HOPKINSVILLE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) –  The Dyslexia Association of the Pennyrile is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving individuals with dyslexia and other learning disabilities. The organization has been assisting families and individuals in the Christian County area for over 50 years. 

History

At the age of 18, Vicky Jones began tutoring at the Dyslexia Association. “I tutored students on Saturdays, it’s what we called Saturday school,” Jones said. Since then, Jones has become the executive director for the association and has made several changes. In 2015, she began writing grants to purchase new material for the school. “We now use the Barton reading and spelling program,” Jones said. “We actually train the parents to become a tutor and then they tutor a child.”

The tutoring program is set up so costs are kept low and families that can’t travel to the school are able to tutor their child at home. Each semester is 14 weeks and costs $100. “We cover all the materials they need,” Jones said. “Students tutor two days a week from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.”

Services

Along with tutoring, the association conducts screenings for dyslexia where a trained psychologist will provide an analysis of the results.  The screening includes several short academic assessments to determine if attributes of dyslexia or other learning difficulties exist.

Currently, the program has 45 students. “That is a very low number,” Jones said. “If you look at dyslexia, one in five individuals have it whether it be a mild or severe case.” When dyslexia is mild, most individuals figure out how to deal with it on their own, Jones explains.

Common misconceptions

There are many misconceptions about dyslexia. “Most people think that people with dyslexia see letters and words backwards,” said Jones. “That is not correct, it is not a vision problem.” People with dyslexia see the information like anyone else does, but it’s how the brain processes it, Jones explains. “That is the difference.”

People with dyslexia have problems with directionality. “Like left, right, down and up,” Jones said. “We teach them in our program little tricks and rules to help them.”

New developments

Over the years, outside communities have become more receptive to understanding learning disabilities, explains Jones. “We are getting into the schools, and they have been so open to welcome us.” At the schools, the Dyslexia Association hosts a development day where teachers and staff members participate in a simulation to understand how a dyslexic person feels. “We put them through the frustration of an everyday school day,” Jones said. “This has really opened up the schools to see dyslexia.”

The association has several goals in 2024, including nurturing their relationship with minorities and low-income families. “Even though our tutoring and screening is low cost, we provide scholarships to help pay for these services,” Jones said.

The association also wants to continue its partnership with South Christian Elementary School, that began last year. “We are trying our Barton System in the school and it’s sort of like our pilot program to see how it works,” Jones said. “We also want to continue the simulations in both private and public schools.”

Jones’ ultimate goal is to increase tutorial enrollment and provide an actual tutorial service. “We want parents to come into the association and have tutors to teach their child rather than teaching them the program,” Jones said. “There is a lot of situations where parents are unable to tutor themselves.”

Events and going forward

The Dyslexia Association hosts several events throughout the year with one big fundraising event in June. “It is a trivia event, and we would love for people to come out and help us with that,” Jones said. “The community is so good about supporting us.”

Going forward, the Dyslexia Association plans to continue with the Barton System. “When the children are in our tutorial program, we can see that their self-confidence soars,” Jones said. “We have great success with this reading program and have seen some students make an eight-month gain in just one semester.”

On Monday, Dec. 18, the Dyslexia Association will be making Christmas ornaments with their students, along with a pizza party and award ceremony. “These children work hard,” Jones said. “We want to know how much we appreciate them for sticking with this.”

More information can be found on the Dyslexia Association of the Pennyrile website or by calling 270-885-5804.