A new club for children who have dyslexia will allow its young members to have the opportunity to be leaders, rather than followers, according to Kim Mitchell of Howell.
Kids Klub is a Monmouth County 4-H Club and is the result of a joint effort on the part of Mitchell and her friend, Jennifer Dresher, also of Howell.
Each women has a child who has been diagnosed with dyslexia, and both are seeking to help their own child and other youngsters who have dyslexia through their involvement with Decoding Dyslexia-NJ and the new 4-H Kids Klub.
Kim and Paul Mitchell are the parents of Michael, 9, who attends the Ardena School, and Jennifer and Doug Dresher are the parents of Hannah, 11, who attends the Ramtown School. Michael and Hannah have been diagnosed with dyslexia.
The Kids Klub will meet monthly and offer its members a chance to run their own meetings, choose their own projects to work on, and perform community service, all while finding support among friends, Mitchell said. Decoding Dyslexia-NJ will host a dyslexia awareness roundtable for parents, in conjunction with sign-ups for the Kids Klub, at 6 p.m. July 10 at the Cooperative Extension of Monmouth County, 4000 Kozloski Road, Freehold Township. The 4-H office may be reached at 732-431-7260, ext. 7263.
Topics will include the full impact of language on reading disabilities, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and how to ensure a child’s right to a free and appropriate public education, and appropriate multi-sensory programs that are for dyslexic children.
Meetings for the Kids Klub will start in September.
Mitchell said the goal of Decoding Dyslexia-NJ is threefold.
“We want to raise awareness of dyslexia, we want to have more teachers trained in how to deal with dyslexic children, and we want to see early screening for dyslexia,” she said.
Mitchell said the group is advocating for “proper remediation and proper intervention” in public schools.
Representatives of the group are meeting with state legislators to work on creating legislation that would have schools offer children who are struggling with dyslexia the proper tools and education they need in order to learn and be successful in school.
Mitchell join Decoding Dyslexia-NJ in July 2012. She said dyslexia is not “reading words backward” as most people think.
“Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability, referring to a cluster of symptoms, which result in people having difficulties with specific language skills, particularly reading. Students with dyslexia usually experience difficulties with other language skills such as spelling, writing and pronouncing words.
“It is of neurological origin in a person with average or above average intelligence, for whom there are no other physical, medical or psychological conditions sufficiently serious enough to account for the languagehandling deficits. In a nutshell, dyslexics process and learn differently,” she said.
Mitchell said her son, Michael, was diagnosed with dyslexia in the first grade. She said he is very excited about the new Kids Klub.
“Michael is very outgoing,” she said. “Some children with dyslexia are not. He rolls with the punches and he accepts that he has dyslexia. He is looking forward to meeting and making new friends through the club.”
She said the Kids Klub will allow for a kinship among members that they may not find in other youth clubs.
She said one project that may be suggested for the children to consider working on will concern nutrition.
“We could have a workshop and teach them how to make healthy recipes. This would also help them with reading skills, measuring skills and following recipe instructions,” she said.
Adult advisers will be on hand to supervise the children, as well as some high school students who are preparing for college who also have dyslexia, according to Mitchell.
“We want our kids to see that dyslexic children can and do succeed. They will act as role models for the children,” she said.
For more information about Decoding Dyslexia-NJ, visit the website www.DecodingDyslexiaNJ. org.
For more information about the Kids Klub, send an email to Kim Mitchell at [email protected]. Contact Clare Marie Celano at [email protected].