Walking in someone else’s shoes: Evergreen school hosts seminar on what it’s like to be dyslexic

Ihave always been an avid reader. My childhood is lled with memories of my nose in a book – historical and science ction mostly, though I have broadened my reading horizons as I have gotten older.

When I got married more than three decades ago, my husband told me he was dyslexic, never reading novels because he can’t read fast enough to follow the plot. However, he’s a retired environmental engineer who is close to a doctorate in soil physics, so he is constantly reading professional journal articles. He never complains about his dyslexia.

I never really thought about whether he struggled with reading because he’s always reading.

en my youngest daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia after second grade. She was in special programs in elementary and middle school to help with reading comprehension, and she never complained. She now has associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

I never really thought about how much she struggled with reading.

Enter the private school Vertical Skills Academy in Bergen Park. e school, which opened in 2014 — the year my daughter graduated from Evergreen High School — specializes in working with children with dyslexia. Twice a year, the school hosts an open house along with a two-hour seminar on what it’s like to be dyslexic. I decided to go, and I am now much more aware of the challenges my husband and daughter and millions of others have faced all their lives.

Dyslexia is more common that we might think. Depending on which organization you ask, between one in 10 and one in ve people in the world is on the dyslexia spectrum from very mild issues to having more profound reading di culties.

ose who went through the training with me — parents, members of the school’s board of directors and other interested folks — called the training eye-opening, one that helps

DEB HURLEY BROBST

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To subscribe call 303-566-4100 them be more empathetic to the challenges those with dyslexia face every day.

According to the International Dyslexia Association, dyslexia is a learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It’s not an eye problem. Simply put, it’s when people may not see the correct letters or words, which makes it super di cult to read and understand what they have read. It is not just seeing words backward, which seems to be the perception by some.

When our schools expect students to read to learn — and when it’s nearly impossible to comprehend — our children who are dyslexic are set up for failure.

You can talk about dyslexia all you want, but seeing is believing.

To explain what it’s like to be dyslexic, Christine Riedlin, a Vertical Skills Academy teacher, put the group through ve simulations.

We were tasked to read a paragraph to ourselves where the i’s could be i’s or e’s and the p’s could be p’s or t’s. en we read a paragraph out loud to the rest of the group with the same rules. Figuring out a single word was a victory.

So “spriss” was actually “stress.” We all felt that stress. is was HARD!

Riedlin asked us to write sentences with our non-dominant hand, a task

LINDA SHAPLEY Publisher lshapley@coloradocommunitymedia.com

MICHAEL DE YOANNA Editor-in-Chief michael@coloradocommunitymedia.com

LINDSAY NICOLETTI Operations/ Circulation Manager lnicoletti@coloradocommunitymedia.com

DONNA REARDON Marketing Consultant dreardon@coloradocommunitymedia.com that takes so much extra thought. en I performed a demonstration: Walk three steps toe to heel, stop and pat your head, then do it again. When I nally walked to the teacher, I was supposed to talk about what I cooked for dinner the night before. Who has time to think about what I cooked for dinner when I’m trying to walk and pat my head?

Riedlin used the demonstration to show how people with dyslexia spell and write.

A student who wants to write about how the Grand Canyon is a magni cent place will change it to the Grand Canyon is big just because it’s easier to spell and write.

“If you have to think about how words are formed,” she explained, “it has an impact on how you write a sentence, so their sentences look more elementary. ey work so hard on the mechanics such as spelling that they don’t think much about the content.”

All of this is multitasking on steroids, so exhausting, and something people with dyslexia can face daily

KRISTEN FIORE West Metro Editor kfiore@coloradocommunitymedia.com

DEB HURLEY BROBST Community Editor dbrobst@coloradocommunitymedia.com

RUTH DANIELS Classified Sales rdaniels@coloradocommunitymedia.com as they try to gure out words and comprehend them.

For children with dyslexia in a classroom full of students who don’t have those issues, they feel inadequate because they can’t read or comprehend the written word like the others. Dyslexia has nothing to do with intelligence.

Riedlin advocated for teachers getting more training about dyslexia and remediations, especially when so many children are dyslexic — something that isn’t happening enough.

I left the seminar with profound empathy, not just for my husband and daughter, but for everyone who doesn’t learn using traditional methods. is seminar gave me the opportunity to walk in other people’s shoes — those of my husband and daughter — and I am grateful.

While I can’t cure their dyslexia, at least I can understand it better.

Deb Hurley Brobst is a Community Editor at the Canyon Courier. She can be reached at dbrobst@coloradocommunitymedia.com.

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Bootstraps Inc. announces scholarship winners

Bootstraps Inc. has announced the scholarship recipients at an awards reception May 8 at the Evergreen Lake House.

Recipients had the opportunity to meet and thank the people responsible for helping them pursue their educational dreams.

Bootstraps will award $385,000 to the 33 rst-time recipients, 25 continuing students, and students pursuing certi cation and trades programs.

Each candidate’s application included four essay questions, teacher recommendations, academic information, extracurricular activities, community service and work experience.

Awards are made based on merit and nancial need.

Letter To The Editor

Short-term rental permits

Eight foothills residents gave sworn testimony on May 17, asking the Je erson County Board of Adjustment “hearing” that a variance not be allowed on a proposed Airbnb in Evergreen. ese passionate long-term residents spoke, but the board actually heard nothing. Notwithstanding, there were a lot of truly vital facts and evidence reported to the Board. Unfortunately, they were deaf to our community, there was no “hearing” in the vaulted halls of the Taj Mahal.

