Business for a Better World: Rainbow Reading
An interview with Joanna Migo, owner of Rainbow Reading.
Q: Describe your company.
A: Rainbow Reading offers dyslexia therapy and multisensory literacy support services to the DuPage community. I am a former elementary and middle school teacher, literacy coach and certified reading specialist. Currently, I am pursuing to become a Certified Academic Language Therapist through teaching and training at The Written Word Dyslexia and Learning Center in downtown Wheaton.
Rainbow Reading offers Take Flight: A Comprehensive Intervention for Students with Dyslexia, written by the staff of the Luke Waites Center for Dyslexia and Learning Disorders at the Scottish rite Children's Hospital in Dallas, Texas. Take Flight intervention for students with dyslexia is based upon the research of Dr. Samuel T. Orton, a neuropsychiatrist, and the educational and psychological contributions of Anna Gillingham. Take Flight is explicitly designed for certified Academic Language Therapists and intended for children seven years and older in individual and small group instruction. Therapy sessions are 60 minutes long and held four times weekly to achieve optimal results.
Rainbow Reading dyslexia therapy focuses on the following five components of effective reading instruction supported by the National Reading Panel: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and reading comprehension. Students participating in the Take Flight curriculum will learn 44 English language sounds, 96 letter-sound correspondence rules and 87 affixes. Students will also engage in activities that teach spelling rules for base words and derivatives, oral practice fluency and vocabulary-building strategies for narrative and informational text, among other essential reading skills.
Dyslexia therapy is multisensory, systematic and explicit in providing structured language intervention for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
Q: What will your company's main challenges be next year?
A: This year's main challenge will be changing the narrative and stigma associated with dyslexia and building awareness in the surrounding communities about dyslexia therapy versus tutoring.
When most people hear the term dyslexia, they think it refers to letter reversals. Dyslexia is much more than that. The International Dyslexia Association defines dyslexia as the following:
"Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities.
"These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge "
Dyslexia affects 20% of the student population and is estimated to comprise about 80% of all learning disabilities. Many children are undiagnosed and not provided the appropriate instruction to assist them.
Here are some other interesting statistics:
• 35% of U.S. entrepreneurs have dyslexia;
• 70% of people hide their dyslexic thinking from their employer;
• 80% of dyslexic children leave school with their dyslexia unidentified.
Dyslexia is not a reflection of intelligence; in fact, many with dyslexia are gifted, creative and have made fascinating contributions to our world in every study area. Dyslexia is a lifelong condition, and with appropriate school and parental support, proper screening, diagnosis, and early and ongoing intervention, children can lead a highly successful and happy life.
Q: What's the hottest trend in your industry?
A: The hottest trend right now is influential spokespeople for dyslexia, highlighting the unique advantages of the dyslexic mind. For example, Sir Richard Branson teamed up for a colossal collaboration with Made By Dyslexia and LinkedIn to add dyslexic thinking as a profile descriptor. Dictionary.com also added the term dyslexic thinking to their online platform. They define dyslexic thinking as:
"An approach to problem-solving, assessing information, and learning, often used by people with dyslexia, involves pattern recognition, spatial reasoning, lateral thinking and interpersonal communication."
This addition to the platform is an excellent step toward recognizing dyslexia as a unique ability and a positive trait in the workplace. It spreads the message to the dyslexic community to take great pride in their learning differences.
Branson's goal is to encourage parents and students that dyslexic children may struggle with "conventional" school teaching, but they will also have many strengths. He stresses that it is essential to focus on a child's strengths, and when doing so, it allows an excellent opportunity for students to be truly extraordinary.
The idea that a dyslexic person at any age can proudly state, "I am a dyslexic thinker," is a beautiful step in spreading awareness about dyslexia and the many advantages that complement a dyslexia diagnosis.
Q: Is your company minority-owned? Woman-owned? If so, what are the challenges of being a minority- or woman-owned company?
A: I am the sole owner of Rainbow Reading, and I am also a woman, mom and of Mexican-Italian heritage. Having owned two restaurants in the St. Charles community, I know that owning a small business is no easy feat, especially during COVID times. As a business owner, you wear many hats, offering unique services and managing your business's marketing, promoting, and financial aspects.
