Interview: Ben Powers

Ben Powers began as Headmaster of Eagle Hill - Southport in Southport, CT in July 2012. Prior to that, he served as Headmaster at The Kildonan School in Amenia, NY. We interviewed Ben this fall about his unique skills as a headmaster, the LD stereotypes he hopes to tear down, and some of what Eagle Hill - Southport has to offer. According to the EHS website, “The school emphasizes academic, social and athletic skill development and strives to prepare students to be independent learners and citizens…With advances in curriculum, a new Middle School program, investments in our technology infrastructure, and new initiatives, like robotics and involvement in the Maker Movement, there is a lot going on at school.”  Camp Spring Creek: If you could offer one message to parents, potential employers, or members of society in general about life with a learning difference, what would that message be? What kind of shift in our thinking would be most helpful in bridging the gap or tearing down stereotypes?

Ben Powers: I believe one of the most important stereotypes to break down is the negative connotation of the word "disability." People with disabilities often bring many strengths to the table, like resiliency and problem-solving skills. Unfortunately, many times there is a focus on what people with disabilities can't do. Our students have specific disabilities in areas like reading, but they are not disabled from learning, and often, they are good problem solvers, forward-thinking, and creative people. Dr. Julie Logan from the Cass Business School in London did some groundbreaking research that demonstrated 35% of CEO's are LD. Our students will be the engine of the 21st century economy, and the sooner schools, universities, and employers realize what LD brains have to offer, the better!

CSC: Can you tell us about a particularly inspiring or moving moment you witnessed with a child, teacher, or parent in the LD community?

BP: One of the most moving memories I have is the time I took two students to San Francisco for EdRev, an annual LD student-centered conference. To watch Dan and Caitlin interact with other LD kids and be involved in projects with them made me realize the continued importance of the work we do at our schools and programs. More importantly, it made me realize the importance of fostering community and talking about learning disabilities even within the walls of our own schools. I think we sometimes take our schools and programs for granted and forget the importance of recognizing and talking about learning disabilities. In the mainstream, our students are often the outliers, and while we work hard to build self-advocacy, rebuild self-esteem, and further develop resiliency, the ability to connect with other students who share similar strengths and deficits, and understand there is a much larger community out there, is huge. To witness that firsthand and hear all of the students tell their stories was incredible. That experience turned into an annual trip to San Francisco for EdRev with a much larger group of students.

CSC: Each Headmaster brings his/her own personal skill set and passions to a job. Understanding that you carry forth the mission of EHS as set out by its founder, what would you say you bring above and beyond this mission?

BP: I was fortunate to walk into a well-grounded and thoughtful program with teachers and staff who really understand our students. The area I've tried to emphasize the most since beginning last July is enhancing the strengths-based aspect of the program, from even more engaging co-curricular activities to finding ways for assistive technologies to empower our students at an even higher level. We're working to incorporate more activities, like robotics, that many of our students have innate strengths with and are also finding more ways to elicit student strengths on an academic level, like using text-to-speech to allow students access to more demanding content that's aligned with their intelligence rather than their reading level. We incorporated a 1:1 iPad program in our middle school this year, and it has been hugely successful. Since iPads are mainstream, it allows our students to access content, like textbooks, that the "mainstream" education world is using, while at the same time, they can leverage the embedded assistive technologies, like text-to-speech and speech-to-text for reading and writing.

CSC: Students at EHS have six academic classes per day, including Tutorial and Writing. Do tutors/instructors utilize the Orton-Gillingham approach at EHS?

BP: Our twice-daily tutorials provide direct, language-based instruction in reading comprehension, vocabulary, and targeted study skills. We do have several Orton-Gillingham trained tutors (we've used O-G Fellow Susan Santora from The Learning House), and we're actually in the process of aligning ourselves with a Fellow who can do more onsite training both for our own teachers and other educators in the area. In addition to O-G, we also have teachers trained in PAF, Wilson, and Lindamood-Bell, among other programs and approaches. Since we have a variety of learners at EHS, we do not subscribe to one methodology or approach; however, we know that our students benefit from diagnostic-prescriptive, hands-on learning.

