April 24, 2025 • 21 mins
Unlocking the mystery of dyslexia and revealing the transformative power of specialized instruction, this episode takes listeners deep into the world of neurodiversity through the lens of Ben Lippen School's innovative program, The Ridge.
Mrs. Sarah Beth Helsley and Mrs. Sara Smithson, experts in Orton-Gillingham methodology, break down the complex realities of dyslexia with clarity and compassion. They offer a powerful analogy comparing the dyslexic reading experience to navigating a highway filled with potholes and detours – a vivid illustration that helps parents, educators, and community members understand the daily challenges these students face.
The conversation dismantles harmful myths that have long surrounded dyslexia. Letters aren't actually "flipping" or "dancing" on the page, and most crucially, dyslexia has absolutely nothing to do with intelligence. In fact, many individuals with dyslexia possess extraordinary cognitive abilities and unique strengths, with approximately 35% of entrepreneurs identifying as dyslexic, including visionaries like Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein.
What sets this discussion apart is its integration of faith and specialized education. The Ridge program stands as a testament to what's possible when schools embrace neurodiversity while maintaining their core values. Students can receive the specialized instruction they need without leaving their school community or sacrificing their faith-based education. As Smithson shares from her dual perspective as both an educator and mother of a child with dyslexia, "It's been a huge answer to prayer for my family."
Whether you're a parent concerned about your child's reading development, an educator seeking to better support diverse learners, or simply someone interested in how schools can become more inclusive while staying true to their mission, this episode offers both practical insights and inspirational possibilities. Join us as we celebrate how each child is "fearfully and wonderfully made".
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Mrs. Erin Kay (00:00):
Welcome to another episode of the Ben
Lippen Podcast.
This is your host, Erin Kay,and today I have two of my
wonderful co- workers, Mrs.
Sara Smithson and Mrs.
Sarah Beth Helsley, and we arehere to talk about some of our
wonderful learners that we haveat Ben Lippen and a program that
we offer here at Ben Lippen.
So I'm going to turn it over tothese two ladies to let them
(00:24):
introduce who they are, and thenwe're going to get into some of
the material that we are hereto share with you, ladies, today
.
So, Sarah Beth, take a minuteto introduce who you are and
what you do here at Ben Lippen.
Mrs. Sarah Beth Helsley (00:34):
Hey everybody.
Like Mrs.
Kay said, I am Sarah BethHelsley and I am the director of
The Ridge here at Ben LippenSchool and I just get the
awesome opportunity to servestudents in The Ridge and love
their families and support theirfamilies and help them walk
through this transition ofdiagnosis of dyslexia all the
way to services with ourwonderful Ridge teacher that we
have on staff and currently I'mworking on my associate level
(00:58):
for OG and so I have myclassroom educator certification
and this summer, Lord willing,finish our associate level
credentials.
So we're so excited to have youall here and I'm going to
introduce our wonderful teacher,Sara Smithson, joining as the
guru of all things OG anddyslexia.
Mrs. Sara Smithson (01:16):
So I'm Sara Smithson and I have been in
education since 2011.
I've taught second grade andkindergarten and I've been at
Ben Lippen for about five yearsnow.
I am currently credentialed atthe classroom educator level
with the Orton-GillinghamAcademy and, like Mrs.
Helsley, I'm pursuing theassociate level currently, with
(01:37):
plans to finish up this summer.
Mrs. Erin Kay (01:38):
Wonderful, and we'll get into a little bit more
about what is OG, what isdyslexia, what are these
buzzwords surrounding this as weget into this podcast?
Now, Mrs.
Helsley, how long have you beenin education and how long have
you been at Ben Lippen?
Mrs. Sarah Beth Helsley (01:53):
Yes, so I've been in education since
2011.
I started out as a specialeducation teacher, did that for
numerous years, and then I gotmy master's in administration,
and so I moved over to BenLippen two years ago as the
academic specialist, where I wasproviding support through
intervention for our students,and now I'm a part of The Ridge.
So it's been a really funtransition to see my passion for
(02:15):
students that have uniquechallenges in their learning and
how to support them, and it'sreally such a blessing that Ben
Lippen now has this opportunityto serve these students.
Mrs. Erin Kay (02:24):
I couldn't agree more, so let's dive right in so
what is dyslexia?
Mrs. Sara Smithson (02:32):
I'll turn that over to you, Mrs Smithson.
What is dyslexia?
Well, dyslexia is very complexbut to try to simplify, dyslexia
is a language-based learningdifference and it's
characterized by difficultieswith like accurate and fluent
word recognition, spelling andreading.
It's basically like aninefficiency in how sounds and
language are heard and thenconnecting those sounds to the
symbols that represent them.
So for people with dyslexia,they're going to have a really
(02:54):
hard time discriminating soundswithin a word, which is really
the heart of reading andspelling.
So if you think about like abrain, just to make an analogy,
if you think about a brain likea highway system, a neurotypical
person would get in their carand hop on the interstate and
get from point A to point Bpretty seamlessly.
But a person with dyslexiawould hop in the car and get on
the interstate and they're goingto hit potholes and traffic
(03:14):
jams and have to go throughdetours, which makes the journey
just really slow andfrustrating for them.
Mrs. Erin Kay (03:20):
Yeah, and I can imagine it would be exhausting
too, once you get from point Ato point B after hitting all
those potholes.
So, when it comes to dyslexia,is it something that you're born
with or is it something thatyou develop over time?
What does that look like?
Mrs. Sara Smithson (03:34):
Yeah, so dyslexia is neurobiological in
origin, which basically meansthat it's like a different brain
processing system.
So people with dyslexia areborn with it.
