Dyslexic children have new source for help

Pat Cromwell Schaefer, of Jubilee Educational Services, and Dana Barnes, of Barnyard Kids in Shelbyville, will be offering reading disability screenings and tutorial services for children, beginning in September. (T-G Photo by Sadie Fowler) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

A former East Side Elementary pre-school teacher is returning to Bedford County, after leaving the district in 1989, to work with children with reading disabilities or those who need extra tutoring in math and reading.

"I am from Shelbyville and have always wanted to give back to my community," Pat Cromwell Schaefer said. "I felt a calling from God to work with children who need more."

Schaefer has teamed up with Dana Barnes, owner of Barnyard Kids, a pre-school located on Bethany Lane, to deliver both dyslexia and reading disability screenings for local children as well as tutoring sessions beginning after Labor Day at Barnes' facility.

"I want the children who can't read," said Schaefer, who operates Jubilee Educational Services in Murfreesboro.

After retiring from East Side, Schaefer moved to Murfreesboro and worked as the education coordinator for an academy there before moving into the private sector to focus on children who have learning disabilities.

Barnes' son was having trouble reading and she was driving to Murfreesboro, like many other Bedford County parents, to have Schaefer work with him. The two began brainstorming and decided to bring Schaefer's services to Shelbyville.

"I have the facility and Pat has the ability," said Barnes. "My son's teachers and I were both very concerned about him ... Pat handled it with such care" and after two months of one-on-one sessions, Barnes' son was reading at grade level.

"Your child may have a reading disability and no even know it ... 10 to 20 percent of the population has a learning disability, often unidentified," Schaefer said. She said dyslexia is a genetic disability that affects people of average or above average intelligence.

"People associate it with reading letters backwards," she said, but there are many different variations and levels of the disability.

Barnes said dyslexia is typically caught when children are in third or fourth grade, which is too late, according to Schaefer.

"The earlier it's caught, the better," she said.

Starting after Labor Day, Schaefer or one of her staff members will work with both parents and children to first detect whether your child has a reading disability. If he or she does, a specific program will be designed to help them move past the problem. Tutoring services will also be available for subjects that go beyond reading.

The cost for a screening is $85 to $100 and tutoring costs are $45 for an hour-long one-on-one session. Both screenings and tutoring will be held at Barnyard Kids.

"And if I can't meet their needs, I'll turn them over to a specialist who can," Schaefer said.

Dyslexic awareness meeting

Barnes and Schaefer are holding a dyslexia awareness meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 2 at First Baptist Church on Depot Street. Tutoring services will be available starting Sept. 4.

To contact Schaefer, call (615) 895-3400.