Interview: Harvey Hubbell V

Harvey Hubbell V is a humanitarian and award-winning filmmaker. His documentaries have garnered more than 55 film and video festival awards, including four Emmys. Harvey's latest passion project is an independent, feature-length documentary entitled Dislecksia: The Movie, releasing in theaters nationwide in the fall of 2013. It is a project that has been in development for over 7 years and is designed to leverage the power of film to raise awareness, mainstream dyslexia and learning differences, and drive positive social change. Last month, Camp Spring Creek posted a profile on Harvey about Dislecksia: The Movie, and a little over a week ago, we had this conversation with him: Camp Spring Creek: You are Harvey Hubbell V, “the fifth.” Tell us about your lineage:

Harvey Hubbell V: My family got to the United States in the 1630’s from England. My great-great grandfather came over when he was an indentured servant and had 10 kids here. What’s interesting is that there are genetic components in dyslexia, so many people in my family could be dyslexic. My great grandfather invented the wall socket. From that same family of 10 kids came Carl Hubbell, the baseball player who invented the knuckle ball. Also, Edwin Hubble, who they named the space telescope after because he figured out that the universe was expanding.

CSC: What advice would you give to a very busy teacher whose school or local government cannot provide funding for special training in something such as the Orton-Gillingham method, but who still sincerely wants to create a successful learning environment for all students, regardless of learning styles and abilities?

HH: Go grassroots. You are not alone. Join our movement and connect with others in the dyslexia community both online and locally. Dislecksia: The Movie engages with over 10,000 people worldwide on a daily basis. As a starting point, join Facebook communities, sign up for newsletters and plug in. You will learn and expand yourself as a teacher, network and make connections with many resources. Another thing you can do to turn the tide in your community is to host a screening of our movie. There is nothing more powerful than film to tell stories and potentially changes lives. Our film does just that and we get this feedback consistently from people of all ages. I cannot express how meaningful it is to me to hear from kids, who were suffering terribly, about how seeing the film and getting their parents to see it changed their life--that because of our film, their parents understand what they are going through now and have made changes. Wow, that is powerful stuff and it is one of the reasons I made the film, to reach people, improve lives and drive change.

CSC: Can you pinpoint a moment or memory from childhood when you became conscious of your "difference"? As an adult, what provided the catalyst for you to begin viewing your path and perceptions of the world as a “gift”?

HH: I think they happened at the same time. I knew I was smart when I was a kid—maybe because my mom told me, or maybe because I could figure things out. But I would get criticized and ridiculed for my handwriting and not knowing my left from my right. So my difference in school was that they would tape a little school bus on the side of my desk so that I could remember which was my right arm. That didn’t help me very much, but it labeled me as “different” from everyone else. So, in a way, I knew there was a difference there but I didn’t think I was dumb.

I learned to read outside the school system and reading saved me. I could put different knowledge into my head all the time by the ability I had to read.  It wasn’t until working on Dislecksia: The Movie, that I fully realized what happened to me as a child. As a child in the classroom I’d close my eyes and put my head down on the desk and I could see pictures and hear music. No teacher ever gave me a high grade for being a good daydreamer. Not all people can daydream at the same level. Daydreaming itself is important and that is one of the gifts of dyslexia and visual thinkers. My point is–-what did I become later in life? I became a filmmaker.

Later, when I started working on the movie, I was meeting researchers and neuroscientists and I started realizing that I wasn’t alone in how I do things. Many, many people do things in this way and I got to thinking—there must be a reason that people process things this way. In history, before the printing press, a visual mind was an important mind. The majority of sailing schools in England are run by dyslexics, for example. To sail a ship you don’t need to be able to read, but your visual sense of wind and clouds and waves is really important. I know hunters were very important in early society. Builders were too. People who could visualize these things and see things other people might not see really mattered. Even today, you’ll see paleontologists or people who can read computer printouts on where natural gas pockets are, and they are also dyslexic. Of course, not all dyslexics are visual.

What I learned making Dislecksia: The Movie is that every dyslexic child needs to identify their own gifts and understand how they naturally prefer to learn and kids’ educational environment needs to be in sync with their learning style.  Kids shouldn’t have to fight to get a seat at the table of learning and if they are, they’re suffering.

