Dyslexia, we’re comin’ for you

A few weeks ago, I shared that it had been a pretty rough summer for us. We’ve sought counsel and advice on how best to help our sweet Riley tackle everything. I’ve sat down to write about everything a few times, but I think my best bet is to share it with you one piece at a time.

This past school year, Riley’s sweet Kindergarten teacher let us know that he should be tested for dyslexia. She had been studying under Susan Barton and he was exhibiting a few warning signs she was concerned about.

She put us in touch with a company that completed the testing. The answer came back. It was ‘yes’.

I drove away from the appointment in tears. I knew this meant that our sweet and special school would not be able to accommodate him.

I hesitated to talk to Riley about it at first. I wasn’t sure what I was going to say or how I was going to say it.

A few days later, we attended the CARS3 premier. He received this poster and insisted on hanging on the wall upside down (so Lightening McQueen was right side up but the words were upside down). You know how I feel about signs from God that He hears my heart, and I took this as a big one. Riley’s world had been upside down. Everyone around him was learning to read, but he couldn’t see the letters. Can you imagine how frustrating that must be?

I decided to talk to him about it right away. We talked about his special brain and how we were going to get him help. We talked about how hard that must have been in Kindergarten and how brave he is.

We talked about how special Mrs. Hundelt, his teacher is. We talked about how God put him in the right classroom, with exactly the right teacher, so that she could help him be diagnosed right away.

A few weeks later, we walked up to our local public elementary school, where Julia and Nate attended. I panicked when Riley’s name wasn’t on any roster, then, I saw our principal.

She remembered us! She remembered Nate. She remembered when we adopted Riley and when I brought him with me to volunteer to read to Nate’s classroom in 4th and 5th grade. She wanted to ask us a few questions before she placed Riley in the perfect classroom for him, to make sure she understood more about his diagnosis and our expectations.

Well, he’s now into the second month and he is loving it. His teacher is amazing. We know it will be a long and slow road, but we know we are heading in the right direction.

Do you know how many dominoes had to line up for all of this to happen? Someday, I’ll stop being surprised at how well He loves us.