S3E10: Your Child is NOT a Number - Advocating in IEP Meetings

Uncover the shocking truth about the education system's treatment of dyslexia in schools. You won't believe the eye-opening insights shared by Juliet Hahn and Brent Sopel in their latest podcast episode. From the impact of dyslexia on students to navigating IEP meetings, they reveal the harsh realities parents face. But that's not all. There's a jaw-dropping revelation about the legal actions for educational neglect that you need to hear. Stay tuned for the unexpected twist in the fight for dyslexia education.

In this episode, you will be able to:

• Mastering Strategies for Navigating IEP Meetings.
• Understanding the Impact of Dyslexia on Students' Education.
• Taking Legal Action for Educational Neglect.
• Unraveling Educational Rights for Dyslexia.
• Embracing the Role of Continuous Teacher Education in Dyslexia.

Transcript:

00:00:02
Welcome back to Word Blindness, Dyslexia exposed. This is Juliett Hahn here with my co host, Brent Sopal. How are you?

00:00:11
I did not see the numbers on my side. There was five and went five. I'm thinking I did not see it because I didn't. I was staring at. Maybe it didn't.

00:00:20
Maybe it only went on your side. Wow. Nothing to say anymore. Oh, my God. All right, should we just dive into it after that start?

00:00:33
Let's go. So we, of course, obviously get a lot of questions asked, and there's a lot of times that we don't share really the questions, the answers. But we are constantly, especially you, talking to people in the back end. One of the questions was, I don't know, like, what to do. I'm beyond frustrated and really sad, which, you know, when you start with that, it's like you could feel it and you get like, throw up in your mouth a little.

00:01:04
I know I do. And then it's like, what do we do when our school district technically checks all the boxes? I mean, that's what school districts do. That's like, I feel like part of their job. We're just going to check the boxes and move forward for states, for training for teachers, but also their kids.

00:01:26
But they still have half their kids not reading at grade level. Can we sue? What do I do? Do I file a complaint? This is coming from a state that I always thought had some good resources in it.

00:01:43
Do you want me to say the state? Yeah. No. 100%, you know. Okay, so Ohio, where we know that there's, like, a lot of science stuff going on, but clearly it's still not reaching in certain areas, the kids.

00:01:56
And so I'm going to let you. Yeah, no, obviously we're not going to hold back, you know, the state, because Ohio is supposed to be one of the front runners of, you know, dyslexia. So let's dive in. Go into the question. They're supposed to.

00:02:18
All states, you know, teachers are supposed to be doing continuous education. They're supposed to be doing all this education education stuff, certificates and all that, you know, a hundred percent of the education that is created for learning disorders are created by people that don't have learning disorders. So no matter what the education is supposed to be for teachers or for special ed, for teacher assistants, whatever, that in the education world, it's created by a person who doesn't have them. So no matter if they've done them or if they haven't done them, they still, still don't understand. And you Know, Friday night I went to event here in Chicago.

00:03:18
It's for one of the schools.

00:03:22
There's only a couple schools in Illinois that has a high Dade park school. It was a school and I'm sitting at a table. I went with Logan's parents and obviously they're big supporters of foundation. Logan's being dyslexic and he's been out at the events. And I'm sitting by two people.

00:03:45
I had a mom sitting next to me who kids dyslexic. I, I said something about a school and she turned her nose up at me like she was. Then she went on stage and said, how great is school not, you know, sits down. I started having a conversation, you know, and I, she, she didn't have much to say for, for the next five minutes because you know me, you know me and my stats and I know this world. But she had an attitude like she was king because where's your kid?

00:04:25
You know, how. What grade your kid? I'm like, no, I'm. I don't have a kid that goes here. I said, I'm here with, with this family.

00:04:34
Their son is at the, I think Lamont camps. I think they have three campuses or something.

00:04:43
Numbers didn't add up. What they were saying, you know, we've been around for 25 years. They've only had a thousand people graduated, $5 million in scholarships. And you know me in my head going, huh, it's adding up. Meanwhile, they do a live auction with a house for about a $20 million house.