It's not caused by you knowsomething going wrong in utero
or dropping your baby or notreading enough to your child
when they're little.
It is a different brainprocessing system.
Mrs. Erin Kay (03:52):
Okay, so it's a developmental in utero process.
Mrs. Sara Smithson (03:56):
Yeah.
So if you think of like, if youlook at the brain, they've been
, they've had studies, mristudies, which is just a
functional MRI, and so whenthey've had those studies, you
can physically see thedifference in the left
hemisphere of the brain, whichis where we create the circuitry
for reading.
So the difference is there'slike a hypoactivation in that
area, which means that thingsaren't lighting up the way that
you would expect them to in thearea of the brain where reading
(04:17):
happens.
Mrs. Erin Kay (04:18):
So is dyslexia something that people who study
dyslexia?
Is it something they havediscovered that is hereditary?
Mrs. Sara Smithson (04:24):
Yes, it does run in families.
Mrs. Erin Kay (04:26):
And is it something that goes away?
Mrs. Sara Smithson (04:34):
No, dyslexia , like I said, it's
neurobiological, so it can't becured.
It never goes away.
You don't outgrow dyslexia withearly intervention the right
type of early intervention.
We can really help readingskills develop.
But it doesn't go away.
It's the way that their brainworks.
Mrs. Erin Kay (04:48):
This is kind of a side question, but what are
some things that, when you speakabout early intervention, what
are some other things thatdyslexia can be confused with in
a classroom setting?
When you're talking aboutkindergartners, preschoolers,
first graders, what can it beconfused with?
Mrs. Sara Smithson (04:58):
So a lot of times we see teachers thinking
that a student might just haveADHD where they may not be
focused during readinginstruction, where they're not
able to answer or recall anyquestions, like about a story
that's been read aloud.
We see a lot of times studentswith dyslexia struggle with
handwriting.
We also see that students withADHD also struggle with
handwriting if they're notfocused.
(05:19):
Sometimes teachers will say, oh, they're just bored and they're
a behavior issue, when reallythey're just really working on
trying to process all that'shappening, because dyslexia also
affects not just reading wordsoff a paper but processing
language in itself, and so ifthe teacher is giving a lot of
instruction verbally like theymay just get lost, and so a lot
of times we see teachers thinkit's just ADHD or they might
(05:42):
need a little more time inkindergarten or they didn't have
enough exposure, like Sarahsaid earlier, to books as a
child, when really we see therereally is an underlying issue,
so kind of going back to thosepotholes and traffic jams and
car accidents over on the sideof the road for someone that has
dyslexia, what are some ofthose red flags that a teacher
(06:04):
or a mom or a dad or a caregivermight see in a child who
possibly could have dyslexia?
You know, people with dyslexiaalso struggle with sequencing
things yeah, the concept of timeis really hard for them to
process.
Everything is like the same forthem, yeah.
And going back to like thelanguage processing, like
following multi-step directions,is still so difficult for him,
(06:25):
like my son's able to read nowand he can read to learn, but he
still has dyslexia, so he stillhas word retrieval issues.
So we'll be driving in the carand he'll be like, oh mom, that
thing, you know, that roundthing that you put your hands on
and it steers us and he'strying to think of like the word
steering wheel, but like wordretrieval issues, things like
that, processing a lot ofdirections, understanding when
(06:49):
there's a lot of verbalinstruction or anything like
that.
He has a hard time understandingall that.
And I think to some other redflags.
We often see students withdyslexia.
They'll understand a conceptone day and then the next day
it'll be totally fresh again.
And so teachers that canrecognize that.
You know, I've had a fewteachers go.
Well, they just knew that sightword last week.
Why don't they know it now?
Those are just some things tokeep an eye out for, because
it's how their brain'sprocessing it.
(07:10):
And the beautiful thing aboutwhat we do here at The Ridge is
we're trying to retrain theirbrain to keep that information.
And so when we do it the rightway, the way their brain is
processing information, it theydo store it.
And so you know, looking at howjust the classroom instruction
happens, if they're not pickingup on something over and over
and over again, that's a big redflag for a teacher.
We always say like they needlike that slow and steady drip.
(07:31):
So a dyslexic brain is kind oflike a river rock.
So if you just pour water on it, like a pitcher of water on it,
like they're going to, it'sgoing to get wet and they're
going to get a little bit of theconcepts, like if you think of
the picture as the instruction,but it's nothing's going to
really stick.
They've got to have that rockbeat in the river where the
instruction is running over itsmoothly and consistently over
time to really smooth out thoseedges, for them to really grasp
(07:52):
those concepts.
Mrs. Erin Kay (07:54):
That makes sense for sure, and you know I had a
child with dyslexia, and goingback as a mom to someone with
some of those developmentalmarkers, and he is my third of
four children and he's a twin,and I remember being so
frustrated at why is time likethe sequencing, why does he not
understand today, tomorrow,yesterday, and why is he having
(08:16):
such a hard time picking upthese words and becoming
frustrated.
And so I just want to offergrace to the parent who is in
that with a young child, youknow who's four, five, six and
you're like well, why can't theyfigure out tomorrow when all
their peers are figuring outtomorrow?
Just to offer yourself graceand that that there could be
something going on and thatevery child is different.
(08:38):
And if you're on the other sideof it, like I am, you know
getting the support for thedyslexia, go back and offer your
former self grace, for youdon't know what you don't know.
Al right.
So with that, what are somemyths and misconceptions about
individuals who do have dyslexia?
Mrs. Sara Smithson (08:55):
I would say by far the most common
misconception about dyslexia isthat they see and write letters
and words backwards.
You know, I've also heardpeople say that the words
sometimes might dance around onthe page and that would be more
of like a visual processingissue.
