A New Adventure

 As my days in school are over, for now, I embark on a journey of my own. Opening Haley Slaughter Reading Therapy LLC has been a dream of mine ever since I was a little girl. I always liked to play teacher in my mom's classroom. Yes, I said moms (there is a long history of teachers in my family). There were days when I would play "teacher" at home while doing my homework and even playing school with my friends. To tell you the truth, most of the friends I had/have ended up becoming teachers as well. Some are a little crazier than others teaching things like physics and calculus. 

Opening HSRT is a work of heart. After knowing that dyslexia runs in families, or if you're like me it gallops, I started to want to know more about what dyslexia was. In my first year of teaching in a classroom, I had a student who was dyslexic and knew nothing about it. After doing my own research because none of my teaching classes or exams prepared me for having a dyslexic student in my class, I began to understand the struggles and needs of a student like this. I would occasionally observe their dyslexia services to better understand what that student needed and what type of instruction was beneficial for that student. The therapist allowed me to watch and understand what was going on. She really taught me about how students with dyslexia really learn and how to cope with this type of specific learning disability. She will never know how much she inspired me to become what I am now. 

Later down the line my first child would later be diagnosed with dyslexia at the beginning of 3rd grade and did not receive the correct instruction until the end of 3rd grade. I fought for my son and began to wonder, what if other parents were in this type of issue. Where their child isn't getting what they need and their dyslexia is being brushed off. Students are being called lazy, disrespectful, and rude when all they want is to be taught in a language they know and can understand. To understand how to read! A few years later my middle child was also tested for dyslexia and qualified in the middle of 2nd grade. I am a mom of two boys with dyslexia and dysgraphia. After being a dyslexia specialist for 13 years I decided to go back to school and get my Master's from Liberty University so that I could become a CALT (certified academic language therapist). Doing this allowed me to open my own private practice and then open Haley Slaughter Reading Therapy LLC.  I want to be able to share the gift of reading with others who struggle with dyslexia and other reading disorders. Welcome to the next level!