00:05:02
This is the people. That's your teacher. That was one of the teachers houses 20, 20 million dollars between 10 and 20 million dollar house in Colorado, Link. And that's a teacher and you've only raised 5 million bucks. I'm missing something here.

00:05:19
So. But back to the point, you know, and it was a doctor running the school and they had one of the students, alumni come back and it was, you know, 25th year and this, the kid went there for like two and three, then left. But they brought, you know, and went and used to do some tutoring after. But then he came back and that's who you had speak for. After 25 years.

00:05:50
You couldn't find somebody who's been there for the full six or seven years because it's that special why I got into the, you know, it wasn't rabble. You know, none of that made sense. Yeah, no, it wasn't. Yeah. You know, as this question, as this, this poor mom who's heartbroken.

00:06:08
You know what you Know, what can I do? So my long, long winded answer is, no matter when the district or the principals or deans, or superintendents, whatever it is, say that their teachers are doing, you know, continuing to add or education on this, always remember it's never going to add up because the education was created by people that don't have, you know, we'll just dyslexia, adhd, you know, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia. They don't have any of those. So there's, as we hear about, we talk about this, that big portion is missing. Joe, you know, I think, I think she said in there or did I just hear that in my head?

00:06:58
Should we sue? No, you heard it 100%. Go after it. Your tax dollars are being spent in the wrong way. Now go ahead.

00:07:11
Cause I can keep going forever. Well, it's.

00:07:16
No, I love that. And there's so many things. And I know one of our, like some of our longtime listeners are going to hear this message a number of times now. We bring this message up a lot. We do this actually on purpose because you don't know when it's going to click for someone to be like, oh my God.

00:07:36
Right. How many times have we had that where it's like, oh my gosh. So we bring it up in different angles. That is the reason why we are talking about this right now. Again, the other thing is what the foundation is doing is we are educating people like this so they can then have the tools.

00:07:53
So I'm going to throw it in there and I'm going to do it earlier. Sopalfoundation.org donate like if you're looking for a foundation to donate to, just donate to this because of these conversations, because of what we are doing in the back end, you know, and I'll just root, you know, I mean, K office. So lady that sat down had an attitude to me. I'm in Chicago, you know, I don't say this very obviously. I'm a public figure in Chicago.

00:08:17
Everybody knows who I am when I walk in that room. Right? Yeah. Yep. And she had no idea how I had a charity foundation about.

00:08:23
She had no idea. One, you know, when I said my name, they knew who I was. Well, so I'm the biggest public figure in Illinois right now when it comes to dyslexia. Right. And you know, with what I did and she had zero clue I had a foundation.

00:08:41
So no, and that's the thing because again, people are going to hear it when they need to Hear it. So we need to talk about it often and bring it up. And this question is so. It actually hurts my heart in so many ways because we had to sue, right? We had to sue.

00:09:03
And, like, not everyone has that. The ability to do it. I remember. And we probably haven't talked about this in a long time about. I mean, I was never so heartbroken and felt so alone in that process of.

00:09:16
Of getting Montgomery where he needed to be. And when I have someone that reaches out and will say, hey, I'm just starting this, like, you know, the pit in my stomach, I'm like, oh, okay. Oh, how many more? Like, in my head, I'm like, how many more years? You just got to get through it.

00:09:32
And if we can give them the tools to be able to do it, just a little. A little, like, you're not alone and you can take a breath because we understand it makes it all better. But the second you say to a parent, right after you talk to them, right, You. Anytime they go into the IP meeting, like, oh, my God, they were like, how do you know so much? Why do you know so much?

00:09:51
Like. And that's. They get scared. Big time. Big time.

00:09:55
And then that's when you get things that you don't realize you need to ask where all of a sudden you're like, well, no, everyone's being really great about this. They're going to not go above and beyond, because that is their job, not to go above and beyond because of a money situation. Above and beyond. And they don't know how to go above, beyond, beyond. Right, right, exactly.

