. Like, look, look what it does.

00:18:03
You know what happened to the rotary phone we were talking about the other day?

00:18:08
It's not changing, right? Because look who's on top.

00:18:16
Look who's on top telling us. Telling. They're the smartest people in the world. Like, why? Yeah, I was like, what is that noise?

00:18:30
I was printing about an hour ago, I was trying to print these papers and decided to spit it out right now.

00:18:39
But it's interesting. It's not changing, right? Oh, no, it's. We'll go small. Can't even read it, so.

00:18:47
Oh, geez, you've got a, you know, pivot You've got to. You got to learn. You got to explore now. It's the next phase, you know, the AI is the next new shiny toy. AI is going to do, you know, for education.

00:19:05
Let's go back to basics, right? No. Elizabeth was at a call this morning. A training thing. Fucking painful.

00:19:14
Listen to monotone. This is how you learn. And we do this and then we go here. We all don't learn that way. And I wanted to shoot myself just listen that voice for 10 minutes.

00:19:27
We talk about this all the time, you know, how do you learn? How do you teach science reading? You can only teach one way. We need four or five different ways. You need to be able to pivot.

00:19:41
You need to be able to try new things. And you can't try new things if you don't know there's new things out there. And it needs to be a blend of all of them. It can't just be. Can't be just one.

00:19:50
And it. And it has to. People need to stop. And I know it's, you know, this is. I can say this and we can laugh, but it has to be like, it's not about the money, it's about the kids.

00:20:00
And if we can just flip that, I think everyone will open their eyes and be like, oh, wait, we've been doing things wrong. But people, they don't. It's a bottom line, as you said. And it's, you know, it is so disheartening hearing, right? Parent after parent after parent talking and their experiences in all these different states that are reaching out.

00:20:22
And it's like we all have similar stories and it's just. It. It boggles my mind. But then it doesn't, you know, it's like one of those, like, mind where you're like, yeah, I'm not surprised, but, like, I am so surprised because I like, it's. It's so not efficient, as you said, like, to run a successful business, right?

00:20:44
The businesses that are the most successful is the people that have been in the trenches, right? The kid in the chair, that they've been in the trenches, that have learned all the different things. And we are listening to people that are not dyslexic. I mean, that's one thing that we talk about. They're dyscalculia.

00:20:56
They're not dysgraphic on adhd. They are, you know, not dyspraxia. They are none of these. And yes, we know there's some of you out there. We understand that, but some of you out there that also have These have also been drinking the Kool Aid because you're now surrounded by the people that are not.

00:21:12
So you kind of keep your experiences, in my opinion, to, you know, like, okay, well, we need to jump on this. It's about like all these people just following the sheep and following the herd and, and not having a mind of their own. But when you really think about it, it's so simple. It, it's. There's not one thing for everyone.

00:21:30
Not everyone can fit into a square hole. And just because you're not, everyone's the same shape. No. And just because your kid have it, you still don't understand it. Right?

00:21:41
Right. You understand as a parent, right? 100. 100. But you don't understand it.

00:21:47
And you might understand what, how. And you saw your kid struggle and then something that helped and it was like, oh my gosh, I want to help all the other kids. So we're not saying that the, you know, in the beginning, their, these people, what their mind and why they wanted to do it in the beginning is because they probably were like, oh my gosh, I can help. And then all of a sudden, there's a switch. And we've seen it time and time again, not just in the dyslexic world.

00:22:09
You could see it in the business world. You can see it in every medical, all of the worlds. And when it comes to money, people shift and things stop being about, you know, the beginning, like why they started, like, go back to why you started it. You say this all the time.

00:22:30
They started out with good intentions. Yeah, I do. I believe, I believe everyone starts with good intentions. I don't think people are out there, especially in this. I really don't.

00:22:38
And yeah, I know. You know, and I know you believe that. You know, and I don't believe that for, for a second. Yo, obviously what I've gone through, but, you know, just watching the actions of some of them, you don't have it. So you don't have that full understanding.

00:22:55
Right. So it's.

00:22:58
You can see the little end of the rainbow for this little shiny gold pot. You know, you take a look at a lot of people that are pushing it. You know, they already have money, they want more. Right. It's never about the kids.

00:23:14
So if you're. You're doing a business, why do you have to make 10x on it? Why can't. Why, why, why not two or three, you know, on. Let's make 10x on a struggling kid.

00:23:25
And then the parents are struggling because in financial, they try and Keep up. Then their marriage goes, oh, that sounds like an awesome. You're such a great human. Good job for doing that. Meanwhile, you're sitting in your house with you got the two rooms and nobody can go in there.

00:23:42
You can just look at. Right. You know, it's, it's sad to see yo. Obviously the statistics, you know, Chicago being here, you know the statistics like to hear that, you know, and it's not fair to kid. And let me tell you, it's not fun to live like this.

00:24:04
And why do you think, you know, you can't read. Of course you're going to go do drugs. Because I love doing drugs. I want to do drugs every day to escape what this feels like. To know you're different, to know your struggle, the anxiety, you know, the mental health that goes through on this side.

00:24:26
No, if I could take that away from every kid. Holy. Absolutely. That's what the goal is.

00:24:34
But to see yo kids that can't read, you know, like zero percent graduation rates. Oh, let's keep kids school. Why the heck. Why would I be. I wouldn't be going to school either.