Fortunately, I have several years of experience in doing this, allowing me to truly become an expert in learning about dyslexia and perfecting my teaching craft.
I grew up in a family of hardworking immigrants; both my parents were Chicago Public School teachers. My grandfather owned a furniture business in Chicago, my grandmother was a secretary and homemaker, and my great-grandmother worked in a sewing factory after she immigrated to the United States in 1920 from Sicily. I had the utmost encouragement and support from my family growing up and even today.
All my beautiful family members have instilled in me the value of hard work, dedication, education and risk-taking to pursue my dreams. My family always told me I could be whatever I wanted to be. Being a woman of such a unique ethnic background is an exciting advantage, and I am very proud to serve the community with my reading services.
Q: What does your company do regarding DE&I (diversity, equity & inclusion)?
A: Rainbow Reading celebrates neurodiversity and the unique minds of children and adults with dyslexia. When beginning to promote on social media and think about how I communicate with my parents and followers, it was essential to me to convey to my audience that dyslexia also comes with unique complimentary gifts and insights about our world.
Some of the most influential people with significant contributions in every field of study have dyslexia. These influential people include Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, the Wright Brothers, Steve Jobs, Kobe Bryant, Sir Richard Branson and Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of IKEA.
This list continues, and I am fascinated by the unique dyslexic mind. Rainbow Reading is here to provide hope for children and parents struggling with reading and to inspire them that a bright and prosperous future is possible with effective research-based intervention and appropriate support in the home, school and private therapy environment.
Q: Does your company donate time or money to any philanthropic causes? If so, what causes?
A: I have been a volunteer at The Joshua Tree Community for several months. The Joshua Tree Community is a day program located in Geneva for young adults with intellectual disabilities. Their goal is to provide this community of adults a means to participate in rich activities each day of every week, year-round. I have experienced and led students in their weekly book club, assisted with field trips, and instructed the students in engaging art lessons each month. I love every minute of my time spent there.
Q: Does your company do anything else to make your community better?
A: In addition to serving at The Joshua Tree Community, I have participated in past gift wrapping and donations to the Big Hearts of Fox Valley at Christmas. I plan to continue this tradition every year with my family.
Q: Do you have a business mantra?
A: Be bright. Be colorful. Be brilliant. My mantra plays off my Rainbow logo and name. My students need to know that despite their reading difficulties, they possess a unique mind that is bright, colorful, brilliant, and extraordinary! The goal is to provide my students with a positive affirmation and a mantra that can stick with them as they travel along the road to reading.
Q: What is one interesting fact about your company that most people may not know?
A: The most interesting fact about my company that most people may not know is that dyslexia therapy exists and is a more comprehensive and research-based instruction option for students with dyslexia. Most undergraduate and graduate programs do not inform nor train teachers working with students with dyslexia. As a reading specialist, I should know how to assist them.
Having entered the training at The Written Word Dyslexia and Learning Center in Wheaton, I was astonished to learn how much I was unaware of regarding dyslexia. It is a different way of teaching. It's therapy, not tutoring. I believe it's essential for parents to understand the difference.
Dyslexia therapy is offered by a certified academic language therapist four times weekly. An academic language therapist has undergone rigorous training and obtained 200 classroom hours and 700 clinical hours working specifically with the Take Flight curriculum and dyslexic children, passed the ALTA exam, and is accepted into the Academy of Language Therapy Association. It's an enormous amount of training and work, and I consider it more rigorous than my reading specialist certification.
I also feel that people must know that with dyslexia comes an incredible gift. People with dyslexia are incredibly creative, great problem solvers, see the big picture in life, empathetic and extremely intelligent. The more people know about dyslexia, the more understanding and acceptance they can have of people with neurodiversity.
Building and spreading awareness about dyslexia, effective intervention and its complimentary gifts are essential for our society. This knowledge is most important for people in our community to know.
• Tell us about your Business for a Better World at sbnews@dailyherald.com.
Rainbow Reading
319 S. Naperville Road, Suite 203 Wheaton, IL 60187
(708) 308-0174
www.therainbowreading.com
Industry: Education
Number of employees: 0