00:10:12
They don't know what that means. It's. You know, obviously, I knock a lot of teachers, you know, but they're not educated, right? So some of them don't care, but some aren't educated enough to go that above and beyond that that you just. Right, you just mentioned.

00:10:29
And I know a family here in Illinois. They sued, and there was a gag order put into the proceedings. So when they settled, they had a gag order. So obviously they told me, you know, but obviously I can't name the school district because I'm not gonna, you know, I'm not gonna, you know, put their kid in, you know, in jeopardy. But what school puts a fucking gag order on it?

00:10:56
So. Right. So they can't talk to other parents to be like, this is what you deserve and what you're. You're supposed to get, right? And it is.

00:11:05
There's so many layers to this. And when teachers go to continuing education, a lot of them, you Know, you have to do. It's like doctors you have to go to. It's seem you have to go to continuing education. Not all of them do, but.

00:11:20
And I'm not. We're not talking to every single teacher because we know there's teachers out there that want to do the best for their students. When we had Colleen on, you know, like, who has, you know, the five Ds, she wants to go because she wants to be better. And she's so cute as she's jumping into the education. I hope that it stays right, that she doesn't realize the system, like, smushes her, like, so bad.

00:11:42
Because we've had a lot of people that we've talked to that, that has. I went in to make a difference and I just got spit out because I couldn't handle, you know, being so frustrated all the time. That happens, okay? That happens in a lot of professions. Medical.

00:11:56
I mean, we can go into so many different things where that happens. We know that that's a natural thing. But the reason why we're bringing it up and we keep bringing it up is because a teacher might be like, I got credits for continuing education. Oh, I'll go and listen to this. If they don't care or don't understand, it's really.

00:12:12
You're going to be like, not understand. So I, I'm going to change that before you can. No, it's. There's still, you know, it's. It's that piece of not having, you know, you've heard me say they've done studies.

00:12:26
They've only known like, 10% of the capability of a brain. Okay, now you're studying on. On a brain, which we only know 10% of capabilities. You won't have these learning disorders. So how much are you missing of what really is going on?

00:12:41
And that's the piece that I keep harping about and I keep talking about. So it's not the understanding. They're not teaching you a whole piece of a pie. You know, I'm a fat. I want.

00:12:52
I want to eat the whole pie. Don't hand me a half a pie because now I'm pissed. They're only having you, you know, you're coming to the Thanksgiving dinner with half a piece. How many people would look at you, if you're coming in, walk in the door, a front door of a family gathering with half a pumpkin pie.

00:13:11
What the is this? Where's the rest? Talks about behind your back a lot, right? So that's exactly it. So we're walking in to the Thanksgiving dinner with half a pie every single day.

00:13:23
Yeah, it's a great analogy. And it's, and there's, and the reason why I'm having a hard time finding my words is because I have so many things I want to say because there's so many angles and it's so in depth from the unders. Like the understanding, not having it. And then you do have teachers, as I said, that do really care. They don't have it, but they want to make a difference and they see that reading, you know, is.

00:13:48
Is an issue and they want to learn about it. And, and they can still make a difference in a different way when you have the understanding because you actually live it. I mean, anyone can think about a life experience that they've actually lived and they're like, oh, I just get it more. And I know how. Yes, there's some people that you can learn from.

00:14:09
And I think we've, we went through it. What is the compassion versus. So now I'm going to say it. Now I'm going to forget the other word. So it's you, you can never understand completely.

00:14:21
Right. Somebody, whatever happened to that person completely, if you didn't have it happen to yourself. Right, Exactly. That's you. So I think that half a pie, you know, is, you know, is in everything.

00:14:37
You'll never, you'll never, you'll never have a full pie unless you've had it to happen to us. And then. Exactly. You know, in a dyslexic world, every district, every superintendent, I say, when I say everyone, I've never meant, you know, somebody, you know, the head of the district or superintendent that has dyslexia, dysgraphia. I haven't, I haven't met.

00:15:04
So when I say everyone is so far, obviously, I'm staring at 50.