00:24:46
No, and I mean, like, we're not Talking about like 0% reading rates or 0%, like elementary school. We're talking about graduation rates. So we're like talking about 12th grade. So, like, I mean, what, what, what, what are we doing? Like, what are we fucking doing?

00:25:04
Like, and, yeah, and, and I know we, we go back and forth talking about the intentions and stuff, but I really, truly believe that people. I. And it's because I want to believe that. I don't want to believe that people wake up and are like, I'm just evil. Like I.

00:25:18
Or I'm going to be a dick today. Right. We talk about that and. Which we laugh about. But like, I live life thinking that there's good intentions and you know, right.

00:25:28
It's. We live in different worlds. So, like, I, I get that, but I like that world to be like, no, not everyone. Like, I, I really do believe if you' parent and you're like, oh my God, this works for my kid, how can I help other kids feel this? Like, it starts with that initial, like, oh, my God, this is exciting.

00:25:43
Maybe it turns quickly like, oh, I can make a lot of money on this too. But I do think it's like, oh, I saw that. That, that was a relief. I saw my kid have a bright eye. I want to duplicate that for others.

00:25:55
And I, I will live like that forever. You got as hard as we, we can get. You had hedge Funds buying up. Dentist offices buying up. Right.

00:26:07
Yeah. Because money. Plastic surgeon's office. Oh, I know that. Yeah.

00:26:12
Yeah. Like things you'd never, ever think of, you know, veterinarians, like, what's it come down to? You know, so they may, you know, may not. But there's certain people that go in there, you know, and start that get going. But, you know, a good portion of people don't.

00:26:34
Yeah. No, and. And. And you're right. No, there are.

00:26:36
Right. But so what? The message that we want to really get across is that we're not saying that the science reading is bad. And I want to make that very clear. We are saying that we believe and we know because we are dyslexic.

00:26:50
We have kids that are dyslexic, that it has to be a blend. It can't just be one. And the more that people just push. One thing is ridiculous. Look at the.

00:26:59
The p. Right. The. The. The lawsuit.

00:27:02
That was the whole other. The whole world, Lucy Cork, and all these people fighting about. It has to be this, it has to be that. It has to be a blend because every kid is different. And every kid.

00:27:11
It doesn't matter if you have dyslexia. Every kid is different. Every dyslexic learns different. You know, and then the fonts. Pinellas think they're out of Massachusetts, you know, getting sued, then people getting on there talking about that.

00:27:26
You know, that's where you can tell. You can see where the intentions are. Yo.

00:27:32
Never ever. Do you hear anything about the kid in the chair? Never. Nope. And that's.

00:27:41
That's at the end of. It comes down to it is putting yourself never, obviously, never judge a book by a cover. Right.

00:27:54
But they're sure going to teach. Oh, you're a kid and you're in fourth grade. Okay. You're going to learn this way. Yep.

00:28:02
And all the. The things that the kids learn before it's caught, all the ways that they know how to get out of it. As you just said, like, you don't look it. It's the invisible. Like, that's.

00:28:11
The other thing is you. It's so many things that we can get out of because we learn, because we don't even realize that we're doing it right. We talk about Montgomery and his memorizing. He didn't like. He wasn't like, oh, look, I'm gonna get the teacher to tell me the book so I can be a sneak.

00:28:25
No, it was because. Wait, I need that so I can. Like, that's how he thought he you know, that's how he read. So, like, we have to really. It's.

00:28:32
It's so simple, but everyone makes it so complicated, and it's ridiculous. It is so ridiculous. And so it has to be a number of different things that. That everyone needs. When the intentions behind people pushing certain things, we know that the intentions are not good.

00:28:50
We're not going to sit there and be, like, jumping on those coattails to say, we will be ones, especially this guy over here, that are going to call you out on your. So, like, keep, keep, keep up. Keep. Keep going around saying that this is how it has to be and these other ones are not right and trying to, you know, shut things down. It's not the way it is, and it's not going to help the kid in the chair.

00:29:11
And if you really want to help the kid in the chair, really think about your intentions and how you're approaching things and what you're pushing and what you're saying out in the public. Because people listen and listen. We talk about, I could have gotten any job, right? I could get any job because I can interview really well. Do I know what I'm doing in any job?

00:29:30
No. And that's. A lot of these people are really good salespeople. They got really good personalities, and they know what to say. But actually, when you start uncovering it and listening, you're like, wait a second and.

00:29:41
Or, wait, what are the intentions? So when you're listening to people and you're like, oh, it has to be this way. Ask some questions. And that's where Curious George comes back in. But ask questions.

00:29:51
Don't take it just for a grain of salt, because you hear someone that can speak well and seems like they got a good following on Instagram, or not even that, or have a good following or. Or they make a lot of money. Doesn't mean they know what the they're doing. So do your homework before you start listening and saying, this is how it has to be, because that's not the way the world work, and that's not how we learn and not how the kids learn. Right?

00:30:11
Got a little angry there.

00:30:19
I could go on. Yeah, I could. I could really go off, but I'm just going to be somewhat nice. Okay, so we're going to leave it there. Thank you for listening to another episode of Word Blindness Dyslexia Exposed.

00:30:34
We will see you again. You know what I say every single time? Like, rate, review, and share. Because you don't know right now who is jumping on certain things because they heard pieces of it, or they read an article, or they're like, wait, that person knows what they're doing, and it actually is not the way the world really should work. So do your homework and ask fucking questions before you jump on bandwagons.