NEW ALBANY, Ohio — Being called on to read out loud in elementary school can be intimidating by itself, and for kids with dyslexia, this can be even more challenging.

What You Need To Know

  • Marburn Academy gave parents the opportunity to experience what it feels like to have dyslexia via a simulation

  • The school is for students who have ADHD, dyslexia or other learning difficulties

  • Many parents participating in the program have children who go to the school

For Dyslexia Awareness Month, one school gave parents the opportunity to experience what dyslexia feels like. 

Marburn Academy put on a dyslexia simulation. The school in New Albany is for students who have ADHD, dyslexia or other learning difficulties. 

Many of the parents participating have students who go there, including Wendy Hansen-Smith’s.  

“It brought back memories of trying to teach my oldest child to read because my child was very smart, could speak in complete sentences before they were a year old, but couldn’t read the words that were actually on the paper,” Hansen-Smith said.

One simulation had parents reading words hidden in random symbols. Another had them writing in cursive using their non-dominant hand, and others require some memorization. Each rotation was different, but they all taught empathy.

“One thing that we know intellectually, we can understand dyslexia and what that is, but really to feel how that feels in a classroom every day is a unique experience,” said Stephanie Royal, executive director of the Marburn Education Collaborative.

Royal says understanding dyslexia, as a parent, is crucial. 

“Students with dyslexia are extremely capable,” she said. “They typically have average to above-average intelligence. And so, sometimes parents think, ‘Why is this so difficult? We have given you what you need to learn how to read. Why is it so hard?’ And until you really experience what that can look like or what that feels like, it’s hard for you to have some understanding, compassion or some patience really with your child.”

For parents like Hansen-Smith, it’s giving them a little more insight. 

“I can understand even better what their experience has been,” Hansen-Smith said. “I will never know what it’s like to walk in the shoes of my child, but I have a little bit of taste of what that has been like and the challenges that they’ve overcome.”