00:15:15
I said, Elizabeth, if we had a kid together, how many teachers you think I'd lose it? She goes, we get kicked out of every school because of you. I'm like, yeah, you're right. I talk. But yeah, so the half the pumpkin pie is 99.9% of the teachers of the teacher assistants, of the deans, the principals, all the way up the scale in the education portion.

00:15:40
And the hardest part that I have is that they are some of the most egotistical people in the world. I know, I know. They won't even. You can't even have a conversation with them. So as you're sitting there in a school, you're sitting there in a classroom, and this is actually gonna happen, happen to me.

00:16:07
So little girl's parents here in Illinois, they passed law in 2024 that they will no longer accept neuropsych evaluations. Yeah, it's crazy. So you come in. They will evaluate their own kids and make their own decision. So again, you had a mom reach out, I think, in May.

00:16:32
In, you know, in May. End of May. Right now, we are. What this was last week. So we're at the end of February.

00:16:39
So three months. They get 90 days to extend it. They took it right to the 90th day. So that tells you how much they don't care about kids. Because.

00:16:48
Yes. Am I saying they're busy? Not saying no, they're busy, but they're. Instead of trying to get there in 30 days to start figuring out, they extended it right to 90 days. And they said in that meeting, we'll go over our numbers and we'll decide if your daughter qualifies, if she qualifies for things that, you know, through our numbers, if she qualifies.

00:17:19
So you're going to wait 90 days, you're not going to tell the mom what the numbers are. You're going to sit there and pretend that you are just going to look at those numbers now and say, ah, no, she doesn't call. You already know. So I said to her, I said, okay, respond to that. Okay, no problem.

00:17:34
You know, the date's confirmed for whatever, May 2022 or whatever it was, but I need to see those numbers and then I need to know your answer. Two weeks out before that meeting. Yeah. You know, so they're trying to walk into a meeting with a mom who's walking in emotional because her daughter's struggling.

00:18:01
I don't know if her. Her husband's going to be there, you know. You know, there's times where the husband can't. There's work that the bills have to be like you know, sometimes, you know, Hahn didn't. He never did in the beginning.

00:18:13
And then all of a sudden I was like, ah, I can't. I can't do this anymore. I'm gonna kill someone. So, yeah, so, yeah, again, we're doing this. So we're walking in there.

00:18:22
So I don't know if she. So she asked me to come and navigate for. But doesn't understand it, doesn't have it. And you want to blindside this moment, who will be crying within the first two minutes of this meeting. Yeah.

00:18:36
And then she will not have another. She'll, you know, so it's. So I said to her, I said, no problem. Tell them you need the answers. And parents, when you go in there, record.

00:18:47
Hit record on your phone. Don't. You don't have to tell them. Hit record on your phone. Put it down.

00:18:53
Hit record. Because you're going to get emotional. You're going to hear words that you've never heard before. You know, it's kind of putting me in doctor terms. You're not going to understand what it means.

00:19:05
Put it on phone so that, you know. You know, maybe you're not there with your husband. Then one, you can play it. So. Because you're not going to hear the.

00:19:12
You know, you're not going to hear. Hear the quick words. So it eliminates a little bit of a problem between you guys, you know, being a third person. Oh, I think she said this. Or, you know, because you're not going to remember.

00:19:24
You're not going to understand. You'll be so emotional. But then you can. Then you can hear it and you can play it again. It's very, very smart.

00:19:32
Yo, it's. Why do you think lawyer, divorce lawyer is the one that wins? You know, nobody. It's a divorce. It's emotional.

00:19:40
It's not. You're not making an educated decision. You always make an emotional decision. Same thing when it comes to your kids. So, you know, again, on the recorder, on your phone, hit it.

00:19:52
They don't need to know it. You don't have to tell them. You're not airing it out. No, you're just. You need to listen to it again.

00:19:58
Yeah, listen to again when you're not so emotional, because they will. They will change your words. They will twist things. That's what they do. Right.

