Jacksonville Community
The Jacksonville community is working on a citywide campaign to address the challenges and lifelong effects of dyslexia.

The Rotary Club of Southpoint (Jacksonville), Florida has come together with the Jacksonville Police Department to find a way to help poor readers before they fail.

Demystifying Dyslexia highlights the efforts of three members of the campaign.

At Nemours Children's Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, psychologist Laura Bailet counsels families and conducts dyslexia screenings for pre-school children. A four year old may be screened if he or she has risk factors such as having siblings or parents with dyslexia.

"...dyslexia is often missed in the early school grades when we would have the best
opportunity for treating it most effectively."
Dr. Laura Bailet, Licensed School Psychologist, Executive Director of Nemours BrightStart!

Undiagnosed and untreated dyslexia plays a big part in some dismal statistics. Each year in the state of Florida, over thirty-percent of third graders fail the standardized reading tests. In ninth grade it's over sixty-five percent.

Judge Karen Cole, a ten year veteran of Jacksonville's juvenile courts is concerned. She recognizes, first hand, that literacy problems contribute to elevated crime rates.

"You can't be on the bench very long without seeing the impact
of illiteracy on juvenile delinquency and on crime."
Karen Cole, Florida Circuit Court Judge

Jacksonville's police are also targeting illiteracy. For many older kids who have already experienced reading failure, there's the Police Athletic League.

The director, Lt. Bobby Deal, is working hard to insure that children are learning more than just sports.

“We’re trying to get to the underlying root cause of the problem…studies have shown,
that a lot of this is tied into learning disabilities such as dyslexia.”
Lt. Bobby Deal, Police Officer and Director of PAL Jacksonville Police Department

Information provided on the Demystifying Dyslexia page of ThinkBright.org is for informational purposes only and should not be treated as medical, psychiatric, psychological or behavioral health care advice. Nothing contained on this page is intended to be used for medical diagnosis or treatment or as a substitute for consultation with a qualified professional. The Demystifying Dyslexia page on ThinkBright.org contains links to third party websites. The Demystifying Dyslexia page on ThinkBright.org does not make any representation, warranty, or endorsement of any product or service or the content or accuracy of any materials contained in, or linked to, any advertisement or link on the site.