Be an Edvocate

I was, on the whole, considerably discouraged by my school days. It was not pleasant to feel oneself so completely outclassed and left behind at the beginning of the race.

The future prime minister of Great Britain – who many consider the greatest leader of the 20th century – led through his mastery of the English language. It is now acknowledged that Churchill's impassioned speeches so convinced Hitler of the English resolve that the German dictator chose not to invade Britain.

Winston Churchill's writings, as well, were prolific and critically acclaimed. To this day he is one of the most published authors in English history.

How ironic this all is. For we now know that Winston Churchill began life 'behind' because he was dyslexic. He – like so many millions of young students – could not process letters and numbers properly and therefore felt "left out" and "outclassed" by his peers.

While Churchill overcame his disability through sheer determination and iron discipline, most young students cannot. Instead, they soon fall into a sad status: outcasts, 'losers,' kids with massive inferiority complexes. They join gangs or bad groups of similarly outcast kids. Drugs, illicit sex and crime are tempting lures to kids who feel "left out."

From there things can – and often do – spiral out of control: a lifetime of unhappiness can follow.

Just consider the following about students with dyslexia and/or common learning disabilities:

Just think how society – and so many lives – would be changed if dyslexia could be diagnosed at an early age and then corrected.

Edvocacy Research Corporation of Concord, Mass. (www.edvocacy.org) has developed a simple software program that can diagnose this disastrous problem at an early age. When so diagnosed, a dyslexic child can be brought up to speed within one year with remedial teaching. At that point that child is on a par with his or her peers – and the problems listed above can be avoided.

Edvocacy's president & CEO, Geoff Cronin, writes, "Very few children are tested for dyslexia or other reading disabilities, even when experience indicates a problem may be present."

This is one of the most exciting breakthroughs to come along in decades.

Cronin and his subordinates are on to a simple test that may revolutionize not only education but also our entire society.

It is vital that all school systems – public, parochial and private – subscribe to Edvocacy's testing software ASAP.

And the first political party that embraces this concept will have a powerful claim on the all-important 'education' issue.