Karina, Dyslexia, and Dyslexic Advantage

 

Karina had mild dyslexia, but by the time she became a teen, if you were to ask her what traits of hers were dyslexic, she would name her ability to think out-of-the box, her passion for telling stories, and her ability to see things from a different perspective. 

 

Karina was a precious hands-on learner who as a young child seem to love learning from real life experiences and from people she liked and admired. From an early age, she liked learning about our work in our clinic, the children and parents, and amazing people that we interviewed for our book. The night before our first conference, Karina and her brother loved having dinner with Jack Horner and Julie Logan from the UK.

Karina also liked hearing about the back end of business - what it was like to start up a business, sell a book proposal, or establish a non-profit. Although she always talked about working with us as her 'dream job', she was already indispensable as a sounding board, a website designer, and detail-oriented Girl Friday when we had to travel or organize our conferences. 

 

As a member of the Legislative Youth Advisory Council for Washington state, she represented her district, but also students with learning differences and significant helath challenges. She met with high school principals and spoke to government leaders about her dream of creating a 'Know Before You Go' law that would inform students about alternative school options before they decided to drop out of high school. She was shocked to find how many students with dyslexia and other LDs were missed by the system and how that could put them on a track of underachievement and take a serious personal toll on their lives.

Karina supported our dreams and plans for how Dyslexic Advantage would grow. She would being the inspiration for a program for high school juniors that would allow them to discover their talents and strengths and learn from mentors who had already walked the challenging road before them.