Our Evergreen residents reported factual tales from our friends who already have the misfortune of living next to a short-term rental (STR) in the county’s highest-risk wild re zones of the foothills. ey don’t care. Now another area will likely experience similar damage to the neighborhood’s character, noise, re danger, potential sewage and water well contamination problems, parking nightmares, parties, loss of value to the homes of locals and more. is particular vacant home, owned

Recipients are:

Evergreen High School: Tanner Allen, Sophia Andriola, Isabella Bjorklund, Gabriella Boyle, Kimball Boyle, Charles Brown, Olivia Campsie, Aaron Graham, William Graham, Leo Hamilton, Zachary Holman, Logan Marion, Duncan McIntosh, Riley McIntosh, Regina Sjostrom, Rianna Sjostrom, Sydney Stiles, Katie Tullis, Annika Warn, Ava Warren.

Conifer High School: Jackson Cook, Teagan Eisenring, Ella Genender, Ella Hubbard, Zachary McCarthy, Shilah Pless, Dustin Roe, Aubrey Smih, Emma Vencer, Brenden Weakley.

Platte Canyon High School: Jeremiah Armstrong, Kassie Prewitt

Clear Creek High School: Skylah Inman by Texans who have never lived here, was granted a permit e ortlessly, with absolutely no regard for local’s protests or factual presentations given in rigid 3-minute time slots.

We were told before the “hearing” that this board “rubber-stamps” all Airbnb permit applications. at proved to be true, 100% of our county overlords on the Board ruled against all the county residents’ protests and instead, in favor of out-ofstate investors.

Out-of-state investors are clearly far more important here than local residents and neighborhoods. We get it. What the county does have for locals in 2023 are wildly increasing property valuations and taxes.

You may not listen to us Board of Adjustment, but we count. We ask concerned citizens to join our group who hope to help the county make needed changes to current loosegoosey Short-Term Rental rules. je coshorttermrentals.com

Randy Leonard, Evergreen

Private dog park site gaining pup-ularity

BY MCKENNA HARFORD MHARFORD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Since Elle Ritt started renting her Wheat Ridge yard to fellow dog owners in November, she’s hosted birthday parties for pups, pooch photoshoots and doggie play groups almost every weekend.

Ritt is one of dozens of renters in the Denver metro area on a website called Sni Spot, which links people interested in sharing their yard with local dog owners who want a private fenced area to let their pups o -leash. rough Sni Spot, renters set an hourly rate per dog and time slot availability for users to book.

With two older dogs who need less exercise, Ritt said she wanted to let other dogs take advantage of her large yard and, so far, there has been no shortage of demand.

“It’s just mindblowing how frequently it’s used,” she said.

Ritt said a majority of her visitors don’t have their own yards and prefer to avoid public dog parks because of reactive or sensitive pups. e site allows users to tailor their search to t needs like a taller fence height or not having other dogs or animals visible.

Dr. Rebecca Ruch-Gallie, a 23-year veterinarian at Colorado State University’s Community Practice clinic, said the uncontrolled nature of dog parks leads to risks like ghts and disease transmission, which is why she typically recommends other ways to exercise dogs, such as daycare or private yard time.

In addition to walks and playtime, RuchGallie said some dogs need to run and all dogs bene t from exploring new routes and places.

Ruch-Gallie said she will sometimes take her pups on what she calls a “sni -ari.”

“ ey take in the world much di erently than we do, so give them those di erent scents to pick up and opportunities to see and smell di erent things,” she said. “Sometimes they just want to go, go, go and get their energy out and other times they just want to meander and take the sni s in.”

Mike Rieber, who has been renting his fenced pasture in Parker since October, said one of the best perks of sharing his yard is seeing how excited pups get to check out new scents and release their energy.

“ ey call it a Sni Spot and I never really understood how important that was to a dog, but that’s the rst thing they all do when they get here is smell everything,” Rieber said. “Especially with the repeat dogs, as soon as their paws hit the ground, boy, they’re o .”

Ritt’s experience has been similar, she said, adding that Sni Spot has been mutually bene cial, not just for the dogs, but also the humans. She’s received multiple thank you notes from visitors and attests that catching glimpses of visitors always makes her smile.

“It’s so cute to peek in the backyard and see grown men laying on their stomachs taking pictures of their puppies,” Ritt said.

Another Sni Spot user, Lyndsey Leach, who rents her Lakewood backyard, agreed. Leach lost her own pooch three years ago but remains an avid dog-lover.

“It’s so nice when they’re comfortable and running around,” she said. “I’m always happy when they’re happy.” None of the three renters report issues with destroyed yards, rude users, neighbor complaints or unruly animals.

In addition to the positive mental health benefits, Leach said renting her yard is a convenient passive income and gives her the flexibility to be away from home if needed. Leach estimates that since she started in January, she’s had about 50 visitors and made around $400.

“I don’t really have any expenses associated with it, other than eaten tennis balls,” she joked.

Rieber said he didn’t originally think he would make much money from the app but has been happy with the extra cash. He noted the demand is only picking up in the warmer months, though he got a fair share of visitors during the winter as well.

“We’re not trying to maximize our revenue, we’re doing this more as a service for young people that have dogs and need a place that’s private,” he said.

For Ritt, her most recent month was her most successful, cashing in over $1,000, and before that, she averaged a few hundred dollars monthly.

“One of our dogs has had a ton of health issues, so it’s like SniffSpot funds her care,” Ritt said. “It truly has been a notable supplemental income.”

To learn more, visit sniffspot.com.