I tutor students who struggle with literacy and am also a mother of dyslexic twin boys.

My sons were diagnosed with severe dyslexia in 2012. They were in year 3 and found it impossible to make any sense of reading and writing. It was very frustrating for them and the difficulties they had were completely unexpected.

Being desperate to help them, I read everything about dyslexia that I could get my hands on. It was challenging to find my way through all the information out there, but the book that helped steer me was Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz. She, a researcher from Yale University, was excellent at explaining the cause of dyslexia, as well as the most effective approach to remediating it. I strongly recommend the book to any parent navigating a similar path.

In 2012 I began studying at the Institute for Multisensory Structured Language (MSL) Education through the Australian Dyslexia Association (ADA) and received my accreditation as a Practising MSL Specialist Educator.

I home-schooled my sons for years 5 and 6, an experience I’m grateful we were able to have as a family, as I know it’s not a realistic option for many. Being able to work with my sons daily improved their reading and spelling drastically. Words can’t describe the sense of achievement seeing them grow in confidence and ability.

When they returned to school in year 7, I continued supporting other students needing one-on-one multisensory instruction. Helping students make sense of our writing system is very meaningful and gratifying work I feel passionate about.