Range Rider

6 RANGE RIDER | FALL-WINTER 2017 socioeconomic status have no impact on whether or not a person is dyslexic. With proper diagnosis, specialized instruction, hard work, and support from family, teachers, and friends, children who have dyslexia can succeed in school and later as working adults. Children who receive appropriate therapy and effective instruction in kindergarten and first grade have far fewer problems learning to read at grade level than children who aren’t diagnosed and helped until third grade. An astounding 74 percent of children who are poor readers in third grade remain poor readers in the ninth grade, many because they do not receive appropriate instruction with the needed intensity or duration to make a difference. Thankfully, Jaelynn is one of the 26 percent of children with dyslexia diagnosed and treated in the third grade (or fourth, in her case) who become proficient readers because she received the therapy and instruction that she needed. For more than 20 years, Hardin-Simmons University has been making a difference for students with dyslexia and their families through what is now known as the Houston-Lantrip Center for Literacy and Learning (HLC) on campus. Services of the HLC include: • Providing individual therapy for students with dyslexia • Promoting awareness and understanding of dyslexia to teachers and parents • Training for teachers and HSU graduate students that helps them effectively work with students with dyslexia • Serving as a resource center for parents, teachers-in-training, public school employees, and university faculty and staff members • Hosting seminars and workshops to train and support adults who work directly with students who have difficulty learning to read and write From 2001 to 2011, the HLC was under the guidance of Dr. Collene Simmons, a certified academic language therapist and educator for more than four decades. Under Dr. Simmons’ directorship, the center became an invaluable resource for teachers and parents of children with dyslexia. In 2004, the Dodge Jones Chair in Literacy and Learning was established to supplement the salary of the HLC director. Since 2011, the center has been under the direction of Dr. Emily Dean who earned her B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies from Texas State University, and both her M.Ed. and Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Texas A&M University. Dr. Dean has extensive education and training as a licensed dyslexia therapist, a member of the editorial review board for the “Journal of Literacy Research and Instruction”, a reviewer of presentations for the National Reading Conference, and a presenter for the International Dyslexia Association. In 2014, Texas Governor Rick Perry appointed Dr. Dean to the Early Childhood Intervention Advisory Committee, which serves Texas families who have infants and toddlers with disabilities or developmental delays. 44 MILLION AMERICANS ARE FUNCTIONALLY ILLITERATE ILLITERACY IN THE U.S.A. 20% READ BELOW THE LEVEL NEEDED TO EARN A LIVING WAGE* APPROXIMATELY 48% OF ADULTS HAVE AN INCOME BELOW THE POVERTY LEVEL BECAUSE OF ILLITERACY* 3 OUT OF 4 PEOPLE ON WELFARE CAN’T READ* 85% OF JUVENILE OFFENDERS HAVE PROBLEMS READING* *Source: Literacy Project Foundation