Two Godley ISD educators were recognized for becoming dyslexia therapists during the GISD school board meeting on May 22, 2023.

Honored were Glenda Woodruff and Tammy Swanson, who were introduced by Chief Academic Officer Dr. Airemy Caudle. Both completed hundreds of teaching, practicum and clinical hours through the Scottish Rite for Children hospital in Dallas.  They meet the requirements to take a licensing exam to become certified academic language therapists.

“Take Flight: A Comprehensive Intervention for Students with Dyslexia” is a curriculum written by the staff of the Luke Waites Center for Dyslexia and Learning Disorders at the hospital. Take Flight builds on the success of the three previous dyslexia intervention programs developed by the institution.

Built around daily small-group instruction, the curriculum was designed for use by therapists with children seven years and older who have developmental dyslexia. The purpose was to enable students with dyslexia to achieve and maintain better word recognition, reading fluency, reading comprehension and aid in the transition from a therapy setting to real-world learning.

According to the Waites Center, dyslexia is a learning disorder that affects approximately 10 percent of children. Those diagnosed with dyslexia have trouble connecting sounds to letter symbols. This affects the way children with dyslexia learn to read and spell. Fortunately, major strides have been made in understanding the language-based disorder, allowing children with dyslexia to learn how to read and be successful despite their learning differences.