Importance of Reading
by Andrea L. Huff for Indy's Child
Who is Jennifer Lynn Gordus and why is her story so important? Jennifer Gordus is a 29-year-old woman, born and raised in Indianapolis, who has dealt with a life of hardships including weight issues and a learning difference known as dyslexia. Instead of blaming others and wallowing in self-pity, she chose to confront her issues for the benefit of others. Although many have faced worse difficulties throughout life, we believe what Jennifer has accomplished is worth sharing and should be an inspiration to us all.
In 2002, ABC’s of Phonics, Inc. was born. The business was the inception of Jennifer’s own struggles with reading, not only as a young child but also through her late teenage years. Most of the frustration, however, arises out of the late diagnoses of her dyslexia.
Jennifer’s educational background is almost satirical. She commenced school as a young girl in Indiana’s public school system. It was recommended to her parents that although she did not possess the reading skills of a first grade student, she should advance to second grade. Unsettled by the information that their child was not reading at the appropriate age level, Jennifer’s parents took it upon themselves to have her skills tested by a different educational institution. At this point they were advised that it was in Jennifer’s best interest to repeat the first grade. Fortunately, Jennifer progressed through the next six school terms with little to no difficulty.
Then the battle resumed
Jennifer’s parents determined that the most challenging education for their child could only be provided by a private school. Once again she began to struggle with reading and language arts. Annoyed by her perceived failure in academia, she turned to food for comfort. Although her grades reflected the difficulty she endured, as well as her rapid weight gain, Jennifer’s struggles were ignored, both at school and at home.
As she approached high school, she enrolled in a private school under the erroneous belief that it would provide an enhanced educational curriculum along with a capable, compassionate faculty. Pursuant to the curriculum, students were required to learn a foreign language. To a dyslexic student, this is nothing short of a nightmare. To Jennifer’s parents, after observing her unfettered effort to succeed, it was a source of heightened aggravation.
The school’s response was to blame the child, suggesting a different language may be more suitable. With the aid of her parents, the school finally agreed to have Jennifer undergo educational diagnostic testing. The results—Jennifer suffered from a learning difference, commonly referred to as dyslexia. This private educational institution, well known in the community, responded to Jennifer’s parents that a higher education was not in her future.
In essence, instead of encouraging this child to reach her highest potential, this well-respected school and its faculty failed miserably by informing Jennifer she had no scholastic promise. Interestingly, the school would permit her to utilize a tutor (at her own expense) and, more importantly, would continue to accept her costly tuition payments.
Although the private school was unable to offer Jennifer or her family any options to assist her in coping with dyslexia, fortunately there were other outlets for such information. After rejection from private school, the family first learned of the Orton Dyslexic Society and the Orton-Gillingham approach. The Indiana branch of the Orton Dyslexic Society had Jennifer tested to confirm that she did in fact, suffer from dyslexia. They also provided the family with tutoring companies well-versed in the area of dyslexia and the challenges facing children diagnosed with this difference in learning.
A new-found self-image
Additionally, Jennifer underwent testing by the Indiana University Department of Neurology in an effort to determine the necessary accommodations both to continue forward with her education as well as insure future success. Pursuant to their findings, any institution Jennifer attended was to provide her with unlimited time for testing, a reader, a note-taker in class (or a tape recorder for lectures), and an electronic speller and/or a calculator. Equipped with her gained knowledge regarding dyslexia as well as the skills and techniques promoted by the Orton-Gillingham approach, Jennifer demonstrated a new-found self-image.
Unfortunately, the saga does not end there. As private school was no longer an option and other schools did not offer courses suitable for Jennifer’s situation, her parents were more than irate. It was apparent that Indiana’s public school system was not taking this child’s best interest to heart. Therefore, Jennifer’s mother took her cause to the Indiana court system and requested permission for Jennifer to forego her last year in high school and sit for the G.E.D. exam the summer after her junior year (untimed and with a reader).
Extreme measures
Why go to such extreme measures to remove this child from high school, especially after the difficulty she endured over the last couple years? The answer: Vincennes University. Jennifer was now focused and determined not to allow the dyslexia consume her life and affect her efforts to obtain a further education. Through research, she learned that Vincennes University offered a non-credited remedial program (S.T.E.P.) for dyslexic individuals created to provide information regarding how a person with dyslexia receives and processes information as well as how to survive in a college classroom environment. Jennifer was accepted into the program and was off to Vincennes, Indiana, in 1991. After attending Vincennes University for two years, she transferred to Indiana University in 1993.
What makes Jennifer’s story so uplifting? In 1997 she proved not only to herself but to her past educators that she could attain a college degree, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Early Childhood from Indiana University.
Upon graduation from Indiana University in May 1997, Jennifer committed herself to become an Orton-Gillingham tutor. The Orton-Gillingham program is comprised of a part-time, three-week class in which Jennifer was required to pass both a midterm and final exam. Upon completion of the classroom aspect of the program, Jennifer participated in approximately one hundred hours of supervised tutoring of dyslexic children using the Orton-Gillingham technique. Aside from her experience tutoring with the Orton-Gillingham program, Jennifer spent approximately four years teaching young children, including those with learning disabilities, how to read phonetically.
Jennifer was employed as an educator. She enjoyed success both in the eyes of administrators and students. Nevertheless, Jennifer was faced with yet another obstacle. Most of the school systems in Indiana no longer adhered to phonics based teaching/reading programs, but adopted whole language. Although Jennifer was trained in whole language, she did not agree with this specific technique because of both her education and personal background. Due to the public’s misunderstanding of individual learning differences, the victims of Indiana’s educational system, in Jennifer’s opinion, are the children.
Children and reading
Today is a different story. Jennifer decided to confront her dyslexia with a vengeance. Instead of teaching the outdated method of whole language, she decided that she would utilize both her education and her story to benefit other children who may be confronting similar issues. In the year 2000, Jennifer suffered a personal family loss which, looking back, was a blessing in disguise. The death of her maternal grandparents encouraged her to take a look at her own life—the aspirations and dreams she holds dear. It was with this insight and her recent inheritance that Jennifer could pursue her passions – children and reading.
Her company, ABC’s of Phonics, Inc., caters to all children between the ages of 4 and 8. As Jennifer believes that each child has a different approach to learning, her programs are based on phonetics and multi-sensory, which are custom designed to teach children to read through all of the five senses. Jennifer created the Fun with Phonics Program as an exciting way for preschoolers to learn. After graduating from Fun with Phonics I, the students can sound out each letter of the alphabet, recognize lower case letters and read three letter words. Fun with Phonics II through IV provides students with a foundation of phonics-based rules to continue on with reading. One-on-one tutoring is also available for parents who desire more individualized training for their child. Moreover, Jennifer is trained to assist children who have been diagnosed with learning differences such as dyslexia. The company was designed to instill in children a passion for reading as well as a system for early detection of learning difficulties.
A new perspective
Throughout her life Jennifer has battled with a learning difference called dyslexia. What comes relatively easy to most children has been the cause for much of her turmoil. Whether it was the embarrassment of not being able to read like most of her classmates, the absolute frustration of her parents, or the constant downgrading of those who were employed to educate her—let’s just say that Jennifer has not led a story book life like that of Peter Pan. Probably because she couldn’t read well enough to embark on such adventures! But, with a new perspective on reading and a will to succeed, we find Jennifer and ABC’s of Phonics, Inc. to be quite the success.
