When Claire Mudra was in second grade, teachers began to realize there was something different about her. She was a very bright girl, but her reading and writing skills did not seem to develop as quickly as her classmates.
Upon seeing her pediatrician and running some tests, Claire was diagnosed with dyslexia.
“We had an inkling, cause we did kind of know that it was hereditary,” Erin Mudra, mother of Claire and Charlotte, said.
Jason Mudra, the father, always had trouble reading throughout school, and was officially diagnosed with dyslexia in high school. He suspects his father may have had a learning inefficiency as well.
When their youngest child, Charlotte Mudra started to show signs of dyslexia, her parents got her in to test right away.
According to the International Dyslexia Association, “dyslexia is a neurological condition caused by different wiring of the brain.” While dyslexia is a life-long disability, research has shown there is a program which is effective in helping children with dyslexia learn to read, write and spell.
Erin and Jason wanted their daughters to find those strategies to help with their dyslexia. They found Christine Johnson, speech language pathologist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, when Claire was first diagnosed. She has been attending weekly sessions for a few years and has prospered in many ways.
“She doesn’t need to be taken out of the classroom anymore and she’s doing rather well. She gets all A’s and B’s,” Erin said.
When Charlotte started to show warning signs of dyslexia, her parents knew there was no better person to help her than Christine.
Christine has been a speech language pathologist for over 35 years. As a clinical lead at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, her time is split between administrative responsibilities and evaluation and treatment. She specializes in the Orton-Gillingham approach, an evidence-based structured literacy program used to treat dyslexia patients.
“Failure to detect early signs of dyslexia can be devastating to a child,” Christine said.
During an interview, Christine emphasized how important it is to know the warning signs of dyslexia and why it is necessary to get a child tested if they are showing those signs. The earlier a child is diagnosed, the earlier they can start their treatment and develop the skills they need to flourish.
Claire and Charlotte are fortunate they had parents who recognized signs of dyslexia and got them the help they needed right away.
During their sessions, the daughters work on reading out loud, writing and word blends, according to Claire and Charlotte.
Through the past few years, each girl has improved significantly and is about at the same reading, writing and spelling levels as their classmates.
“She definitely has helped us out and really gotten us to where we need to be,” Erin said.
Upon seeing one another every week in therapy, both girls have developed a relationship with Christine. “She’s really awesome. She’s nice and really funny,” Charlotte said.
This past January, legislation passed, House bill 436, which states schools must comply with specified guidelines for universal screening, intervention and remediation for children with dyslexia, according to Christine. The bill will also help to increase awareness of the learning disability.
According to the International Dyslexia Association, “Dyslexia has no relationship to intelligence. Individuals with dyslexia are neither more nor less intelligent than the general population.”
The Mudra family and Christine want to help inform parents and children about the warning signs of dyslexia. But most importantly, Christine wants to empower parents to not rely on developing coping strategies that seems to imply there’s no hope – but rather, with appropriate instruction, children can be very successful and overcome their dyslexia.
If we can put this out there and someone sees it and reads it and thinks, “Oh my gosh, my kid is just like this,” have it checked out as soon as you can,” Erin said. “The sooner they figure it out, the sooner and the better they’re going to be able to learn.”
If you are concerned your child may have dyslexia, ask yourself the following questions:
Is there a family history of dyslexia? Or history of reading, writing, spelling difficulties?
Is there a speech language delay?
Is there a history of ADHD?
For more information about dyslexia or if you are wanting to schedule an appointment, visit https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/specialties/speech-pathology or call 614-722-2200.
