Help For Children With Dyslexia

by Jon Karroll j.karroll@krdo.com

COLORADO SPRINGS – Colorado Springs is now home to a new center aimed at helping children with dyslexia. Dyslexia is a learning disability that causes problems with reading fluency and accuracy. Approximately 15-percent of all children and adults have dyslexia.

The Dyslexia Center at Penrose St. Francis offers an intensive two-year program in which students meet with reading specialists four times a week for an hour each session. Stephanie Scheffe hear about the center from a friend, and enrolled her 11-year old son, Luke. “We just started noticing he was struggling with his school work, even just learning the sounds of the letters” she says.

Director Dr. Lynne Fitzhugh saw a need in our community and opened the center in the summer of 2007. Her passion for treating dyslexia goes back to when her own child struggled with reading. “We had him tested and we were told he was dyslexic, and I went back to school just to learn how my son learned and had no idea I was getting into a profession,” says Fitzhugh.

There is a genetic component to dyslexia. Dr. Fitzhugh says if one parent is dyslexic there’s at least a 25-percent chance a child could have the problem. Statistics show there is a 95-percent success rate for dyslexic children who receive intervention before the third grade. Parents like Stephanie are thankful their children are finally getting the help they need. “It was heartbreaking to watch a child struggle from kindergarten, knowing something wasn’t right and continuing trying different things and not getting any progress, its been wonderful to see him succeed.”

You can learn more about the Dyslexia Center at Penrose St. Francis by calling (719) 227-0026 or click here.