A New Beginning Dyslexia Center

About Us

My name is Anita Kuttenkuler. I am a retired reading teacher and Master Certified Dyslexia Tutor. I have been tutoring for 15 years. I have offices in Jefferson City, MO.

Dyslexia is an inherited condition that makes it extremely difficult to read, write, and spell in your native languagedespite at least average intelligence. It affects 5% of the population, which is quite significant.

If someone struggles with spelling, is a slow reader who has a difficult time sounding out unknown words, and has difficulty getting their great thoughts down on paper in acceptable form, AND that person has 3 or more of these classic warning signs, it is worth getting that person tested for dyslexia.

If three or more of these warning signs exist, especially if there is dyslexia or AD/HD in the family tree, suspect dyslexia. Dyslexia doesn’t look like anything else.

PRESCHOOL SYMPTOMS
-delayed speech (not speaking any words by the child’s first birthday. Often, they don’t start talking until they are two, two-and-a-half, three, or even older.)

-mixing up sounds in multi-syllabic words (ex: aminal for animal, bisghetti for spaghetti, hekalopter for helicopter, hangaberg for hamburger, mazageen for magazine, etc.)

-early stuttering or cluttering

-lots of ear infections

-can’t master tying shoes

-confusion over left versus right, over versus under, before versus after, and other directionality words and concepts

-late to establish a dominant hand
May switch from right hand to left hand while coloring, writing, or doing any other task. Eventually, the child will usually establish a preferred hand, but it may not be until they are 7 or 8. Even then, they may use one hand for writing, but the other hand for sports.

-inability to correctly complete phonemic awareness task

-despite listening to stories that contain lots of rhyming words, such as Dr. Seuss, cannot tell you words that rhyme with cat or seat by the age of four-and-a-half

-difficulty learning the names of the letters or sounds in the alphabet; difficulty writing the alphabet in order

-Trouble correctly articulating R’s and L’s as well as M’s and N’s. They often have “immature” speech. They may still be saying “wed and gween” instead of “red and green” in second or third grade.

Photos

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