That has absolutely nothing todo with dyslexia.
But if you think about like thevisual input of objects in our
world, like a chair, we canrecognize an object regardless
(09:17):
of its orientation.
So I can tell that that's achair if it's facing left or
right, I can tell that it's achair if it's upside down.
But with reading and writing wehave this man-made construct of
letters and symbols whereorientation does in fact matter
now.
So young learners have tounlearn this thing.
It's called mirror invariance,where a, b and a, d are not
(09:38):
mirrored images of the sameobject.
So now, when you see a line andthen a circle that represents
the, and when you see a circleand then a circle that
represents the, when you see acircle and then a line that
represents, and so it's reallycommon for students to have
reversals up until around theend of second grade.
It has has nothing to do withdyslexia.
I think that one of the mostdetrimental misunderstandings
about dyslexia is that peoplewith dyslexia lack intelligence
(10:02):
and able to be able to learn toread.
You know, dyslexia is notlinked to intelligence at all.
As a matter of fact, one of thecharacteristics of dyslexia is
that it's an unexpectedchallenge with learning how to
read in relation to their othercognitive abilities.
So dyslexia is not a thinkingissue and it has nothing to do
with intelligence.
Like when we actually have achild with dyslexia, we see how
(10:22):
incredibly intelligent they are.
Their IQs are like out of thisworld, and so that really is
something that you just have tokeep pressing on and educating
people in, because that is a bigmyth that we see and that we
hear about like, oh well, I justdon't know if they can do it.
Well, they can.
We just have to teach theirbrain how to, and you know they
say, 35% of entrepreneursactually identify as being
dyslexic.
(10:43):
You know, people like Steve Jobs, Charles Schwab, Thomas Edison,
Albert Einstein, StevenSpielberg is dyslexic, Walt
Disney is dyslexic, Tim Tebow,you know, the list goes on and
on.
Mrs. Erin Kay (10:54):
You absolutely can be successful as an adult
and have dyslexia.
So what makes individuals withdyslexia special?
Mrs. Sara Smithson (11:01):
Individuals with dyslexia have really strong
problem solving skills.
They are big picture thinkers.
They are really good at likevisualizing ideas.
They usually have great verbalskills and enhanced pattern
recognition.
I've also heard it said to likewhen you meet a dyslexic person
, you've met a dyslexic person.
You know they're also uniqueand individual, but those do
tend to be like generalstrengths that they have.
Mrs. Erin Kay (11:23):
I've noticed a certain work ethic too, with my
son especially has a certaintenacity and work ethic.
That's really cool to see.
Al right, so are there provenmethods of teaching to help
students with dyslexia to crackthe code of reading?
Mrs. Sara Smithson (11:37):
Yeah, so we use the Orton-Gillingham
approach, which weaffectionately refer to as OG.
It's been around for a hundredyears.
It's been researched and proven.
OG is highly individualized, sowe tailor our teaching to our
students' needs and theirinterests.
It's also very direct andexplicit, so we don't ever ask
our students to do anything thatwe have not explicitly taught
them, which also makes itemotionally sound.
(11:59):
So we're always setting thestage for success.
We want our students toexperience like a spiral of
successes, so that we'rebuilding their confidence.
You know, 86% of the Englishlanguage follows a rule or a
generalization, and so if we can, through a multi-sensory
approach, teach those rules andgeneralizations to our students,
then we're giving them thetools that they need to be
proficient readers All right.
Mrs. Erin Kay (12:20):
So how does Ben Lippen specifically support
students with dyslexia using theOG program?
Mrs. Sarah Beth Helsley (12:27):
So we have our program, The Ridge,
which we've been talking a lotabout this morning, and what The
Ridge really is all about isthat we offer OG sessions for
students with dyslexia.
So the parents have theopportunity to choose, along
with a discussion with theschool.
You know what their sessionsand how many sessions they'll
get a week, and so currentlyright now Ben Lippen is serving
(12:50):
students twice a week for anhour long sessions, which are
great, and what's even better isthat next year we're able to
add more, because we've seenthat some of our students need
more than just the two hours aweek, and so we're able to offer
now five days a week forstudents, which will just be
life-changing for some of thesestudents especially.
The earlier we get them so theearlier we can get them and
(13:11):
start intervening, greatersuccess they're going to have.
And we also still have theoption for two days a week, and
it's really just a nice way tocome alongside our students here
at Ben Lippen, come alongsideour teachers at Ben Lippen and
just work on supporting thestudent as a whole.
So, yes, they have dyslexia, butthey're still a part of Ben
Lippen School and so theirreading instruction happens with
(13:34):
us Some of their readinginstruction happens with us.
Unless they're in the five days, you know, they're in the
classroom for the rest of theday, which is really neat
because we're able to reallycelebrate their uniqueness and
how the Lord has made them andwe're able to come alongside
them to allow them to feelsuccessful.
And so we just we love what weget to do, we love that we get
to partner with families andteachers and our administrators
(13:56):
here at Ben Lippen, and it'sjust been such a program that's
been covered in prayer for solong and it's so nice to see it
come through fruition in thisphase one that we're in moving
into phase one and a half, soit's just really exciting to be
a part of this.
Mrs. Erin Kay (14:10):
So why did Ben Lippen decide to embrace
dyslexia?
Mrs. Sarah Beth Helsley (14:14):
So we have had a lot of families here
at Ben Lippen School that havehad, you know, students that
don't have dyslexia and thenstudents that do, and we've
noticed that we weren't able toreally fully support the child
that had dyslexia, and so sooften we saw parents having to
separate their families and sendtheir child to a school really
just for dyslexia, and it justcaused so much heartache.
