Luke's Story
As told by his parents
Our
son Luke was diagnosed the summer before his 2nd grade year of school with
dyslexia. We had been told by his kindergarten teacher that Luke was different;
although very bright, he didn't seem to learn like the other children. During
his 1st grade year, his teacher was sure Luke just wasn't trying. If he would
just try harder, he would be able to read. She felt like Luke was lazy and
unmotivated. He participated in our school's Reading Recovery program and was
unable to complete it at the level required to pass. When Luke was unable to
pass, we asked if Luke could have dyslexia; we were told, "No, he is just
slow." By now, we knew there was something wrong. We had an incredibly bright,
inquisitive, active boy who could retain and memorize anything he heard but was
still unable to read simple words. The alphabet just didn't make sense to Luke.
We began to research learning disabilities and pulled up a website that listed
symptoms of dyslexia, and Luke had 10 out of 12 symptoms. We knew that we
finally had the answer but felt overwhelmed with the responsibility of how to
help our son. Our school didn't know how to teach Luke to read. We were
determined if there was a way to help Luke learn to read we would do it. In our
research, we had come across the DORE Program and felt like it was too good to
be true. There was no way it could be that easy.
In the fall of Luke's 3rd grade year, he was reading at Kindergarten level. He
had made no real improvement with one full year in Special Ed and was falling
further behind. We started to have behavior problems in the classroom. Luke
knew that all his classmates were reading and was embarrassed that he couldn't.
We knew we had to do something. So, we once again researched, and the only
thing that offered any hope was DORE. It was a big undertaking— the closest
DORE center was 600 miles away. We made the commitment to try DORE but felt
very skeptical about the outcome. Simple exercises twice a day to help Luke
read? It seemed crazy.
When Luke started the DORE Program, his ability to follow simple directions was
listed in his IEP at a 1st grade level. Within 6 weeks of starting the program,
Luke was getting up and getting himself ready for school without us reminding
him over and over. He started noticing words and letters immediately. We would
be riding in the car and Luke would say a word off a sign we were going by. We
didn't want to get our hopes up, but for the first time in 4 years there was
something to get excited about. Luke is getting really close to finishing the
program. In a 19-month period, he has gone from reading at a kindergarten level
to reading at a beginning 4th grade level. Luke's Special Ed teacher has been
amazed at his progress and believes his ability to improve so quickly can only
be attributed to the DORE Program. It hasn't always been easy; the exercises
are not difficult but do require a commitment twice a day every day even when
you don't feel like it or have time. Our only regret is that we didn't start
Luke immediately when he was diagnosed with dyslexia.