00:20:07
They don't understand, so. Oh, you said this. Well, then maybe the teacher find. Or the special ed teacher or who. Whatever it is, the counselor.

00:20:17
Oh. Figured out it's an easier way to do this or this. You know, they can. They'll change those words. Whatever's easiest for them and cheapest for them is what they're gonna do.

00:20:30
So. And you don't know how many meetings that they've had in that day because it's there. It's like. And. And I didn't mean to interrupt you, but it's.

00:20:37
It is one of those things. And I remember realizing, oh, my gosh, Montgomery is just a number. Like, there's no. And I was. Oh, I was devastated because I was like, you.

00:20:46
Oh, everyone loves this kid. I mean, his teacher cried in the meeting because she knew. I mean, and I'm not going to go into it, but, like, she on the side was like, this is what you have to do. Oh, my God, I can't even believe this. There's going to be people that do.

00:20:59
But all kids are numbers. Yeah. We are 350 million people here in the United States. We're all the number. Every single one of us.

00:21:10
Yeah. Including your kids. So you have to remember that, you know, we've heard this a number of times, obviously, yourself, like, you know, some other people that we've spoken to. Oh, the teacher loves us. It's not saying they don't.

00:21:27
Right. But, you know, Montgomery to Paul to Susie to Juliet to Peter to Huba and Duba, whoever your kids are, a number always will be in the education system. So you always have to remember that they are just a number. Not their name, not who they are not. It's got nothing to do with who they are or where they came from or what color or what race or what nationality or what their first language is or sex.

00:22:03
It's got nothing to do with it. They're all a number. Including my kids. Yep. And grandkids.

00:22:10
So it's. It's the quicker that we understand that. It's a hard pill to swallow, especially when you're paying. You're paying massive taxes, and obviously you're in, you know, New York, we're in Illinois. You know, the stupid pro.

00:22:23
You know, the property taxes and things. We're paying all these. What's it going to. Yeah, Your kids are a number. Always will be a number.

00:22:31
Always have to remember that. Does it suck to hear that? Yes. Does it hurt to hear that? Yes.

00:22:37
And a lot of people are like, no, not believing us. I would have been that person. Like, no, we're different. Oh, my God, we're so lovable. So you're gonna be the unicorn.

00:22:47
Hey, you're gonna be the one and only person. How long's the United states been around? 100. And how many years? Or I was like, there's no way.

00:22:53
There's no way. No, you're gonna be the only one. Oh, okay. Yeah. Well, and.

00:22:58
But. But there are people doing that right now being like, well, no, I have a relationship with the principal. Right. Or I mean, I've even spoken to people that are teachers in district and their kids are going up for the IEP and they're like, oh, my God. Like, I'm like, no, I know what's happening.

00:23:16
You can't do that. I already know that. And they're like, your kids a number. Yeah. You're trying to motherfuck me and I already know that.

00:23:21
And they're like, oh, my God. And that's when it clicks. It's. It always will click. And we understand that it doesn't feel good.

00:23:29
And it doesn't. Because I literally, if I was going through this in the beginning, listening to this, I'd be like, oh, silly. No, like, oh, you know, the principal. You know, you're so negative. Right.

00:23:40
You included. You included. I didn't say negative. I said you just. My dad did say realist.

00:23:46
Yes. And we have talked about. But I didn't say negative. I said, you do look at things in more of. I'm, I think, whatever, go ahead.

00:23:55
But when it comes to this portion of it. Yeah. There is no sunshine. Right, Right. None.

00:24:02
So I'm not, you know, I'm not trying to be the, the always being the I gotta get a new T shirt, the Debbie Downer. I'm just trying to tell you how it is. And does it suck to hear that? Yes. But if, but if I don't tell you or someone doesn't tell you so you can have some understanding walking into that meeting, then you're going to get blindsided.

00:24:23
Yep. And as each state, like, as we know now, we don't know what's going to happen. But the more that you can understand of like, okay, this is what my rights are. Because there are. You have rights and there are things that you can fight with.

