We first started noticing that my son was struggling when he was in preschool, but thought that kindergarten would help him catch up and he would progress just like the other kids. By the end of kindergarten, we realized that he was not getting the help that he needed and we started looking around for other options with the school and his first-grade teacher. We quickly noticed that this was not going to be easy getting the help that we needed. As parents, we started looking around by ourselves and came across the Dyslexia Center of Utah’s website. Every description fit our son. We called and got an appointment and by the summer before second grade, my 7-year-old started tutoring with Miss Andrea.
As parents we could immediately see that tutoring could benefit our son academically and emotionally. He was struggling with confidence and starting to really hate school. Tutoring gave him a safe place to learn on his own time and not feel the pressure to look dumb in front of the whole class.
Our son has severe Dyslexia and Dysgraphia. Tutoring was not going to fix him over night, in a couple months or in a year. Our biggest goal for our son was making him not feel dumb. Our son was struggling with everything academically and could not even properly identify letters. We just wanted him to feel like he could do things. The first real improvement that we saw happened about three or four months into tutoring. We were on the freeway driving to tutoring when my son said from the back seat, “Hey mom! Look there is an M on that sign.” I literally burst into tears. My son started knowing letters. We were in this for the long haul.
We didn’t put any pressure on him to learn faster. This was his journey and we could see the progress even if it was slow. Sometimes the drive was long and sometimes the hours of tutoring seemed to never end, but some weeks he came out and just knew stuff. Things were clicking and when things clicked, everything was worth it. Even if the clicks took a long time.
Our son finished through the tutoring program the spring of 8th grade. He was in tutoring for 7 years. We saw amazing progress and really felt like he was learning. Our son’s brain and learning does not work like everyone else. He wasn’t just going to wake up and get it, but through consistent tutoring he was making progress. Our son still has to work hard every day, but the confidence and teaching that came through tutoring has given him opportunities to learn in a more regular setting and not feel like he is way below other students. We are completely indebted to Miss Andrea and the Dyslexia Center of Utah.
A Parent