Dyslexia Specialists of Central Illinois

10/31/2025

Come along with Dr. Block as she shares her day presenting at the Everyone Reading Illinois conference 🍁

10/27/2025

If your child is behind in the early grades, do not assume they will catch up

10/17/2025

P/T conference season again! Check out our list of questions to ask below ⬇️

It doesn't seem possible, but it is already time for parent/teacher conferences for many area schools.😱 If you are a parent worried about your child, you are anxiously waiting to ask his/her teacher the most important question to date, "Is my child making progress?" 🤔

And guess what your child's teacher will say? "Yes.”

Teachers are with your child every day, so YES they will see growth and we always want to share as many positives as possible with families. Not to mention, your child inevitably WILL be making some progress.

Why do we NOT recommend JUST asking if they are making progress? We refer to this as the "developmental effect," which means that children by the very nature of growing WILL learn. This unforunately means that there is a tendency to attribute a child's progress to what is really just a child growing and developing, but it has less to do with meaningful progress made through actual instruction.

🗣Here are some questions that we recommend asking that may give you a better idea of growth instead of "Is he making progress?”:

👉🏻"Are they making progress at the same pace as their peers?"
👉🏻"Are you finding they need lots of repetition?"
👉🏻"Are they retaining information or do you have to reteach it a lot?"
👉🏻"Are they avoiding doing any of the work?"
👉🏻"Are they learning in some areas more easily than others?"
👉🏻"Can you tell me about specific skills you see that are still difficult?"

By asking these types of questions, you may feel more confident in understanding whether or not your child is where they need to be.

☑️One last tip. If your child has dyslexia, "Keep practicing reading, it will just click" does not apply to them 😉

10/14/2025

Our guy, Henry, always highlighting the challenges and strengths of children with dyslexia! When asked what advice he would give a parent or teacher with a child who has dyslexia he says, and we paraphrase:

"The most important thing is to see the child in front of you...They are not having a hard time because they want to make trouble....it is the wiring that is hereditary."

🎤✋ MIC DROP. Too often, children with dyslexia are told to "try harder" or that they are just lazy, when in fact, they are struggling to process the language presented to them because their very brains are different. They just need someone to see their struggle, give it a name, and intervene in a meaningful way.

(PSA: "Detective Duck" is a favorite book in our house! Check it out!)

ABC News’ Linsey Davis sat down with actor and author Henry Winkler to discuss his new children’s book, living with dyslexia and why it took decades to becom...

10/09/2025

❓WHAT IS DYSLEXIA❓

The International Dyslexia Association has adopted a rather lengthy definition of dyslexia: https://dyslexiaida.org/definition-of-dyslexia/

“Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.”

🔎Take a closer look at our overview of dyslexia! Did you notice that you don't see anything about "reading backwards" as people commonly like to state? Dyslexia can be complex and doesn't always look exactly the same, but we are here to help you understand it all!

10/06/2025

🤔Are you wondering if your child needs to be evaluated for dyslexia? Or, what reading therapy looks like at our office, and how long the program takes? Curious what makes our office unique?

➡️Check out the FAQs page on our website!

How do I know if my child needs an evaluation and what does the evaluation include? A good rule of thumb is that your child should be reading on grade level, if not,there is a reason why and we need to find out why your child is notprogressing as expected. Even if your child is […]

10/01/2025