About the therapist
My name is Samantha Bryant, and I have been an elementary teacher for 20 years.
Within the last 5 years, I pursued my dreams of helping struggling readers by obtaining my master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction with Literacy Emphasis.
After completing my masters, I immediately began a Certified Academic Language Therapist program. This program lasted two years and consisted of 4 weeks of in-class education, 700 clinical hours, 8 seminars, and 8 observations.
After completing this program in May of 2024, I passed my CALT certification exam and applied for my licensing to become a Licensed Dyslexia Therapist.
My passion is to help create confident, life-long readers, who enjoy reading for pleasure.
My therapeutic approach
In the classroom setting, phonics skills are grouped together, explicitly taught for 2-4 days and then tested for mastery. The skills are then expected to be remembered and used going forward. For example: combinations er, ir, and ur, all make the /er/ sound and are all taught on day 1 of the lesson. By day 5 of the lesson, students are expected to read and spell with them. In therapy, phonics skills are broken down even smaller and reviewed daily until mastery, and even then they're reviewed weekly. Combination er is taught in one day. The visual card and sound card at taught with it. The student is taught how to code the sound and read words that contain er. The following day, combination ir is taught in the same manner. The following day combination ur is taught as well. The three are then practiced daily, along with previously taught sounds. With constant repitition and guidance, students learn to recognize these sounds in words and apply their knowledge of coding and reading to tackle larger words.
Rewarding outcomes
The absolute most rewarding part of working with dyslexic students is when I see them reading a book for fun or when they tell me that they no longer hate to read. The most rewarding part of working with dysgraphic students is when they have mastered cursive and can choose the easier way to write for them.
Commitment to your child's success
Above all, I am committed to growing the confidence of my students. Research has shown that 50% of students leave first grade feeling like a successful student, and the other 50% leave feeling like a failure. No matter when I begin working with students, I want them to know that they ARE successful and they ARE intelligent. Learning how to read, write, and spell in a different way only makes one more knowledagable. Gaining confidence in their abilities will lead to faster growth.