LexiAbility Testimonials

When no one—not his first grade teacher, his principal, his reading specialist, his private tutor, his pediatrician or his optometrist—could tell me why my bright, 7-year-old, son could not read, write or spell like his peers, I was frustrated and discouraged. He was miserable at school and I didn’t know how to help him. Then I met Pam Taylor and everything changed.

She has become my family’s dyslexia guru. I trust her judgement completely. After the phone screening and performing the necessary tests with my son, she patiently explained in great detail how his brain is different and how this relates to his severe dysgraphia and dyslexia and also how it accounted for his many gifts.

Pam has a deep understanding of the struggles a child with dyslexia faces because she is dyslexic.

She has the professional experience to tutor these children without ever making them feel disabled. Instead she encourages my son to see his brain as extraordinary. She spends almost as much time building up his confidence as she does remediating dyslexia when she is working with him.

My son’s progress has been incredible. He recently was able to spell “athletic acrobat” correctly the first time after completing Level 4 of the Barton Reading and Spelling System! I am certain this is the only way my son could have learned to read and spell. I will never be able to thank Pam enough for unlocking the mystery of dyslexia and giving my son back his confidence.

– Jessica Zmijewski

After years of struggling in a private elementary and junior high school, our son was diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of 13 when he was in 8th grade. He had developed some incredibly effective coping skills that permitted him to just get by. He was reading at a 4th or 5th grade level and he had been labeled by his teachers as “lazy” and disinterested. He hated school and came up with any possible excuse to stay home or leave class early. His self-esteem had all but been destroyed by teachers who weren’t willing to get to the root of the problem. He had convinced himself that he was stupid and could never be successful academically.

By the grace of God, we found our way to Pam Taylor who would ultimately become our sonʼs #1 advocate and cheerleader.

Make no mistake! His sessions with Pam were not easy. Imagine entering your teen years, wanting to make your own decisions, and having to learn how to read all over again. To make things work, imagine that this would require additional work outside of the classroom in addition to regular homework! As a mother, I had to learn to tune out the complaints, knowing in my heart that this was the best possible option for my son.

Pam found a way to build our sonʼs self-confidence and gain his trust. She was able to help him with homework while incorporating the steps of the Barton Reading and Spelling Program.

It is important to note that Pam utilizes the Barton system because when it comes to dyslexia, there are many “snake oil” solutions. Bartonʼs Orton-Gillingham approach works!

When our son entered a private high school, we were told they would make no special accommodations for dyslexics and weren’t required to do so because they did not receive state funding. All the accommodations our son needed (taking exams orally, using assistive technology, recording lectures) were initially denied by his school. The only “accommodation” they said they would consider was an extra time allowance on exams.

A simple solution would have been to place him in a public school. However, for numerous reasons, this was not an option for our family. Pam took the time to come to school for a joint meeting with our sonʼs academic counselor. During this meeting, she offered numerous solutions; some of which the counselor actually agreed to.

Our son tutored with Pam several days a week beginning in 8th grade through his junior year of high school — summers too. Our son’s complaints decreased and he learned that Pam could help him with other subjects too.

By the time he began his senior year, he had learned to self-advocate. He had Pamʼs number programmed into his cell phone and now called her on his own when he needed a Barton refresher or had any other school-related questions.

Under Pamʼs guidance, our son now understands he is highly intelligent. He can build anything—including a stereo for his first car (without any plans). He can fix any piece of equipment or anything that breaks around the house. He is the most hardworking and loyal employee any company could ask for. His peers and even our adult friends, call our son when they need help with an out of the ordinary project.
Without Pam, he may never have uncovered his hidden talents.

Pam has done significant research about what works for dyslexics and most importantly what does not work. She has met with teachers, doctors and other dyslexia advocates and uses research-proven methods to help her students succeed.

I have and will continue to refer anyone with dyslexia to Pam Taylor and LexiAbility.

– MaryAlice Williams

When our son was in the third grade, his academic struggles became so evident that we knew it was time to seek help. We knew our son had received quality academic instruction since early childhood. We knew he was trying his best to learn to read, write, and memorize the math facts. We knew the medical evaluations for vision, hearing, and auditory processing all resulted in normal findings. We knew he was at least average intelligence.  Yet, our son was still struggling with basic academics.

We took him to Pam Taylor for dyslexia screening.

Pam worked with our son kindly. She conducted the screenings over several sessions, pacing the screening process to his tolerance level. She shared with us a detailed report of her findings. She also shared her suggestions for tutoring and accommodations for our son. In addition, she provided resources for us to learn about this condition known as dyslexia.

Our son has been tutored with an Orton-Gillingham-based system for the past 18 months. His reading comprehension is above grade level now as assessed by standardized achievement testing. His reading confidence has improved greatly as observed by his family. His written expression skills continue to be a challenge, but we are all convinced that with continued tutoring paired with today’s technology, that our son will succeed in this area of learning as well. He is doing fine in math. Most importantly, he is a happy, bright young boy with an amazing future!

In fourth grade our son started missing homework assignments and complaining about school. When he started to refuse to participate in class, his teacher suggested we take him to get tested for ADHD. The pediatrician we took him to said he did not have ADHD and when we asked her about dyslexia, she told us that it was very rare and that he could not have dyslexia because he met all his developmental milestones (NOT true!).  Our son continued to fall behind in school and he started to show signs of depression. His teachers kept telling us that he was reading above grade level and “to wait”—but we knew something was wrong!

Upon recommendation of a reading specialist, we contacted Pam Taylor. She screened our son, determined that he had dyslexia and dysgraphia, and suggested tutoring as soon as possible.

Even with only a few weeks of tutoring, we started seeing a different child who not only seemed happier and willing to engage in school again, but also told us it was a relief to be really understood and learning in a way that made perfect sense.  

A few months later, we transferred to Iowa. The school district insisted we have a formal diagnosis to receive accommodations. The psychologist we used not only confirmed Pam’s findings of dyslexia and dysgraphia, but also told us that we were very fortunate to have found such a highly trained professional in dyslexia assessment. He told us that dyslexia is the most under-diagnosed condition that causes children to struggle.  We are blessed to have found Pam and we only wish there was a LexiAbility clinic in our area!

– Danielle C.

Thank you! I love getting these updates. I still thank God that He made the connection for us to meet you and that you helped us get our daughter on the right track at such an early age. I’m sitting at our desk in our apartment in Myanmar, and today during homeschool we just finished our second round of Lesson 2 in Level 2. 🙂

Sometimes I start to doubt the process or look wistfully at the cheaper programs and the other kids her age who are reading fluently. These emails, your Facebook updates, and Susan Barton’s Facebook updates all help remind me, and encourage me, to trust in this process that’s been refined and proven many times over before I ever even knew what dyslexia was. Thank you for helping us from so far away – helping us to stay the course and to be encouraged about the gift that dyslexia is and the hope that the right kind of instruction will pay off in the end. One of your biggest fans might seriously be on the opposite side of the globe. 🙂

Sincerely,
Stacey Williams