School program tackles early reading problems

(February 15, 2007) — Cassie Collins knew her son, Cameron, would struggle with reading in school. He was diagnosed with phonological awareness disorder, which affects a child’s ability to develop easily understood speech by age 4 and alters his aptitude to read and spell.

“Cameron didn’t have any confidence in himself because he knew he wasn’t good at reading,” said Collins of Churchville. “Even though we explained that every child has problems with different things, it didn’t make him feel any better.”

Then he entered the Jumpstart program, a new initiative started this fall by the Churchville-Chili Central School District to intercede with early reading intervention.

…There are no such things as a lost cause,” she said. “Especially if you grab them while they’re young, even if they are behind, we can take care of them. But if we don’t know what is wrong, then we can’t figure it out.”

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