"Just wanted to let you know that I proudly watched a different girl walk back into school today.
She coped quite well with her work and put her hand up to answer questions.
The confidence she’s gained from your program is amazing.
You’ve been a blessing in our lives and I want to thank you.
I am meeting with her teacher tomorrow and will be showing off your program to her! "
- Sue Arkley
"Hi Dawn I recently purchased your book and I just love it. It is so user friendly and I just want to keep reading it. I am a teacher assistant at a secondary school and have been working with a year 8 girl who is dyslexic your book was mentioned to me in the holidays and after purchasing it can see that it is going to be very useful. So thank you."
- Marissa
"Love the writing/typing game. My son now actually enjoys making up stories. So much better than his struggles to put down in words what he did last week."
"Last week has gone past so what is the point of writing about it …. And we no longer have to make sure we do interesting things EVERY weekend so he has something to write about.
We’ve got some very entertaining stories he’s enjoyed doing."
- Patricia T
"On the way home yesterday Robert said “you know I think that lady understood how my brain works which is
pretty good because I don’t think anyone else has really ever understood me."
Many thanks, I will give the report to Roberts teacher and the flyer about the seminar you run for teachers.
Cheers Jannette"
"Great ideas for the classroom thank you!"
- Teacher Dawsville Catholic Primary School WA
"After years of frustration in dealing with an education system that doesn’t cater for or even understand dyslexia….we are grateful to have at last found Dawn who has the knowledge, background and system to teach our son."
- Chris Mills
"The writers of this letter have been Australian citizens for many years and of Czech origin. The family is significant in that that there are a lot of academically competent people and dyslexia within the family.
We were always confident in the fact that every civilized country recognizes and protects dyslexic people, only to learn later from Parliament of New South Wales that Dyslexics are discriminated against in Australia.
Our good fortune led us to dyslexia specialist Dawn Matthews at Dyslexia Centre Australia.
Our only child Elizabeth was born in Australia in August 2006 and in May 2010 we took her to Dawn, because we suspected that she was dyslexic like her father. We wanted Dawn to make recommendations.
Dawn worked out a personal teaching program for Betty and also helped her father who was never given a proper eye specialist examination. Dawn returned the dying mother to life.
We will always respect and love Dawn. We see that she is the defender of good and justice. Betty’s grandfather, who is an engineer, and prior to retirement was the director of main government roads, bridges and railways in the Czech Republic, has the same regards for Dawn.
Dawn has referred Elizabeth to a specialist developmental optometrist for testing because she suspected that Betty tends to pay more attention to distant things rather than close ups and she was right. Now both father and daughter are wearing reading glasses.
Also after only a few weeks of Dawn’s teaching method Elizabeth is, for the very first time, properly pronouncing the words she hears.
Dawn we do thank you very much, you have changed many lives for the good. My husband Thomas is saying that ”you are the light in the tunnel in the mountain where we live”.
Our warmest regards,
Vladana and Thomas Kubat"
"Dawn, who is dyslexic herself, has spent years fine tuning the ways of assessing people and developing programmes, always evolving with an open mind. She has a lot to offer and her willingness to share is humbling. This dedication is always present and she goes to the next level, empowering individuals, turning them around and they leave with renewed confidence. Given simple tried and tested methods and tools to assist their learning journey, these people thrive, my son being one amongst the many Dawn has helped.
Dawn stands out from the crowd and her latest app, Friendly Phonics, is a pure stroke of genius. This unique original approach is an excellent example of her work. By embracing technology to propel her mission, she can now reach new heights as it has opened up new exciting opportunities to reach even more people.
She changes lives."
- Ros Clarke
"I will leave my blog here about the amazing assessment that was done for my 12 year old daughter (Hannah) last month. Hannah had a Skype assessment done here in QLD, live from Perth. Once we semi darkened the room and moved the laptop about, Dawn was able to see most of what she wanted too via the laptop camera.
Paying $200 for this service seems little in comparison to what I was quoted in Brisbane $600 for starters. It has been a relief to find out about Dyslexia and now Hannah and I can work together on it.’
