Case Studies

Dr Brunetti describes the turnaround for her daughter Lily

When we started Easyread, Lily was 6 and a half and was really struggling with progressing with reading which was odd given she had managed the beginnings of phonics (in year R and 1) quite well. We practised reading every night and she would flip words and read high frequency words (she/ the/ he/ where/ what/ was) incorrectly and it was becoming very strained. We got to the point where she would cry and throw herself around when reading and I was feeling frustrated and anxious (my son found it easy to learn to read and so I had no reference point for this). Her teacher told us she was falling behind and I think started to think she was not very bright/ capable although she is an articulate child and this caused school confusion.
School tested her for dyslexia and the results showed that she was unlikely to have any specific learning difficulty and had good phonological awareness, scoring above average on cognitive indicess for her age. It was a mystery and her spelling/ writing was also really off (no consonants in words or very phonetic spellings that didn’t bear much resemblance to correct spellings).

In desperation, I turned to Google and found Easyread where the testimonies and explanation really seemed to strike a chord in terms of our struggle.

Lily really enjoyed the programme and getting to learn the characters and over time, our daily 10 minute slot became a platform for de-coupling the reading = distress/ something I can’t do experience. It did take until around session 60 or so for me to see we were turning a corner and around session 90 I could see we were really accelerating progress. We continued to session 150 to support spelling progress. In September when she started Year 3, Lily was reading at age 8.5 although her spelling was a bit under (age 5 and three quarters). Now we are 6 months post Easyread, there is a marked change in spelling (within her age band) and is improving all the time. She takes real enjoyment in reading paperbacks with a whole page of text (e.g. Horrid Henry/ Jaqueline Wilson) and feels capable and confident.

I was so concerned that whatever block was causing her difficulty would lead to a really negative impact on her education generally and had low confidence in the school being able to work out what was going on. I’m 99% confident that if it hadn’t been for the Easyread programme and all the associated measures and consultations (her eye movement speed was slow and so we did exercises on this with almost immediate improvement!), we would have got no further along and my fun-loving little girl would have developed into an anxious, sad child with a sense of incompetence and separation/ difference from others. It was going that way! I’m so full of gratitude that Easyread existed, that it was a package that so comprehensively looked at the blocks and had straightforward and manageable interventions to address them. Of course it takes time and effort (on the child’s and parent’s part) and persistence, after all, neuroplasticity needs repetition and rehearsal to change learnt patterns at a neurological level, but if I had left intervention until later, I’m sure we wouldn’t have seen progress so readily and there would have been real suffering in the meantime. I am a clinical psychologist and I have seen many clients over the years who have developed really problematic emotional/ behavioural patterns following on from experiences where they struggled with learning at school and the confusion in terms of self-identity this has created when they are bright but have not reached their educational potential as well as the emotional sequelae of anxiety, low mood and the sense of isolation of being taken out of lessons/ not feeling part of the class and worse…

I am a sceptic usually and want there to be evidence before I pay money into something. The Randomised Controlled Trial gave me a vote of confidence from the outset (it is the pinnacle of good research after all) and I have spread the word to many following on from our positive experience and the change it has undoubtedly provided for Lily’s learning trajectory and sense of self.

So, if you are reading this and are unsure whether to commit to it, I hope this supports you going forwards and having confidence in this system to really help change things for your child (and family because an unhappy, unfulfilled child really doesn’t a happy family make!)

Thanks David and Sarah for your input, it really was a transformative process!

Dr Antonella Brunetti

Kelly Thoresen Isselhardt

2021-12-24

recommends

As a parent working through the 20/21 school year in distance learning with 3 elementary kids, there were at least some positive upsides. For example, my daughter Laine’s (2nd grade, 8 years old at start) reading ability (when she is such a bright, exuberant, creative, SMART kid) kept me up at night. Something was not connecting. No amount of pressure or more reading was making up for the missing pieces in her ability to read. I was literally awake in the middle of the night, by chance watching Dr. Morgan’s Facebook ad and knew he was talking about my daughter. I started crying and felt I had been given such a gift. By morning in February 2021 she was signed up and on her way to decoding and cracking her reading struggles. It’s not been easy all the time, we have struggled through some lessons with tears and frustration. BUT today, Laine passed her 223 lesson, earned her helicopter (the code words/spy prizes have been a great motivator), and has gone from a 1.5 grade reading level to reading at a 5th grade level with limited assistance in only 10 months. I am so grateful for the Easyread program. Their attention to detail, one on one phone calls and Zoom meet ups, quick response time to questions, and consideration for my kid’s development has made us feel cared for each step of the way. If you have looked into the Easyread program and David’s description of your child’s reading journey hits home, run don’t walk to sign up. It has been one of our favorite blessings of this crazy year and I shout it’s praises to anyone who has a struggling reader.

Laura Stoker

2021-12-21

I was really skeptical about this for my 8 year old, how can 15 minutes a day and video, and games work? He struggled with blending and decoding. He know can use the trainer texts faster then I can figure out the word myself to see if he is correct. The system moves as he needs and the personal support is amazing.

Sara Cunningham-Neuff

What a fantastic programme! Our 8 yr old made such rapid progress I began to doubt myself whether she had had issues in the first place! When we looked at the video recording made at the beginning of the programme, her progress was remarkable within just a few weeks. She asks to do the session every day and complains if I don't have time - a massive difference from a child who used to invent the most incredible excuses to avoid reading before this. She now reads books in her own time and is even starting to get her head around spelling - all in less than 2 months. The personalised support from the Easyread facilitators is much better than I expected from an online course and the prizes are great too! Thank you Easyread!

Jared Amanda Stone

Our daughter has loved the Easyread program. She thinks she is just playing fun games on the computer but she's actually improving her reading and spelling skills. Her Spelling grades have improved from 50% to 90% in only a few months. Thank you Easyread for an amazing program! I would highly recommend your program for any children struggling to read and spell.

Carly Banks

2021-12-14

Wow, this program works! My 9-year old became a more fluent reader within weeks of starting, and she really enjoyed doing the assignments (structured like fun games) every day! She never complained about it once, even 2 months in she was excited to decode the words and play the games in Easyread. And she has so much more confidence now. Thank you Easyread!