Ruth Wesby knew when her young grandchild was struggling in school that he wasn't getting the help he needed so she did what every caring grandparent would do, if they knew how . . . she challenged the school system and demanded the services he was entitled to by law.  She hasn't stopped there.  Her advocacy work has taken her on a journey to spread the message through her local community and at the state level that something is wrong when the learning problems of so many children remain invisible, undiagnosed and unaddressed . . . the title of her most recent article on the subject of dyslexia and the reading problems that are often a result.

Mrs. Wesby states in her article, "In our nation's schools, the curriculum is geared to those who handle language, both oral and written expression, in the normal manner, with ease.  For the readers discovering that words are challenging and hard work, and for those who require a different course in expressing language, there is neglect."   She further states "Dyslexia, though genetically influenced, does not spell ‘biological failure.'  The failure lies in the attitudes and policies toward inclusion of all children in the reading curriculum.  We cannot afford a continuous lack of vision.  No child, dyslexic or otherwise, should ‘fall through the cracks.'  Dyslexia can be overcome with science-based instruction methods."

Mrs. Wesby is a retired English teacher certified in the teaching of reading and the gifted child.  She has taught in the Thomasville, Georgia and Cleveland, Ohio public school systems.  She is a member of the NAEAACLD's Parent Leadership Institute, the Northern Ohio Branch of the International Dyslexia Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, and the Lee-Harvard Association Education Committee in Cleveland, Ohio.