She has just started high school here at James Nash, after being homeschooled and after a few discussions between the teachers, she has been able to stay in mainstream, use a laptop and be placed in their new ‘digi’ class, class for mainstream kids to use computers etc….I have been really impressed at the willingness of the teachers to help her. I have made a special card for Hannah to show her teachers explaining how she learns best, i.e.) she needs hand outs etc.
Keep up the great work to all the parents out there and thanks to Dawn for seeing her artistic ability and abilities. Will keep you posted as I feel like we are making new grounds into the school- educating the educated.
I am encouraging my wonderful daughter to pave the way for other dyslexics and others who have a different way of learning.
You will see me back as I have 7 other children, 4 of which could have some degree of dyslexia, but that will be another story,
Encourage others about the new way of testing via Skype, you will be amazed and blessed!!!"
- Jannette
"Thank you so much for all your help and for making Lochey realised that he’s not dumb. You are a wonderful
person and we really appreciate your help!"
- Eliza C. Knapman
"Hi everyone, I’m turning 18 in a few months, at the end of last year I went to see Dawn because I felt that a could be dyslexic. I saw her right at the end of my schooling days and was a little bit nervous.
At first when I was told about being dyslexic I was quite upset because I thought that I had such a disadvantage, but then I realized that this was one of the best things that I could have been told. It was such a relief to know that after all this time of struggling at school it wasn’t because I was dumb, it just meant that I was learning things differently. Meeting Dawn was great, she showed me how to cope with difficult things and she made me realize how smart I actually am, all this time I’d been finding other strategies to learn and that’s how I had gotten through school, especially year 12. Soon I am going to get my eyes tested for reading glasses because hopefully it will help me read better.
Thank you Dawn for all your help and positive adviCe. I feel great, and you made me see that being dyslexic isn’t a bad thing."
- Kaitlin
"Dawn’s practical, resourceful and creative teaching approach enabled my dyslexic students to learn how to spell, read and write and to have fun at the same time."
- Carol Adams
"Thanks again for the brilliant work you did with Kaitlin in July – she is working through her phonics program and showing vast improvement in her reading and spelling. She tells everyone how she is going to be a teacher and how you are going to employ her one day.
What you have done for our girl’s confidence is awesome and we’re really excited that you’ll be able to share your knowledge with so many more kids in a school. Best of luck."
- Donna
"Thank goodness for Dawn’s teaching methods. Instead of my granddaughter being last in her class and so unhappy she became the happy girl who at last belonged. I now have a happy girl in my home who just can’t wait to get to school."
- Margaret Henderson
"Cheyenne is going really well with your program and enjoying it, thank you."
- Sue Arkley
"Finding Dawn has been the missing link in my children’s learning. This year I was so emotional when both my children won book awards at school."
- Belinda Nuttal
"Many thanks to you Dawn….words are never enough to say how much we appreciate you."
- Chris Phillips
"Thank you so much Dawn for everything you have done for me, you have changed my life in so many ways. Life is going to be better now."
- Belinda Voermanek
"Hi Dawn, I think I love you!!
Thank you so much for putting in all the effort to make my son’s success possible. I am a mother of a very intelligent 6 year old boy. He should be in year one but because he was born in May of 2003 I was able to keep him down so that he could keep up with the other students. I sent him to a brand new public school last year, his kindy teacher was more concerned with him sitting still and listening to her then to take notice of his school work. I asked for a meeting with the school psychologist, in walks this guy that had no idea where he was, it looked like he had just had a hit of cocaine, he showed no interest in mine or my partners concerns or the problems of my child. It was a wasted 1 hour of my life.
I would ask his teacher how he was going and I would get feed back on his behavior, not on his schoolwork. I was told once that his fine motor skills were poor but that was it. By the end of last year she had manage to get him to behave the way she wanted and wasn’t bothered with him any more. I tried one time to talk to her about my concerns and was promptly told that he was good for her maybe parenting classes is what I needed.
