Graphic by Haley Smith
More than 1 in 5 people in the United States have dyslexia, a disorder that affects the ability to read, write and more. Dyslexia, according to the U.S. News and World Report, however, is often misunderstood. A study published in the Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics scholarly journal indicates that dyslexia is one of the most common neurobehavioral disorders affecting children.
“It’s very common, even more common than ADHD and autism,” Dr. Christine Durrett, a neuropsychologist at Flint Hills Neuropsychology and co-founder of Launch Learning Clinic in Manhattan, said.
After moving to Manhattan, Durrett started seeing patients and often diagnosed them with dyslexia, but she could only diagnose. She was unable to refer children to services that could help them learn to read.
“Parents would say, ‘That’s great, now what do we do?’” Durret said.
Thus entered Launch Learning Clinic. Founded in 2021, the organization provides services for children with dyslexia.
“Dyslexia is not reading backwards,” Durett said. “Dyslexia has nothing to do with ‘smart.’ There’s zero relationship between intelligence and reading.”
“I just got to the point that it felt so fruitless to diagnose the problem and not have anything to offer, so we decided to get something started.”
Launch Learning has provided services to help children with dyslexia learn to read at their appropriate grade level, Durrett said. The program uses a curriculum called ‘Take Flight,’ which takes about two years for students to complete.
“One of the reasons we chose the [‘Take Flight’] curriculum is that they [curriculum creators] are continuously researching the effects of the program,” Durrett said. “They have done studies following kids’ progress over time, and they find that the kids maintain the improvement they gain from going through the program. If they don’t get help, it’s tough … it becomes a huge obstacle later in life.”
Durrett said the services at Launch Learning are also available to any students who are struggling academically, not just those with dyslexia. In accord with Flint Hills Neuropsychology, Launch Learning’s parent organization, the programs aid students in math, reading and writing.
“We’re about to start offering skills groups, which are groups geared towards reading comprehension and reading fluency, writing and spelling, math concepts and study skills,” Durrett said. “Reading is in a state of emergency in this country right now; during the pandemic, quarantine and Zoom school, kids got a full grade year behind. What we’re seeing is, unfortunately, reading has gone downhill even more.”
Due to the decline in reading nationwide among children, as the effects of COVID-19 caused significant decreases in reading levels, especially among elementary school children, the services from these skills groups are timely, according to Durrett.
“Not only are we not catching up from the year that was lost, they’re [reading levels] also still declining year after year,” Durrett said. “Kids are not going to be equipped to navigate the world … I think we are not talking about this enough.”
Not only are these skill groups and dyslexia programs available for elementary-age children, but also for people all the way through secondary education.
“‘Take Flight’ is releasing a program called ‘Jet,’ which is for middle and high school, and even young adults,” Durrett said.
The new program and skill groups will be ready within a month, with services available for college students as well as a diagnostic test for learning disabilities.
Additionally, Durrett said Launch Learning is looking for employees interested in helping students grow in the areas the skills groups will cover.
“If there are K-State students that are in education or want to learn more about that, we are hiring now,” Durrett said.
People who work for Launch Learning have the ability to help students nationally and internationally and improve their chances of succeeding academically.
“We have kids in other states and other countries. The kids who have taken the programs, they come out reading at their grade level,” Durret said. “This is going to propel them in life.”