Tag Archives: success

Confidence comes from success

By Susan Barton on | 1 Comment

Parents often ask me how to build their child’s confidence. Confidence will grow when your child is successful at something that used to be hard . . . as this parent shared:

Both of my kids are dyslexic. But my daughter, who is going into 7th grade, suffered tremendously in school since she is older and was in a traditional school longer. My poor daughter was an undiagnosed dyslexic all the way through 5th grade.

Every year, I spent hours and hours after school and on weekends trying to reteach material she was not understanding at school – and to prepare for all the spelling tests. I did not know anything about dyslexia, so we did what the school recommended and drilled the spelling list every single night, 7 days a week, hoping she would pass the spelling test through constant repetition.

Some Fridays she passed the test, and some Fridays, she did not. But the following Monday, she could no longer remember the sequence of letters. What a colossal waste of our time and effort (hers and mine), and it was so demoralizing to my daughter who began to show signs of clinical depression.

So we began homeschooling this past year, and I found the Barton System. We started it in late fall, and I had to go very slowly in the beginning (mainly because she was so down on herself), but she is now half-way through Level 3.

She took a spelling test from an assessor the other day on the recommendation of a friend. We did not study for the test. It was given to her cold.

There was a time when she would not have gotten a single word right on that list, and what’s more, she would have been utterly terrified at the prospect. But this time, when a word was read to her that she was uncertain of, she would finger spell the sounds, write the word down and study it, sound it out again, then change what she felt might need changing.

She got every single word correct, which was great.

But what was even better was seeing her confidently studying the words when she felt the spelling might be wrong – instead of just giving up in tears. She did not panic going into the test, either. She sat down confidently, and left the test the same way.

When she found out she had not made a single misspelling, she and I looked at each other with huge grins on our faces.

The next morning, she got up early and asked if we could go ahead and start our next Barton lesson before breakfast.

Thank you, Susan. There really aren’t adequate words to express how grateful we are.

Posted in: Parents, Success | Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

I can finally be who I want to be

By Susan Barton on | 2 Comments

It is best to catch dyslexia early.

But even in high school, it is NOT TOO LATE to greatly improve their skills — which will change their entire future.

A high school student gave me permission to share this talk that he gave at a fund raiser for his private Christian school in Idaho.

My name is Michael Warner and I am the first student at this school to fully complete the Barton Reading & Spelling System.

Before I knew that such a program existed, I endured many different types of special education plans and teachings. All, however, failed. After enduring nine years of mental, emotional, and social abuse due to my dyslexia, I came to this private school.

For the first time, I wasn’t only trying to match my mental capability, but to exceed it. I say this with my own choice of words… with no help whatsoever.

Although I never thought it was possible, I remember dreaming of the day that it would just click and I would just get it…although it was never coming.

Just to give you an idea about how much I have learned from the Barton System, I have in my hand my FCAT scores. For those of you who don’t know, it is the Florida version of the WASL. In reading, I got a one.

According to that score, I had the equivalent reading level of a third grader. I was in the ninth grade when I took this test. A freshman in high school! Tell me that wasn’t emotionally damaging…a third grader! That test told me that in reading and spelling, I was close to mentally retarded.

My public school in Florida would not let me be in college prep classes. They tried to control what I learned so I would become a construction worker because they thought I was too stupid to do anything else. Everything around me told me I would never measure up to anything.

Then I came here. You found out I had dyslexia, and put me in the reading program. Halfway through that program, students were clapping for me in the middle of class because they could see how much I improved. That shows you the spirit of the students at this school.

After two years here, I wanted to become a programmer. So I had to leave and go to Newport High School to take the classes I needed. Do you have any idea what it feels like to finally pursue your own dreams?

So I went to Newport last fall and I took the WASL. One try and I passed everything — reading, writing, everything.

Some students take three or four tries to pass it, and they take special classes in order to pass it. I passed it on the first try.

I’m here to say how much this private school has changed my life. All I can say is thank you. I can finally be who I want to be.

Michael Warner
former student at House of the Lord private school
in Oldtown, Idaho

Posted in: Students, Success | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A child with dyslexia needs 3 things

By Susan Barton on | Leave a comment

A child with dyslexia needs 3 things: to be identified, the right type of tutoring, and accommodations until the skills gap is closed.

I just received this email from a parent whose child got all 3.

Susan, nine years ago you screened our son, David, for dyslexia. As you may recall, when my husband and I heard the results, we were both extremely concerned for his future.

Well, through years of Barton tutoring and some wonderful administrators willing to implement the accommodations you recommended, David will be graduating and is going to attend Emory University.

David has been in all general education classes and will be graduating with a 3.74 GPA. A monumental achievement for a young boy who could not read nor remember his ABC’s in third grade.

Thank you for being committed to helping children such as David. We are forever indebted.

Posted in: Parents, Success | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

It is never too late

By Susan Barton on | 2 Comments

The following adult had received one year of Barton tutoring when she wrote this letter to Oprah (with the help of her tutor) to try to convince Oprah to do a show on dyslexia.

Dear Oprah:

I am 76 years old today.

I spent the first 75 years of my life wondering why I could not read or spell as well as other friends and family. I didn’t know why I had such a hard time finding the right word when I spoke, or why I couldn’t say the words correctly when I could retrieve them.

I didn’t know why I so often got lost in cities I had lived in for years, or why I still had to stop and think for a moment before I knew my right from my left. I didn’t know why I had such trouble memorizing things that seemed so easy for others.

Or why someone like me – someone who has started and run two businesses – could still not read well, or spell correctly enough to take a message and then be able to read it afterwards.

I didn’t know that I had severe-to-profound dyslexia.

For 75 years I prayed for God to help me. Last fall, I prayed again – that God would please, PLEASE, send me someone who could teach me how to spell.

The very next day, I ‘just so happened’ to sit next to a Dyslexia Specialist at a local event, and we ‘just so happened’ to strike up a conversation about what she does for a living. She ‘just so happened’ to tell me about the signs and symptoms of dyslexia, and I immediately recognized them in me.

Best of all, she ‘just so happened’ to tell me that there are solutions! That people who have struggled with dyslexia, for even 75 years, could still learn to read, write and spell! I made an appointment for her to test me. I cried when she told me that I had dyslexia. They were not tears of sadness, however. They were happy tears! Tears of joy! I finally had an answer!

I have been receiving the right kind of tutoring, twice a week, for a year.

I read the word authentic for the first time last month. I can now spell words that I could not even say before. I am 75 years old. Believe me – there is hope.

I have been thinking back on my 75 years. I thought of the very worst time in my life – the time when my daughter died.

Then I thought of the very best time in my life – it was the time I realized I could learn how to spell! When I finally, finally, realized what my life’s problem was. I am dyslexic.

Posted in: Adults Remember, Success | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,