Well this year I enrolled him in a different public school and from the beginning it has been handled a totally different way. The teacher has recommended that he has occupational therapy, speech therapy and that he sees a physiotherapist. I was contacted by his school last week in regards to a interview with the school psychologist so on Monday morning my partner and I go to the school to meet with the deputy principal, his teacher and the school psychologist. We were informed that they would be doing an IQ test on him and they asked what kind of problems he seemed to be showing.
During the interview, both the deputy principal and psychologist said that it sounds like Dyspraxia; there is a history of Dyslexia in the family. A lot of people have said that they think he is ADD, but it never fitted him. I did the checklist for Dyspraxia and I ticked all but two boxes. The psychologist informed us that the test results will come back with a result of average to above average intelligence. Now is where my confusing comes into it. If his IQ is normal to above normal would that not mean, that he is fine? I really can’t see how you can be intelligent even above normal intelligent and still be told that you have a disability? I am beyond angry about this problem.
I am now thinking that I might sue the government in regards to them refusing to see that these children have no form of disability that they learn differently, that it is the government letting these children down.
I would never ever want another child, he is so fun, loving, exciting and just beautiful. Why are they so intent on putting the blame on him? Could you recommend in regards to the current education system where I should send him? I could end up in jail if I don’t send him somewhere. I will NOT send him public and have him told that he is stupid which is basically what they are doing. Thanks for all and regards."
- Parent of a student
"After learning from Dawn and doing school work my way my teacher was so amazed that I could think outside the box and succeed that way."
- Holly Truman
"I wanted to leave a message to advise anyone and everyone to purchase Dawns book Dyslexia – How to Win.
After my daughter was diagnosed by Dawn as being Dyslexic I purchased her book and read it cover to cover. I also purchased her book for teachers and the parent guide. All are easy to read, are very interesting and include relevant case studies and behavior relating to a dyslexic person and even non dyslexic people (such as myself).
This book allowed me to understand my child completely, like why she brings home the right book to do her homework, but can’t remember which exercises to do. Why she asks me again and again, “Can I wash my hair tonight, Mum?”, why it is hard for her to go to sleep, why she can’t do her homework while I talk to her little sister and why she still can’t spell simple words, especially when she has had a busy day a school.
To say I am grateful that we met and saw Dawn and then read her book would be the biggest understatement of my LIFE..
My daughter is and has always been very obviously intelligent so I no longer am frustrated by these things (mentioned above), as I understand WHY. I now NEVER get angry at homework time, or reading time, or when I am asked questions again and again as I understand the workings of a dyslexic brain as Dawn explains it.
I now know my daughter so well that I am able to go to her school and advise how SHE learns (very different to every other Child in the classroom) so teachers can specifically structure work for her which she understands.
She WAS easily the lowest achiever in her classroom (despite her intelligence), but now having met with her teachers and discussed how she learns specifically, she keeps up, is placed in the middle of her class, and her homework has radically reduced. We have also discovered many, many things that she is quite brilliant at, (again in the book), and her teachers have allowed her to teach the class in these areas (you can’t imagine the improvement in self esteem).
The improvement in my whole families life, just by understanding and decreased pressure on my daughter, can NEVER be measured. The cost of Dawns book in relation is the best spent money ever. (and not very much money at all)
Every school and every household should have one."
- Sue
"Hi Dawn,
You know with all the people we have seen over the years, you are the only one that has been able to clearly identify what is going on, but instead of just labeling you have also given us direction/plan in how we can help my son. Since our session with you, (a skype assessment) he is smiling and for the first time in his life seeing his “learning difference” as a positive thing, not that he is stupid. And with your list of famous dyslexics, he feels safe to dream again about what he can achieve in life. We sincerely can’t thank you enough.
God bless you for all the work that you do.
Take care
Melissa"
"Thank you. This site is WONDERFUL. I see myself on every page. It's overwhelming to read my difficulties put into words. I feel like I can see them in detail now, and understand them. But I also feel that it's a big mountain to climb - or more like pushing mud uphill... again and again, every day... I am so lacking in confidence now, I am afraid to keep trying everyday things. Anything that requires acting in time, and moving in space... neither of which I can do. Like getting up, getting dressed, making food, organizing objects... all that.