(14:37):
It caused heartache on theparents, it caused heartache on
the child, it caused heartacheon the school, and so we just
began praying like how can weserve them?
Because the awesome thing aboutBen Lippen is that even with
dyslexia, we still get to pourinto The Kingdom curriculum,
which is our end goal, is thatthe children learn about the
Lord every single day, and sowhen they're able to stay in
(14:58):
this environment and receiveBible instruction, have access
to chapel, just be in acommunity of believers, really
was so impactful, and so we justfelt like the Lord is really
calling us to be able to step inthe gap for these families and
pursue this.
And so it's been somethingthat's been prayed for long
before I even arrived at BenLippen, and it's just been
(15:20):
really neat to see the blessingthat it's been to families and
how we've been able to servethem and serve their students
well, keeping them in anenvironment that is so nurturing
, focused on Christ, andcelebrating that, yes, they may
have dyslexia, but guess what?
That's how the Lord made you,and he made you fearfully
wonderful, and so it's just beenneat to see that unfold.
I think it's been reallyawesome for families that
haven't had to separate and juststay part of the Falcon family.
Mrs. Erin Kay (15:43):
Yes, it's been a huge answer prayer for my family
, with my son who's a twin, andnot having to separate him from
his twin is tremendous for usAlr ight, so for both of you,
why did y'all decide tospecialize in working with
children with dyslexia?
Mrs. Sara Smithson (15:59):
Well, my son was diagnosed five years ago,
and so when we received hisdiagnosis, I immediately felt
two things.
One was a huge sense of relief,because now I knew that there
was a roadmap and there was hope, but the other was a really
strong sense of shame, becausehere I was a career educator and
I knew there was a roadmap, butI couldn't access that roadmap.
(16:20):
So they don't teach this incollege and I couldn't help my
son.
And so this is just a testamentof how good God is is unknown
to me.
Ben Lippen was already in theprocess of starting up this
program and, you know, once Iheard about it, I applied for
and got the job, and now I wasprovided this invaluable
training.
I always say like I really dofeel like I just won the lottery
(16:40):
and I just thank the Lord thatI've been able to receive this
training has given me an insightinto my child's brain so that I
can understand him, which youknow leads to having compassion
for him and patience with him.
And so I just really do thinkthe Lord that he's led me down
this path and that you know thegift that he's given me through
this knowledge that he's allowedme to acquire, and my prayer is
that I would be able to honorthe Lord with this knowledge
(17:02):
that he's given me and beingable to help other children and
serve his children.
Mrs. Sarah Beth Helsley (17:06):
And for me, I just have always had a
passion for students withlearning differences.
When I was in first grade I knewthat I was going to be a
teacher for students whostruggled and I would go home
and tell my mom all the time,based on a child that was in my
class, I said I always wanted tobe his teacher.
I would come and get him andpull him out and I always wanted
to be his teacher that wouldcome and get him and pull him
out.
And so here we are, all thoseyears later in those shoes, and
(17:28):
so I just have loved my 14 plusyears of working with students
with neurodiversities and justhow awesome they are and once
you really get to see them andwork with them, they really are
just so encouraging and it'sjust been such a blessing.
So my path has been not justsolely for students with
dyslexia but now to echo, likewhat Ms Smithson said, like it
really is just such a blessingthat Ben Lippen's offered the
(17:51):
opportunity for us to be trainedin this approach and just how
to love these special students,because I've been able to walk
parents through hey, there mightbe something happening and
going on to now we have thisdiagnosis and to walk them from
step A all the way to step Z andoffer them support and offer
(18:11):
them a program that can allowtheir child to be successful has
just been something so neatthat stirs my heart on every day
, which has been so great.
So I'm so grateful for BenLippen.
I'm so grateful for Ms Missonand the team that we've had.
We've been able to do thistogether, which has been really
fun, and to see it through hereyes too, as a parent.
So not only is she an educator,but she's a parent, and so she
(18:32):
speaks a lot of truth and has alot of insight for us on the
other side of the table as werally together and partner with
these families.
Thank you for that.
Mrs. Erin Kay (18:39):
Since Ben Lippen is a community of diverse
learners, how can other studentsand parents of students who do
not have dyslexia betterunderstand and support dyslexic
learners?
Mrs. Sara Smithson (18:50):
I think you know, just knowing what dyslexia
is and what it's not, you knowjust it's a hard and frustrating
road for the child and for theparents.
So, just having compassion, youknow, I think we can all
empathize because we all fallshort in one way or another.
Right, so we can connectthrough our weakness and we can
(19:10):
understand you know weakness andwe can understand experienced
failure.
Mrs. Sarah Beth Helsley (19:11):
And so just through that I think we can
empathize with them and I think, too, also like echoing that
understanding that we all havestrengths and weaknesses and
allowing the children to seethat.
So there's oftentimes that we gopick our students up for The
Ridge and other students arelike I want to go, I want to go,
and so they do think it'sawesome.
You know, it's not somethingthat's looked down upon when we
have to go pull students, whichI think is really great that the
(19:32):
Ben Lippen community has reallyrallied and taken under this
program and these students, andthey celebrate them for who they
are and they celebrate them forwhat they can do.
And so even other families thatdon't have students in The
Ridge they are telling peopleabout The Ridge, which is just
amazing to see that, even whenit doesn't impact you, they care
so deeply about the school.
(19:53):
And so, because they care aboutthe school, they care about the
programs at the school, and sothey teach their children to do
the same.
And it goes back to that versein Psalm 139, that we are
created in God's image and we'refearfully, wonderfully made.