00:24:37
And a lot of times, again, it really sucks. But the more you, you. The squeaky. What is that saying? The squeaky wheel gets the oil.

00:24:43
And what is it? Sure.

00:24:49
If you walked in there with information, they get scared. Yeah. Because they know. They know that they can't push you around. Right, Right.

00:24:58
And that's why I always say threaten a lawyer. Because then the conversation goes completely differently. They. They eat the parents up. That like, okay, we trust you.

00:25:11
Oh, perfect. Now I'm gonna eat you alive. Because this is going to be easy, right? Because I know exactly what video and how to push it and how make it look pretty, you know, And I'll do this like in hockey analogy, you know, parents put, you know, their sticks out theirs, and there's tires and all this fancy stuff. It's just a full appearance.

00:25:29
They're not doing anything. Right, right, right, right. Same thing as they're doing in that meeting. Just fooling you. They make it look, though.

00:25:37
Look at all the bells and whistles and, oh, look how pretty that chandelier looks, sir. How pretty that light looks. Or that door, you know, you walk in, it's all smoke and mares. Yeah. And so.

00:25:47
And that. So it's so important. And yes, to the person that asked us, you know, and we'll, you know, obviously address it with them also. But you should. You should file a complaint.

00:25:59
You should talk to lawyer. Now, here's the other thing is I was always the type of person that was like, no, I'm. You know, people that are just like, oh, I'm gonna sue. Like, that's ridiculous. Try to work it out, do all these things.

00:26:08
I was that person that's like, we don't need to, like, blow things up right away. You. In certain situations, you do, because things happen faster. You get the respect, which is annoying. I mean, it is very annoying.

00:26:23
Well, I'm from Canada. Can't sue anywhere. So you know us. This is. You have to look at this differently.

00:26:30
Yeah. Yo, somebody slipped and falling or suit. You know, you hear about suing, a car accident, suing. This is. This is something that's different.

00:26:39
Everybody knows how a car operates, right? Everybody knows that. How that system. Oh, I got hurt. I got my neck right now.

00:26:45
You can sue. Okay. This education system, it's completely different. Right? You're trusting in them.

00:26:53
Yeah. They. You know, this is. You know, you need to. There's no time to work itself out.

00:27:01
Take a look at the state of Ohio. They don't recognize the word dyslexia. Mm. So if you don't recognize the word dyslexia, how are you supposed to evaluate, diagnose a kid that has dyslexia and give them the resources that they need if you can't use that word? And that's why they still have a tremendous amount of people not reading a grade level.

00:27:26
If we really. I would put money on it. If we broke out every state and look to see how many people are at reading level, like, the numbers, people would be like, wait, what are you talking about people? You know. You know, right now, you know, there's people that are stewing, suing states to keep the 504.

00:27:56
That's great. You can keep the 504. But there's a lot of these states, you can't even say certain words. So what good does that 504 do. Do absolutely nothing when you're not gonna use an example, even say the word dyslexia in an evaluation, in a diagnosis so that 504 doesn't do shit for me.

00:28:19
So all these people want to go in there. Look at. Look at me. Look at me. I'm helping.

00:28:23
How you. How are you helping? To put your name out there on a lawsuit. How's that helping? No, if you really want to help, let's go after them.

00:28:32
Right? Let's make that word right. Let's take a. You know, you. You get into, you know, lawyers and paperwork written out now.

00:28:40
It's written certain ways so they can do certain things. Or if you really want to help, you run and really think that you're a big time. Well, let's do this right. Let's get these words. Get dyslexia, you know.

00:28:50
You know, the uk, they just took out the whole word dyslexia in the whole state. Excuse me, whole country. So what are you doing? You're just making yourself look good, right? To get money, to get a job.

00:29:06
But what are you really doing? Nothing. And it's again, we've say this every single time, but it always blows my mind, the fact that there's so much being done in the research world of like, oh, look at this, look at this, look at this. And it's worse and worse after. I mean, it was a shit show before COVID but even after Covid, the, the levels are even worse.