I was gifted from babyhood with reading and writing, I have won Australian Young Poet of the Year and many other poetry awards. But I can barely get dressed. Getting ready and out of the house is massively harder than winning Australian Young Poet of the Year.
Your incisive knowledge and experience, your keen discernment into these conditions, and your love and commitment show through in your book. It is absolutely wonderful. It has clarified for me exactly the scope of what I'm dealing with.
We are raising a 9yo daughter with the same challenges as me, we both have the extreme food sensitivities, and scoliosis, which gave me one leg 1cm shorter than the other - which would not have helped the dyspraxia at all. I can't take in more than one object at a time, really, even though my peripheral vision tests OK, it's my awareness. Can't judge cars, or recognize people, or know what's around me in space. Have the 'can't see it - it's not there' thing with cupboards, fridges, drawers.
I think I need help to write a very basic plan of how we can treat these things.
Thank you
Esther Ottaway"
I love Dawn Matthews
Zoe Thronton
"Just wanted to say thank you for helping me understand my daughters. Anyway, thank you for what you have been able to help me with. I first heard you being interviewed by Richard Glover on the radio. Keep up the good work".
- Cathy
"My son Max attended a public school in WA for most of his life. All through the years in school, he could pass his science based subjects and mathematics. English however was a disaster. His exam results were consistently in the range which is sub 20%. I have been called in to school time and time again, with teachers putting it down to “he doesn’t put in any effort”, “he’s lazy”, “he’s easily distracted”, he doesn’t read enough, etc. By the time he was 15, the school had said, he’s not going to succeed academically, we’d suggest you look at alternatives such as taking Max out of school and do an apprenticeship or work. Max however said he wanted to go to university and he wants to continue for Years 11 and years 12, still no improvement in his English although i got private tutoring. Anyway because his English was so bad, the school insisted he resat year 12. The end result was, his ATAR was high enough to get him into any university for a BSc but because he failed his English he could not be accepted. His tutor mentioned, then he could be dyslexic and a friend in Singapore mentioned I think you should get your child tested.
That was how I found Dawn. I sent Max for evaluation and on getting Dawn’s report, I cried. Max whom everyone said was lazy with no initiative, was very dyslexic and also suffers from Auditory Processing problems and Irlen syndrome. He would have had to try so much harder then any normal child in school to get by. He could hardly read words typed in black against white paper. He had basically relied on memory and lip reading for 12 years. Max was infact very intelligent to be able to achieve what he has done in the past 12 years. Dawn then referred Max to a special optometrist and now he has glasses to help him read. He is now doing a bridging course in University because of his English. Dawn taught Max (six lessons so far, and I am encouraging him to go for more). In this bridging course for his English finals, Max has achieved a score of 62% for his verbal presentation on alternative energy and 51% for written work. He has finally passed an English exam and because he now understands how to handle himself better, his science exams scores have also improved. Max used to be able to only write a few sentences down for essay and then that was it. He struggles to think and write. Now after Dawn’s coaching, he is able to write 300 words in 30 minutes. I can’t thank Dawn enough for her help. She has been terrific. She is fantastic. Anyone who has their child with symptoms of dyslexia, don’t give up. There is hope…..one is called Dawn."