And he knew who would havedyslexia and who wouldn't have
dyslexia, and he put peopletogether to celebrate that, and
so I just try to keep that atthe forefront of everybody's
(20:15):
mind and their hearts, becausewe've seen it really play out,
which has been really neat tosee.
Mrs. Erin Kay (20:19):
Yeah, absolutely.
And you know, to kind of closethis up, just be in prayer for
The Ridge, absolutely, and youknow to kind of close this up,
(20:46):
just be in prayer for The Ridge.
Mr ss Helsley and Mrs.
Smithson, what's the best wayfor them to get in touch with
you?
Mrs. Sarah Beth Helsley (20:50):
They can look on the website for our
emails.
We also both have extensionslisted.
So if you shoot us an email oryou put in on the website you
have questions about The Ridge,they shoot those over to us and
then we get in contact withy'all.
So we hope to get to talk.
Welcome to another episode of the Ben
Lippen Podcast.
This is your host, Erin Kay,and today I have two of my
wonderful co- workers, Mrs.
Sara Smithson and Mrs.
Sarah Beth Helsley, and we arehere to talk about some of our
wonderful learners that we haveat Ben Lippen and a program that
we offer here at Ben Lippen.
So I'm going to turn it over tothese two ladies to let them
(00:24):
introduce who they are, and thenwe're going to get into some of
the material that we are hereto share with you, ladies, today
.
So, Sarah Beth, take a minuteto introduce who you are and
what you do here at Ben Lippen.
Mrs. Sarah Beth Helsley (00:34):
Hey everybody.
Like Mrs.
Kay said, I am Sarah BethHelsley and I am the director of
The Ridge here at Ben LippenSchool and I just get the
awesome opportunity to servestudents in The Ridge and love
their families and support theirfamilies and help them walk
through this transition ofdiagnosis of dyslexia all the
way to services with ourwonderful Ridge teacher that we
have on staff and currently I'mworking on my associate level
(00:58):
for OG and so I have myclassroom educator certification
and this summer, Lord willing,finish our associate level
credentials.
So we're so excited to have youall here and I'm going to
introduce our wonderful teacher,Sara Smithson, joining as the
guru of all things OG anddyslexia.
Mrs. Sara Smithson (01:16):
So I'm Sara Smithson and I have been in
education since 2011.
I've taught second grade andkindergarten and I've been at
Ben Lippen for about five yearsnow.
I am currently credentialed atthe classroom educator level
with the Orton-GillinghamAcademy and, like Mrs.
Helsley, I'm pursuing theassociate level currently, with
(01:37):
plans to finish up this summer.
Mrs. Erin Kay (01:38):
Wonderful, and we'll get into a little bit more
about what is OG, what isdyslexia, what are these
buzzwords surrounding this as weget into this podcast?
Now, Mrs.
Helsley, how long have you beenin education and how long have
you been at Ben Lippen?
Mrs. Sarah Beth Helsley (01:53):
Yes, so I've been in education since
2011.
I started out as a specialeducation teacher, did that for
numerous years, and then I gotmy master's in administration,
and so I moved over to BenLippen two years ago as the
academic specialist, where I wasproviding support through
intervention for our students,and now I'm a part of The Ridge.
So it's been a really funtransition to see my passion for
(02:15):
students that have uniquechallenges in their learning and
how to support them, and it'sreally such a blessing that Ben
Lippen now has this opportunityto serve these students.
Mrs. Erin Kay (02:24):
I couldn't agree more, so let's dive right in so
what is dyslexia?
Mrs. Sara Smithson (02:32):
I'll turn that over to you, Mrs Smithson.
What is dyslexia?
Well, dyslexia is very complexbut to try to simplify, dyslexia
is a language-based learningdifference and it's
characterized by difficultieswith like accurate and fluent
word recognition, spelling andreading.
It's basically like aninefficiency in how sounds and
language are heard and thenconnecting those sounds to the
symbols that represent them.
So for people with dyslexia,they're going to have a really
(02:54):
hard time discriminating soundswithin a word, which is really
the heart of reading andspelling.
So if you think about like abrain, just to make an analogy,
if you think about a brain likea highway system, a neurotypical
person would get in their carand hop on the interstate and
get from point A to point Bpretty seamlessly.
But a person with dyslexiawould hop in the car and get on
the interstate and they're goingto hit potholes and traffic
(03:14):
jams and have to go throughdetours, which makes the journey
just really slow andfrustrating for them.
Mrs. Erin Kay (03:20):
Yeah, and I can imagine it would be exhausting
too, once you get from point Ato point B after hitting all
those potholes.
So, when it comes to dyslexia,is it something that you're born
with or is it something thatyou develop over time?
What does that look like?
Mrs. Sara Smithson (03:34):
Yeah, so dyslexia is neurobiological in
origin, which basically meansthat it's like a different brain
processing system.
So people with dyslexia areborn with it.
It's not caused by you knowsomething going wrong in utero
or dropping your baby or notreading enough to your child
when they're little.
It is a different brainprocessing system.
Mrs. Erin Kay (03:52):
Okay, so it's a developmental in utero process.
Mrs. Sara Smithson (03:56):
Yeah.
So if you think of like, if youlook at the brain, they've been
, they've had studies, mristudies, which is just a
functional MRI, and so whenthey've had those studies, you
can physically see thedifference in the left
hemisphere of the brain, whichis where we create the circuitry
for reading.
So the difference is there'slike a hypoactivation in that
area, which means that thingsaren't lighting up the way that
you would expect them to in thearea of the brain where reading
(04:17):
happens.
Mrs. Erin Kay (04:18):
So is dyslexia something that people who study
dyslexia?
Is it something they havediscovered that is hereditary?
