{"id":647,"date":"2012-05-05T11:02:27","date_gmt":"2012-05-05T15:02:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/stories\/?p=647"},"modified":"2012-12-13T12:13:45","modified_gmt":"2012-12-13T17:13:45","slug":"overcoming-dyslexia-a-journey-from-elementary-school-to-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/stories\/2012\/05\/overcoming-dyslexia-a-journey-from-elementary-school-to-college\/","title":{"rendered":"Overcoming Dyslexia: A Journey From Elementary School to College"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Joanne Mitchell, of Cherry Hill, NJ, always made education a priority in her children\u2019s lives. So when her son, Daniel, was unable to recognize the spelling of his own name, constantly pushing books away in kindergarten, she knew something was wrong. From that point on she was determined to get him the help he needed. However, nothing could prepare her for the journey that would lie ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom being misdiagnosed with ADD, to being placed in \u201cself contained\u201d special education classes, I felt like no one was really focusing on the true issue at hand,\u201d continued Joanne. \u201cAs time progressed, he began showing signs of frustration and shutting down. I became really concerned.\u201d<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until Dan was diagnosed with dyslexia at age 7 by Richard Selznick, PhD, Director, Cooper Learning Center (CLC) that the Mitchell family got some clear answers and direction.<\/p>\n

As part of Children\u2019s Regional Hospital at Cooper, CLC is distinguished as the region\u2019s only child-learning program affiliated with a university-level medical center, offering parents and children easy access to the most advanced, scientifically proven methods for accurately assessing and treating children\u2019s learning difficulties.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always refer to the Cooper Learning Center as a godsend,\u201d said Joanne. \u201cThey immediately developed a plan of action for Dan\u2019s unique situation and made sure he received one-on-one tutoring sessions, focusing on reading and writing exercises. Little by little, his confidence began to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since Dan\u2019s dyslexia was so profound, his learning disability required a high level of individualized attention and perseverance over the years.<\/p>\n

\u201cChildren like Dan require highly specialized remediation, delivered patiently and supportively over time. All of the best research highlights the value of early intervention with the right approaches. You can\u2019t rush this process,\u201d explained Dr. Selznick. \u201cBeside the assessment and remediation, so much of the success was due to Dan\u2019s positive personality and the incredible support and advocacy that he received from his parents. They really made things happen for Dan both in and out of school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dan also acknowledges the positive impact that the Cooper Learning Center staff had, not only on his grades in school, but toward his appreciation for reading.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe instructors from the CLC really became like a second family to me,\u201d said Dan. \u201cThey made me feel comfortable and I slowly began to appreciate reading and how important it was for my academics. It\u2019s become something I have really grown to enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the years, Dan began showing remarkable improvement. Dan was able to get good grades in high school and he also received the Character Recognition Certificate upon graduation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf anyone deserved a character recognition award, it was Dan,\u201d said Dr. Selznick.\u00a0 \u201cHe was one of the most positive kids I have known over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDan learned a lot about himself over the years from all of the staff he interacted with at the Cooper Learning Center and he became a tremendous self-advocate,\u201d said Joanne. \u201cThis gave him the confidence he needed for college.\u201d<\/p>\n

In December 2011, Dan, now 23, graduated from Holy Family University with a Bachelors Degree in Communications\/Public Relations and a Minor in Business and Marketing Management. He is currently interning at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in the Public Relations Department.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Joanne Mitchell, of Cherry Hill, NJ, always made education a priority in her children\u2019s lives. So when her son, Daniel, was unable to recognize the spelling of his own name, constantly pushing books away in kindergarten, she knew something was wrong. From that point on she was determined to get him the help he needed. However, nothing could prepare her for the journey that would lie ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4503,4636,4640,4638,4637],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-mmanibo","4":"has-excerpt","5":"post-647","7":"format-standard","8":"category-posts","9":"post_tag-cooper-learning-center","10":"post_tag-dyslexia","11":"post_tag-dyslexia-college","12":"post_tag-phd","13":"post_tag-richard-selznick"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=647"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":652,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647\/revisions\/652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}