Crystal Springs Kabacinski Defeating Dyslexia Throughout The Student Community Across The United States
The communities across the United States are petitioning both U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Congress & U.S. Senate to give every American born child a free, high-quality, equal & available for all, public education as modeled by the late Horace Mann. We require public schools to properly test for & teach Dyslexic students in regular classrooms by using Methodology along with the Federal Government taking proper measures to enforce the laws instated to protect these students from the public schools that chose to break the laws.
Our founding father of Public Education Horace Mann; born in 1796 in Massachusetts; married twice & had three children before he died in 1859. He became a college president, educator, & politician. He made it his life’s work to create a successful public school system.
According to Mann’s model he believed, society had a duty to see that all children received a free, high-quality, equal & available for all, education as part of the birth-right of every American child & that education will be best provided in schools that embrace children from a variety of backgrounds. We have lost these concepts over the years in our public schools & our children have suffered.
There are learning difficulty students with Specific Learning Disorders; Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia, & Non-Verbal Learning Disorder in public schools across the United States. Every student can learn successfully in the regular classrooms of public school if they use a method called, Methodology (multi-sensory learning). This method was specifically designed for dyslexic students as opposed to the traditional way of learning. These students enjoy & work incredibly hard to complete their tasks. Recent studies show dyslexic students’ have normal & healthy brains. These students are no different than their peers. These students would learn if we still had the free public education modeled by Mann.
These students should not be discriminated or segregated against in the public schools across the United States. Mann hoped that by bringing all children, of all classes together, they could have a common learning experience. In his speech he stated that “education should reach like a ladder from earth to heaven”—an idea he worked to make a reality throughout his lifetime for students everywhere. Over the years, we have lost this ideal.
Mann had won his victory when the public school soon stood as one of the characteristic features of American life, A "wellspring" of freedom & a "ladder of opportunity" for millions.
Crystal cannot read or spell & is behind in majority of her subjects. This is due to teachers refusing to teach her. She has attended public schools in the State of Delaware, where she was not given the privilege of experiencing the characteristic features of American life. Her experiences have not been victorious. Does she deserve to be treated like this? The answer is NO.
Mann campaigned for education, including to get rid of the inferior school committees & was successful. As you can see today, we again have the inferior school committees Mann had successfully removed from the public schools. In the State of Delaware, Crystal was un-enrolled by the School Districts without parental permission yearly to avoid having to teach her in the regular classrooms, In the State of Michigan, she was told there is a law stating; your grade & age must match to attend public school in a building or online. Recently, that law was changed, but it still left us with a road block trying to enroll her in public school.
At the meeting with the Special Education Guidance Counselor I signed the required form to have the IEP testing/services. Ninety days later, one page of the one test was administered & as a result Crystal was mislabeled as Cognitively-Delayed/Mentally Retarded. I knew this was wrong. I took my daughter outside the School District to be tested by a Licensed Administrator who knew about Specific Learning Disorders. She was tested for four hours on five different tests & diagnosed with Specific Learning Disorders. She was tested for Global Developmental Delays & all tests came back negative. The Genetic Doctor did tell Crystal she was very intelligent. The School Districts refused to accept the tests results from outside the District. Crystal never received an IEP for services for Specific Learning Disorders. The main recommendation for her is to use Methodology. The Curriculum & Methodology had all been Mann's development, & it was a creditable program.
By law if a parent(s) disagrees with the assessment findings, a second opinion can be requested & the results must be accepted. According to the law, once a request has been made for an IEP the school has only forty-five days to administer the proper tests, which did not happen in Crystal’s situation, it took ninety days. Was this fair to Crystal? NO
Is this legitimate? Yes, every word in this petition is legitimate & it is a nightmare Crystal & her family live with on a daily basis. It needs to end; not just for Crystal, but other students like her having to endure this or will in the future. Visit her website to learn more about Specific Learning Disorders & how you can help with this extremely important cause of defeating dyslexia throughout the student community. www.crystalsarmydefeatingdyslexia.us
What choices did this leave Crystal? Attend school to learn life skills (already learned) or stay home. These two choices were not acceptable. She needed to be taught Reading, Spelling, Arithmetic, Social Studies, Science, Geography, English, & electives required for graduation allowing her to attend a four year college.
As in Mann’s era not many children received an education & those who did were primarily those whose parents could afford to hire private tutors. That holds true today with students who have Specific Learning Disorders.
These students will need to either hire a private tutor for $90.00/hour or attend a private learning center for $98/hour both must be trained in Methodology. Anyone like to guess how hard it is to fundraise for a student like Cryst