Mrs. Sara Smithson (04:24):
Yes, it does run in families.
Mrs. Erin Kay (04:26):
And is it something that goes away?
Mrs. Sara Smithson (04:34):
No, dyslexia , like I said, it's
neurobiological, so it can't becured.
It never goes away.
You don't outgrow dyslexia withearly intervention the right
type of early intervention.
We can really help readingskills develop.
But it doesn't go away.
It's the way that their brainworks.
Mrs. Erin Kay (04:48):
This is kind of a side question, but what are
some things that, when you speakabout early intervention, what
are some other things thatdyslexia can be confused with in
a classroom setting?
When you're talking aboutkindergartners, preschoolers,
first graders, what can it beconfused with?
Mrs. Sara Smithson (04:58):
So a lot of times we see teachers thinking
that a student might just haveADHD where they may not be
focused during readinginstruction, where they're not
able to answer or recall anyquestions, like about a story
that's been read aloud.
We see a lot of times studentswith dyslexia struggle with
handwriting.
We also see that students withADHD also struggle with
handwriting if they're notfocused.
(05:19):
Sometimes teachers will say, oh, they're just bored and they're
a behavior issue, when reallythey're just really working on
trying to process all that'shappening, because dyslexia also
affects not just reading wordsoff a paper but processing
language in itself, and so ifthe teacher is giving a lot of
instruction verbally like theymay just get lost, and so a lot
of times we see teachers thinkit's just ADHD or they might
(05:42):
need a little more time inkindergarten or they didn't have
enough exposure, like Sarahsaid earlier, to books as a
child, when really we see therereally is an underlying issue,
so kind of going back to thosepotholes and traffic jams and
car accidents over on the sideof the road for someone that has
dyslexia, what are some ofthose red flags that a teacher
(06:04):
or a mom or a dad or a caregivermight see in a child who
possibly could have dyslexia?
You know, people with dyslexiaalso struggle with sequencing
things yeah, the concept of timeis really hard for them to
process.
Everything is like the same forthem, yeah.
And going back to like thelanguage processing, like
following multi-step directions,is still so difficult for him,
(06:25):
like my son's able to read nowand he can read to learn, but he
still has dyslexia, so he stillhas word retrieval issues.
So we'll be driving in the carand he'll be like, oh mom, that
thing, you know, that roundthing that you put your hands on
and it steers us and he'strying to think of like the word
steering wheel, but like wordretrieval issues, things like
that, processing a lot ofdirections, understanding when
(06:49):
there's a lot of verbalinstruction or anything like
that.
He has a hard time understandingall that.
And I think to some other redflags.
We often see students withdyslexia.
They'll understand a conceptone day and then the next day
it'll be totally fresh again.
And so teachers that canrecognize that.
You know, I've had a fewteachers go.
Well, they just knew that sightword last week.
Why don't they know it now?
Those are just some things tokeep an eye out for, because
it's how their brain'sprocessing it.
(07:10):
And the beautiful thing aboutwhat we do here at The Ridge is
we're trying to retrain theirbrain to keep that information.
And so when we do it the rightway, the way their brain is
processing information, it theydo store it.
And so you know, looking at howjust the classroom instruction
happens, if they're not pickingup on something over and over
and over again, that's a big redflag for a teacher.
We always say like they needlike that slow and steady drip.
(07:31):
So a dyslexic brain is kind oflike a river rock.
So if you just pour water on it, like a pitcher of water on it,
like they're going to, it'sgoing to get wet and they're
going to get a little bit of theconcepts, like if you think of
the picture as the instruction,but it's nothing's going to
really stick.
They've got to have that rockbeat in the river where the
instruction is running over itsmoothly and consistently over
time to really smooth out thoseedges, for them to really grasp
(07:52):
those concepts.
Mrs. Erin Kay (07:54):
That makes sense for sure, and you know I had a
child with dyslexia, and goingback as a mom to someone with
some of those developmentalmarkers, and he is my third of
four children and he's a twin,and I remember being so
frustrated at why is time likethe sequencing, why does he not
understand today, tomorrow,yesterday, and why is he having
(08:16):
such a hard time picking upthese words and becoming
frustrated.
And so I just want to offergrace to the parent who is in
that with a young child, youknow who's four, five, six and
you're like well, why can't theyfigure out tomorrow when all
their peers are figuring outtomorrow?
Just to offer yourself graceand that that there could be
something going on and thatevery child is different.
(08:38):
And if you're on the other sideof it, like I am, you know
getting the support for thedyslexia, go back and offer your
former self grace, for youdon't know what you don't know.
Al right.
So with that, what are somemyths and misconceptions about
individuals who do have dyslexia?
Mrs. Sara Smithson (08:55):
I would say by far the most common
misconception about dyslexia isthat they see and write letters
and words backwards.
You know, I've also heardpeople say that the words
sometimes might dance around onthe page and that would be more
of like a visual processingissue.
That has absolutely nothing todo with dyslexia.
But if you think about like thevisual input of objects in our
world, like a chair, we canrecognize an object regardless
(09:17):
of its orientation.
So I can tell that that's achair if it's facing left or
right, I can tell that it's achair if it's upside down.
But with reading and writing wehave this man-made construct of
letters and symbols whereorientation does in fact matter
now.
So young learners have tounlearn this thing.
It's called mirror invariance,where a, b and a, d are not
(09:38):
mirrored images of the sameobject.
So now, when you see a line andthen a circle that represents
the, and when you see a circleand then a circle that
represents the, when you see acircle and then a line that
represents, and so it's reallycommon for students to have
reversals up until around theend of second grade.
It has has nothing to do withdyslexia.