- Eileen Khoo
"Hi. I previously wrote to Dawn earlier this year after hearing from a Mum in our Support Group about her. Well I knew from the moment I spoke to Dawn on the phone that I just had to go and meet her with my daughter. So last month we both flew over from Victoria to Perth to meet with Dawn. We were not disappointed. I believe it was one of the most incredibly worthwhile things I have done for my daughter thus far through out our incredibly challenging journey. Even though Ali was diagnosed with Dyspraxia (Verbal and Motor) some time ago and I believed I had a fairly good understanding of Dyspraxia. I was amazed at what I learnt during our visit. Within the first few minutes, Dawn picked up that Ali was a bit of a perfectionist and doesn’t like being wrong; was ambidextrous, and that her eyes weren’t working together. I have previously had Ali’s eyes tested on several occasions and nothing was detected. Dawn asked her to count the lines on the page that she writes on and she couldn’t track them properly. I left Dawn’s on such a high note as she really understood. It was so emotional!! I was informed me that Ali’s eyes weren’t working together and after about 3 lines of writing, the words would appear to be moving around on the page. She also detected that she couldn’t see the first letter of a word on the left hand side of a page. It was very reassuring as I knew despite her challenges: my daughter isn’t silly. The best news was that her eyes can be corrected with glasses. WE are now awaiting on the glasses being posted to us but I believe that Ali will just thrive from here on . She has always been determined and I believe this will help her immensely.I am glad I have had the strength to follow my Mum-Gut Feeling and feel blessed for the opportunity to meet Dawn and be part of an amazing experience. I know this is only a new beginning for us and we now have the resources to succeed further. So thank you Dawn from the bottom of my heart.I will keep you posted on our achievements from here on in. My advice to parents would be to believe in your child and yourself. Listen to your gut feelings and don’t ever give up. Chances are you’ve probably been right all along!! Thank you Dawn and Thanks Tracey"
- Tracey Duurland
"Hi Dawn It’s been over a year and a half, since I spoke to you about my son. You counseled me over the phone after seeing some of his work and providing a long distance assessment. You encouraged me to pull him out of a school that did not understand him as a learner and could not support me as a parent. You helped me with direction about the alternative school options that I was exploring, giving me the benefit of your experience with similar approaches. I settled on a democratic school and over the year he was there, I watched their approach to schooling transform his willingness to learn from reluctant to growing confidence. During the year we did not do homework but remarkably, this year he is in a place where he is even willing to do some of your dead easy phonics course with me. Wow. I never thought he would be willing to do any homework and I am hopeful of your course helping him further with his reading, spelling and writing. An understanding, accepting/supportive and happy school environment makes such a difference and it was such a slow and difficult step for me to take. It was a first step together for my son and I toward something better and now we prepare to take another step with your dead easy phonics course. Thank you so much for your understanding and belief in me as a mum and in my son as a learner and person!!! Cheers, Soula Gazis."
- Soula Gazis
“Following the confirmation that Harry was dyslexic, we questioned the Association which tested him, asking where to find a school which could give Harry an intensive phonics program, including a multi-sensory approach to learning. They replied “well, you’ll have to go to America for that” – so we did! We could not believe that there was not one school in Australia that the Association could recommend. The Association did advise us on lectures and brochures on how to advocate for the child with a learning disability, how to get the best out of parent/teacher discussions, how to set goals for your child – all of which is great, but I been committed to that for the past 5 years and I was done with negotiating – Harry needed more.
Harry has now completed 14 months of schooling in America and has made substantial progress in all the literacy areas. He would have benefited from another year to help consolidate the learning areas but due to business and family pressures that was not possible. We are grateful that is now available to carry on the good work that Harry has done over the past 14 months. Dawn really understands the needs of the child with and helps fulfill a huge need for these kids who learn differently. It also gives parents hope for their kids future too.”
- Sonya de Bruin
"We now have an App, which can be bought very cheaply and teachers multi-sensory phonics and literacy in just a few weeks.
As a parent of a dyslexic daughter I had no idea where or what I was supposed to do to help my child. Fortunately I met Dawn early on in the hunt and she has been fantastic in helping me and my child.
I’m sure you all will not be disappointed with the help she will give you."
- Gail Bone
"Your web site is fantastic and thank you for providing all the information you do and taking the time to answer all these questions."
- Nicole.
"I am writing to let you be aware of what a great encounter my daughter developed browsing your web page. She came to find plenty of pieces, not to mention what it is like to process an incredible coaching mood to let many people completely know just exactly some grueling matters. You really surpass readers’ desires. Many thanks for giving such precious, safe, revealing as well as cool tips about that topic to Emily."
- Dampfreiniger Ausleihen
