The Learning Specialist, LLC

06/01/2026

Are you a parent looking for targeted intervention? Visit us at www.thelearningspecialistLLC.com.

Are you a teacher, tutor or interventionist looking to join a small, dedicated team of learning specialists? Email Kristen at [email protected].

The Learning Specialist serves Oak Park, IL and the surrounding Chicago Suburbs. Providing Individualized Educational support and IEP Advocate services for your child. We work with students who have diagnosed learning disabilities (ADHD, Dyslexia, executive functioning, etc.) as well as those with u

02/03/2024

A moment of reflection before the Team arrived...

Our team showed up this Saturday morning for a 2-hour Wilson Reading System fidelity training.

We are excited to continue raising the bar to impact our students' literacy outcomes!

Cheers to The Learning Specialist team, students and families!

03/24/2023

Fun fact: I studied in a PhD in Special Education for a minute. It turns out, I don't have the patience for the research process that takes *years* to learn what I can see now through my own eyes and lived experience. Just not for me.

You know what else I see with my eyes every single day? The clear benefits of teaching readers to engage the left side of their brains when they read. Some don't have the choice I had to expedite, with regards to which path they must take to read. It may take *years*, no matter how hard they try. So, ensuring a structured literacy approach is used is critical for some children.

Every year, I roll up my sleeves for 1-2 new non-reading children. With natural variance in their profiles, they each take their own path- some progress in a slow and somewhat rocky manner, some jetting in a straight line toward fluency, but soon enough they all drop the "non" as they now can read. It can still take literal years beyond that point to reach proficiency for some, but now with the right foundation in place their path toward proficiency may begin.

Read on to learn more from the folks at Standford- the people who finished out that PhD and then some! ;)

To compare the effects of two ways to teach reading, research from Bruce McCandliss and his colleagues used brain waves to map neural circuits.

01/16/2023

While I am all for allowing a child the space needed to develop without unnecessary interference, grade school children are aware of their differences earlier than we may realize. Some deviations are natural and to be nurtured. Some deviations are due to improper or misaligned instruction for that particular child.

If you are a parent with suspicions that your child's academic development is deviating from their peers, but you also respect giving your child the space to develop at "their own rate"- consider modest, targeted support from a certified practitioner to start some form of course correction sooner than later. Conservatively, my developing readers would have all benefitted from mild-moderate support during the Fall of 1st grade.

11/02/2022

Parents of dyslexic students- I am sure that- like me- you are seeing an increase in pop-ups from companies creating quick fix interventions for your dyslexic children. The amount of new tutors/organizations/digital programs claiming expertise in dyslexia since 2020 is concerning. In fact, nothing makes my blood boil more than an opportunist of this kind.

Please be thoughtfully aware of any organization or programming claiming to be a quick fix or to expedite grade level progression for your child. There are no quick "fixes" for dyslexia. Effective intervention takes close partnership with your child's dyslexia practitioner, coordination across all service providers and consistency for at least 1-2 years to see meaningful gains in skill, strategy and confidence.

08/15/2022

Great tips!

06/02/2022

There is no new information here, folks. The research stands that is a MUST for dyslexics and beneficial for all.

I’ve done a lot of parent consults lately to help guide revisions of IEP goals for dyslexic students and here are some trends:

-schools telling families they ”don’t do dyslexia”. I’ll explain what they really mean later.

-IEPs for dyslexic students with reading fluency goals but without decoding and encoding goals- huh?

-highly intelligent, chronically under-supported dyslexic upper elementary students (3rd-5th graders) whose compensation masks the need in reading but spelling/writing is a continuous pain point. Families still trying to get that needed support.

Solutions and support for these issues coming soon in a follow up post…