Author Archives: Dr. Kelli Sandman-Hurley

Dyslexia and the IEP: It’s What Isn’t Said That Matters

Dyslexia and the IEP. The heart of any meeting, including IEP meetings, is communication. But good, productive, cooperative communication is hard.

Dyslexia and the IEP: It's What Isn't Said That Matters

In many situations comments and words can be taken out of context and twisted to fit the narrative of someone else’s point. Sometimes secondhand accounts of what was said is fun to use to make a point, but it isn’t always an accurate reflection of what was actually said. Continue reading

Dear Struggling Student: I Failed a Test Too

 Dear Struggling Student: I Failed a Test this Year

Dear Struggling Students - I Failed a Test Too - A Letter to Students by Dr. Kelli Sandman-Hurley - DyslexiaTrainingInstitute.org

For those of us who work with students with dyslexia, and don’t have dyslexia ourselves, we have to be extremely observant of our students. We have to develop empathy. We have to understand the nuances of each and every one of our students. I never tell my students I know how they feel. I make a very conscious effort to never tell them, or insinuate, they aren’t trying hard enough. But I am human. I have gotten frustrated, but I pull it together quickly and I verbally let the student know the problem is my teaching, not their learning. But nothing seemed to connect me more with my students than what I shared with them this year.

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My Dyslexia Hill Days Rally Cry

My Dyslexia Hill Days Rally Cry

I often feel like a fish out of water at these events because my experience is not as a parent but as an advocate, trainer and scholar of the English writing system. I want to start by congratulating you all on all the accomplishments Decoding Dyslexia has made over the years. I have been around awhile and I always say that when I first noticed DDNJ and starting watching them on Facebook and then saw all the other branches pop and start making things happen I was in awe. I saw more progress in 5 years than other organizations have done in the 20 years I have been involved in the dyslexia community.  So, you have a lot of be proud of.

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