Free Tutoring Effort Helps Kids with Dyslexia
Wednesday, October 6, 2004
By Morgan Jarema
The Grand Rapids Press [MI]

Nine-year-old Andrew Nymeyer likes drawing, airplanes and constructing Lego models. He enjoys books on medieval times -- but not so much reading them himself.

"I have to sound the words out," he said. "It's hard."

Andrew's reading has improved during the past year and a half that he has received free tutoring at the 32nd Degree Masonic Learning Center for Children, 233 East Fulton St. SE.

Two days a week, for an hour at a time, Andrew, a Hudsonville resident, meets with tutor Sandy Oato at the downtown Grand Rapids center. Oato says a word, and Andrew repeats it, then spells it aloud before writing it down. Or draws it with his finger in a tray filled with sand. Or cups his cheeks in his hands and sounds it out.

Like millions of U.S. schoolchildren, Andrew suffers from dyslexia, which can make reading a frustrating and embarrassing experience.

Dyslexia is a learning disorder characterized by difficulty with learning to read and spell. People who have it often reverse or confuse letters, add extra letters to change words or mistake one word for another.

The inherited neurological condition affects language acquisition, processing and decoding. The National Institutes of Health estimate that more than 2 million children suffer from dyslexia.

Five years ago, the local chapter of the Scottish Rite Masons opened the 32nd Degree Masonic Learning Center, one of 47 in 15 states and one of three in Michigan.

Director Nina Gorak said the center has 12 tutors working with 38 school-age children from as far away as Dewitt, Newaygo and Kalamazoo. So far, almost 100 children have gone through the program. Most are tutored for two to four years, Gorak said.

The learning centers also offer free training for people who are interested in initial certification as tutors in the multisensory Orton-Gillingham approach.

"The symptoms vary in each child, so we have to vary our lessons depending on each child's abilities," Gorak said. "We're retraining the electrical pathways in the brain." To qualify for the program, children must be diagnosed by a psychologist as having the disorder. For more information, call 776-6840.