00:29:31
And what are people doing there? Just, hey, let's just sit here and fight and say, look at this research. I just did. I just did this in my center. And this is what the brain is doing.

00:29:40
This is how we should teach kids to read. This is what we should be doing. And it's. It is such. And especially when all of a sudden you realize as a parent, wait, my kid is struggling.

00:29:51
Okay, what do I do? And then it's like, there's no place to find it. You get, you know, feedback from some people, you get certain feedback from others. And it's like, how do you navigate it? It's scary, it's awful, and it sucks.

00:30:05
And you just need to have the education of it. Like going on Google. I mean, we just talked about this. I was like, trying to research stuff and I was like, oh my God, you can't even find it. It's useless.

00:30:14
Like, Google you yourself. Crazy, crazy. You'll. They'll send you places and you're like, wait, that said 19. Like, you know, whatever.

00:30:23
That study, they just had theirs from 2017. We're here. What? And it's totally different, but that's still popping up. It is such a show.

00:30:32
So much more than it's ever been. Yeah. And, and just recently, I talked to one of the top neuropsychs in Illinois, and I'm having a conversation. She's like, you know, I'm getting a lot of pushback in the last six months with my neuro psychs. So she's the top neuropsych.

00:30:51
She had no idea that state of Illinois passed a law in 2024 that they can't take neuro sex. She's like, really? I didn't know that. So you're charging five fucking thousand dollars, right? And they can't even use it.

00:31:04
And you can't even use it and you have no idea why?

00:31:10
I'm a dumb, fat, fat, washed up hockey player. How the fuck do I know it and you don't? Well, that's, it's, there's so much disconnect, so many layers of disconnect. These layers are like, oh my God, it's so good because we're doing X, Y and Z. And then you go, and I will repeat this because I know I've repeated the last probably six.

00:31:28
But you know, there's universities out there that the head of their education program doesn't realize that you can't use the word dyslexia in the trenches, like in IEPs, in schools, because they're teaching and they shouldn't know that. Why should they know that? There, there's so many, so much information that every person that is involved in education should know. And there is and there's not. They have no clue and no idea.

00:31:53
So how are they even again, as you say, like they, they can't even teach because they don't understand it. But then they also don't understand what is happening in the trenches where these poor kids are just literally being left to flow around. Right. And you know, and then, you know, obviously teachers have never been in the trenches because they don't have our trenches. No, you haven't been in so many trenches if you don't have it.

00:32:14
Right. And school was easy for a lot. We talk about that. That's what I said on Friday night. I'm like, teachers, you know, school is easy for 99 of them.

00:32:25
So they just go, ah, this is easy. This is great. This is fun. So I'm just going to continue this and do my education and this and work in it. Great.

00:32:33
Maybe. And they have no idea that someone actually schools hard for them. And they what? No, that's not, that's not possible. Unless you're dumb.

00:32:44
Right there, there's no, there's no like, no, you don't seem like you're dumb. So I don't understand why schools, like, why you didn't do well on that assignment. Oh, it must have been because you didn't try. Oh, it must be because of this, right? Oh, must.

00:32:56
Because of that. So, yeah, it's. It's. It's about the education. It's about learning what you need to know, especially if you're going into these things.

00:33:06
And I know it's really hard for people to be like, okay, well, how does everyone get this? This is why I always say, like, rate, review, and share, share, share, share. Because you don't know who needs to hear this? Because who is ready to go into an IEP meeting and they're like, okay, I did my research, and I think I feel good. But.

00:33:22
And so many people don't talk about this. Yeah. Yo, it's embarrassing. Yo. They don't want to admit their kids struggling or whatever.

00:33:33
So that conversation is. So when you talk about, like, rate, review, and share is. You have no idea what's going on in somebody else's four walls. Exactly. And what they're.

00:33:45
You know, I'm not telling you. It's. It's not fun to admit your kid is struggling or. Or your kid is getting bullied or my kid's not reading at grade level or. Because what do you automatically do?