I think that one of the mostdetrimental misunderstandings
about dyslexia is that peoplewith dyslexia lack intelligence
(10:02):
and able to be able to learn toread.
You know, dyslexia is notlinked to intelligence at all.
As a matter of fact, one of thecharacteristics of dyslexia is
that it's an unexpectedchallenge with learning how to
read in relation to their othercognitive abilities.
So dyslexia is not a thinkingissue and it has nothing to do
with intelligence.
Like when we actually have achild with dyslexia, we see how
(10:22):
incredibly intelligent they are.
Their IQs are like out of thisworld, and so that really is
something that you just have tokeep pressing on and educating
people in, because that is a bigmyth that we see and that we
hear about like, oh well, I justdon't know if they can do it.
Well, they can.
We just have to teach theirbrain how to, and you know they
say, 35% of entrepreneursactually identify as being
dyslexic.
(10:43):
You know, people like Steve Jobs, Charles Schwab, Thomas Edison,
Albert Einstein, StevenSpielberg is dyslexic, Walt
Disney is dyslexic, Tim Tebow,you know, the list goes on and
on.
Mrs. Erin Kay (10:54):
You absolutely can be successful as an adult
and have dyslexia.
So what makes individuals withdyslexia special?
Mrs. Sara Smithson (11:01):
Individuals with dyslexia have really strong
problem solving skills.
They are big picture thinkers.
They are really good at likevisualizing ideas.
They usually have great verbalskills and enhanced pattern
recognition.
I've also heard it said to likewhen you meet a dyslexic person
, you've met a dyslexic person.
You know they're also uniqueand individual, but those do
tend to be like generalstrengths that they have.
Mrs. Erin Kay (11:23):
I've noticed a certain work ethic too, with my
son especially has a certaintenacity and work ethic.
That's really cool to see.
Al right, so are there provenmethods of teaching to help
students with dyslexia to crackthe code of reading?
Mrs. Sara Smithson (11:37):
Yeah, so we use the Orton-Gillingham
approach, which weaffectionately refer to as OG.
It's been around for a hundredyears.
It's been researched and proven.
OG is highly individualized, sowe tailor our teaching to our
students' needs and theirinterests.
It's also very direct andexplicit, so we don't ever ask
our students to do anything thatwe have not explicitly taught
them, which also makes itemotionally sound.
(11:59):
So we're always setting thestage for success.
We want our students toexperience like a spiral of
successes, so that we'rebuilding their confidence.
You know, 86% of the Englishlanguage follows a rule or a
generalization, and so if we can, through a multi-sensory
approach, teach those rules andgeneralizations to our students,
then we're giving them thetools that they need to be
proficient readers All right.
Mrs. Erin Kay (12:20):
So how does Ben Lippen specifically support
students with dyslexia using theOG program?
Mrs. Sarah Beth Helsley (12:27):
So we have our program, The Ridge,
which we've been talking a lotabout this morning, and what The
Ridge really is all about isthat we offer OG sessions for
students with dyslexia.
So the parents have theopportunity to choose, along
with a discussion with theschool.
You know what their sessionsand how many sessions they'll
get a week, and so currentlyright now Ben Lippen is serving
(12:50):
students twice a week for anhour long sessions, which are
great, and what's even better isthat next year we're able to
add more, because we've seenthat some of our students need
more than just the two hours aweek, and so we're able to offer
now five days a week forstudents, which will just be
life-changing for some of thesestudents especially.
The earlier we get them so theearlier we can get them and
(13:11):
start intervening, greatersuccess they're going to have.
And we also still have theoption for two days a week, and
it's really just a nice way tocome alongside our students here
at Ben Lippen, come alongsideour teachers at Ben Lippen and
just work on supporting thestudent as a whole.
So, yes, they have dyslexia, butthey're still a part of Ben
Lippen School and so theirreading instruction happens with
(13:34):
us Some of their readinginstruction happens with us.
Unless they're in the five days, you know, they're in the
classroom for the rest of theday, which is really neat
because we're able to reallycelebrate their uniqueness and
how the Lord has made them andwe're able to come alongside
them to allow them to feelsuccessful.
And so we just we love what weget to do, we love that we get
to partner with families andteachers and our administrators
(13:56):
here at Ben Lippen, and it'sjust been such a program that's
been covered in prayer for solong and it's so nice to see it
come through fruition in thisphase one that we're in moving
into phase one and a half, soit's just really exciting to be
a part of this.
Mrs. Erin Kay (14:10):
So why did Ben Lippen decide to embrace
dyslexia?
Mrs. Sarah Beth Helsley (14:14):
So we have had a lot of families here
at Ben Lippen School that havehad, you know, students that
don't have dyslexia and thenstudents that do, and we've
noticed that we weren't able toreally fully support the child
that had dyslexia, and so sooften we saw parents having to
separate their families and sendtheir child to a school really
just for dyslexia, and it justcaused so much heartache.
(14:37):
It caused heartache on theparents, it caused heartache on
the child, it caused heartacheon the school, and so we just
began praying like how can weserve them?
Because the awesome thing aboutBen Lippen is that even with
dyslexia, we still get to pourinto The Kingdom curriculum,
which is our end goal, is thatthe children learn about the
Lord every single day, and sowhen they're able to stay in
(14:58):
this environment and receiveBible instruction, have access
to chapel, just be in acommunity of believers, really
was so impactful, and so we justfelt like the Lord is really
calling us to be able to step inthe gap for these families and
pursue this.
And so it's been somethingthat's been prayed for long
before I even arrived at BenLippen, and it's just been
(15:20):
really neat to see the blessingthat it's been to families and
how we've been able to servethem and serve their students
well, keeping them in anenvironment that is so nurturing
, focused on Christ, andcelebrating that, yes, they may
have dyslexia, but guess what?
That's how the Lord made you,and he made you fearfully
wonderful, and so it's just beenneat to see that unfold.
I think it's been reallyawesome for families that
haven't had to separate and juststay part of the Falcon family.
Mrs. Erin Kay (15:43):
Yes, it's been a huge answer prayer for my family
, with my son who's a twin, andnot having to separate him from
his twin is tremendous for usAlr ight, so for both of you,
why did y'all decide tospecialize in working with
children with dyslexia?
Mrs. Sara Smithson (15:59):
Well, my son was diagnosed five years ago,
and so when we received hisdiagnosis, I immediately felt
two things.
One was a huge sense of relief,because now I knew that there
was a roadmap and there was hope, but the other was a really
strong sense of shame, becausehere I was a career educator and
I knew there was a roadmap, butI couldn't access that roadmap.
(16:20):
So they don't teach this incollege and I couldn't help my
son.
And so this is just a testamentof how good God is is unknown
to me.
Ben Lippen was already in theprocess of starting up this
program and, you know, once Iheard about it, I applied for
and got the job, and now I wasprovided this invaluable
training.
I always say like I really dofeel like I just won the lottery
(16:40):
and I just thank the Lord thatI've been able to receive this
training has given me an insightinto my child's brain so that I
can understand him, which youknow leads to having compassion
for him and patience with him.
And so I just really do thinkthe Lord that he's led me down
this path and that you know thegift that he's given me through
this knowledge that he's allowedme to acquire, and my prayer is
that I would be able to honorthe Lord with this knowledge
(17:02):
that he's given me and beingable to help other children and
serve his children.
Mrs. Sarah Beth Helsley (17:06):
And for me, I just have always had a
passion for students withlearning differences.
When I was in first grade I knewthat I was going to be a
teacher for students whostruggled and I would go home
and tell my mom all the time,based on a child that was in my
class, I said I always wanted tobe his teacher.
I would come and get him andpull him out and I always wanted
to be his teacher that wouldcome and get him and pull him
out.
And so here we are, all thoseyears later in those shoes, and
(17:28):
so I just have loved my 14 plusyears of working with students
with neurodiversities and justhow awesome they are and once
you really get to see them andwork with them, they really are
just so encouraging and it'sjust been such a blessing.
So my path has been not justsolely for students with
dyslexia but now to echo, likewhat Ms Smithson said, like it
really is just such a blessingthat Ben Lippen's offered the
(17:51):
opportunity for us to be trainedin this approach and just how
to love these special students,because I've been able to walk
parents through hey, there mightbe something happening and
going on to now we have thisdiagnosis and to walk them from
step A all the way to step Z andoffer them support and offer
(18:11):
them a program that can allowtheir child to be successful has
just been something so neatthat stirs my heart on every day
, which has been so great.
So I'm so grateful for BenLippen.
I'm so grateful for Ms Missonand the team that we've had.
We've been able to do thistogether, which has been really
fun, and to see it through hereyes too, as a parent.
So not only is she an educator,but she's a parent, and so she
(18:32):
speaks a lot of truth and has alot of insight for us on the
other side of the table as werally together and partner with
these families.
Thank you for that.
Mrs. Erin Kay (18:39):
Since Ben Lippen is a community of diverse
learners, how can other studentsand parents of students who do
not have dyslexia betterunderstand and support dyslexic
learners?
Mrs. Sara Smithson (18:50):
I think you know, just knowing what dyslexia
is and what it's not, you knowjust it's a hard and frustrating
road for the child and for theparents.
So, just having compassion, youknow, I think we can all
empathize because we all fallshort in one way or another.
Right, so we can connectthrough our weakness and we can
(19:10):
understand you know weakness andwe can understand experienced
failure.
Mrs. Sarah Beth Helsley (19:11):
And so just through that I think we can
empathize with them and I think, too, also like echoing that
understanding that we all havestrengths and weaknesses and
allowing the children to seethat.
So there's oftentimes that we gopick our students up for The
Ridge and other students arelike I want to go, I want to go,
and so they do think it'sawesome.
You know, it's not somethingthat's looked down upon when we
have to go pull students, whichI think is really great that the
(19:32):
Ben Lippen community has reallyrallied and taken under this
program and these students, andthey celebrate them for who they
are and they celebrate them forwhat they can do.
And so even other families thatdon't have students in The
Ridge they are telling peopleabout The Ridge, which is just
amazing to see that, even whenit doesn't impact you, they care
so deeply about the school.
(19:53):
And so, because they care aboutthe school, they care about the
programs at the school, and sothey teach their children to do
the same.
And it goes back to that versein Psalm 139, that we are
created in God's image and we'refearfully, wonderfully made.
And he knew who would havedyslexia and who wouldn't have
dyslexia, and he put peopletogether to celebrate that, and
so I just try to keep that atthe forefront of everybody's
(20:15):
mind and their hearts, becausewe've seen it really play out,
which has been really neat tosee.
Mrs. Erin Kay (20:19):
Yeah, absolutely.
And you know, to kind of closethis up, just be in prayer for
The Ridge, absolutely, and youknow to kind of close this up,
(20:46):
just be in prayer for The Ridge.
Mr ss Helsley and Mrs.
Smithson, what's the best wayfor them to get in touch with
you?
Mrs. Sarah Beth Helsley (20:50):
They can look on the website for our
emails.
We also both have extensionslisted.
So if you shoot us an email oryou put in on the website you
have questions about The Ridge,they shoot those over to us and
then we get in contact withy'all.
So we hope to get to talk.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com