00:33:57
Point the finger back at you? I was gonna say you blame yourself right now. What's that? You point your finger at? What's that saying, I'm pointing back yourself or something.

00:34:08
Yeah, we're really good with our saying, but it's. But it is very true. And it is. It is not that hard just to be like, hey, I heard this. Let me share it.

00:34:20
It also helps us get the word out more, and it helps shed light on what we are talking about and what we obviously are so passionate about. And it's not just because of our own struggles. It is because we see how messed up this world is, and if we can give a little insight of what we've been through and what we've learned, it's. You know, as you say, you don't want anyone to ever go through what you went through and. And.

00:34:45
And to feel that. No, it's. That's why we started the foundation. So we started the foundation. That's why we started the podcast.

00:34:51
That's why you started stalking me.

00:34:55
Yeah, no, I started talking because I was like, wait, we could do really good things with word blindness. And that's what we talk about is. Is. Yeah. Honest about it, you know, how many.

00:35:09
How many kids are there actually, you know, in the US I don't know if I've ever done. I'm sure I've done that research. I'm sure you're a very good researcher. Well, as you're looking that up, it is really funny. Someone reached out to me on LinkedIn and I was like, I think I went to school with this kid.

00:35:25
I know I went to school with this kid, but I don't think he went to my high school. And then it hit me. I think he was in my. In Spedcap classes with me in middle school. And I was like, oh, my God.

00:35:35
And I got like a, Like a. One of those feelings that you're like, okay. There was definitely not like, oh, we hung out, or I knew him from, you know, this or that. It was like, definitely, like, bringing back school memories. God.

00:35:51
How many? So it said there were 73 million people under the age of 18 in the United States, which, which includes children 5 to 29, because that's what I put in is about 21.7% of the US population. So you got about 20% of the US population that are. Are in education right now. So that's, oh, 20 of 350 million.

00:36:22
I don't even know how to go about that. You're making me sweat. I don't like any, like, any of that. I don't know. A lot.

00:36:32
Yeah. You know, and then, then you start breaking those numbers down. You're talking, you know, hundreds of millions, millions and millions and millions of kids struggling. Yep. And a lot of them, you know, some sometimes are struggling in silence because they've figured out how to.

00:36:54
Okay, I can try to go in here. But I was. And then we're gonna leave it at this, but I was talking to someone, I think it was this weekend, about what it takes to go to school when you're struggling and all of the things that you are thinking about before, because we were talking about anxiety, and I was like, just like, look, let's picture this. The person's like, oh, my God, I don't really have anxiety. But you just made me so uncomfortable.

00:37:16
And I was like, that's anxiety. And I, you know, they're like, wait, so before you would go into school, I was like, you would think, like, before school started, like, okay, what teachers are going to get me? Which ones are not? What. What's going to be hard?

00:37:28
Okay, how do I, like, navigate? Then it's like the first day, and you're like, I, you know, can't read my, my schedule. Am I going to be able to get into my locker? I mean, all of these things, and I, like, went down. It and she was like, okay, I hate everything you just said.

00:37:41
I was like, yes, but that is a typical. Before I started school, or that's a normal day. And then going in, okay, you know, you have to do X, Y and Z. And you have a test or you maybe didn't do well on something, and you just anticipate all of the ways that you can get around things. How are you.

00:37:58
If someone calls on you, how are you going to navigate it? And you're not even thinking about what you're actually learning at all.

00:38:13
Nobody's born with anxiety, so you've got a lot of people that I've come across. Oh, I was born. I was diagnosed with general anxiety in grade seven or grade six or, you know, freshman or grade nine. Why? Right, exactly.

00:38:39
Well, we're going to leave it there, and I'm going to say what I say every single time, like rate, review, and share. Seriously, you don't know who's coming into the end of the year? IP meetings are starting to come up, and it's like, for the next year, there's so much that can be done with just someone listening and having a little understanding. So we will see you for another episode of word blindness. Dyslexia exposed.

00:39:00
Thank you, Brent.