CSC: What are you up to these days in terms of your creativity? What fascinates you or currently has you all jazzed up?

HH:  What excites me? Getting up every morning to do more good in the world. Promoting human welfare is a core personal value of mine. At the moment, I’m focused on leveraging the power of our film, a passion project for me, to increase awareness of mainstream dyslexia and drive positive social change. Additionally, I recently started The Hubbell Difference Foundation (THDF) to have a larger platform and be able to do more good in the world. We have many projects we’re working on at THDF, including the roll-out of Dislecksia: The Movie, with the goal to reach as many populations as possible--both the served and under-served, across racial and socioeconomic lines. The film is about to be released theatrically in October in NY and LA, followed by a screening event in cities nationwide on October 17, followed by a potentially powerful grassroots tour nationwide with an RV. The roll-out of this important film will bring together people across the country who are doing work in this field, will spark much needed dialogue and will drive positive change. We’ll be showing the film and interacting directly with the audience. There are a lot of schools and communities that we’d like to add to the tour map. The screening events are a lot of fun and I encourage everyone to come out for them.

CSC: Tell us about your impressions of Camp Spring Creek from your 2012 visit:

HH: I’m a big fan of Susie and Steve. Susie’s mentor, Diana King, is a mentor of mine. Diana King is a rock star! When we drove up to Camp Spring Creek, we didn’t know what to expect. It was a beautiful location. To arrive and see the kids there having so much fun and also getting to work together in their unique styles of learning, for me, was memorable. I realize how important a place like Camp Spring Creek is and they do great one-on-one work with kids. Everybody has a special key that opens them up, just like I have a key that opens the door of my car. All of these keys, if we trade them, won’t open anything up because things are locked. But being able to go to a camp like Camp Spring Creek where people can give you the time—just think about how fortunate those kids are! They’re having so much fun when they’re learning and that gives them the key to a happy and successful future full of possibilities.

Interview: Elizabeth Hall

This week, we interviewed reading and learning therapist Elizabeth Hall, who offers research-based instruction to help children become talented, engaged readers. Elizabeth has been in private practice for 16 years, as well as past Treasurer and Vice President of the South Carolina Branch of the International Dyslexia Association. She also recently spent a week out at Camp Spring Creek sewing handmade curtains for our windows as an in-kind donation. What a gift! Elizabeth lives in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Learn more about what she does right here: Camp Spring Creek: We're familiar with the Orton-Gillingham method, but we also see that you incorporate Lindamood Belle Learning Processes and Benchmark School methods into your tutoring sessions. Can you tell us a little about each of these?

Elizabeth Hall: My main focus is Orton Gillingham. When a child struggles to respond or grasp the area we are working on, I might work in some of the Lindamood Bell cueing in that area to see if that helps the child grasp the challenging aspect of the tutoring work. Often times, a simple change with a slightly different cueing is all it takes, such as when a child has trouble with the sound of /p/ (i.e. the child confuses p for q). In this case, I might use the Lindamood Bell cueing of "Lip Poppers," as the child has not been working through all of the Lindamood Bell auditory work but they may respond well to the change and hold the sound and symbol in memory better. I still have students who giggle about Lip Poppers! I love it when we find the simple things that keep the kids learning and working towards their great potentials.

CSC: One of your mantras is, "Success builds success, especially in the early years." Can you give us a specific example of how you've seen this work, even on a very small scale, for a child?

EH: When a child begins to understand the sounds and how they blend into words, he is beginning to unlock the code. Then he learns to read simple sentences. This empowers the child to try and read more. I love watching that smile brighten their face as they begin to feel and see they are learning to read. It is empowering not only to a child but too to an adult learning to read as well. It can't help but make you feel great and encourage you to do even more for the child or adult.

CSC: What is one of the most common signs that a child is struggling with reading that educators and parents often miss? Why do you suppose that is and what can an adult do when they see a child struggle in this way?

EG: Phoneme awareness/avoidance is common. Adults can help the child learn the sounds of the alphabet. They can talk to the child's teacher. They can give the child direct, explicit, sequential instruction. If the child is still struggling early on, the parent might consult with an experienced child psychologist to begin to further understand the why, and also where the delays are with the child.

CSC: At the end of the day, what keeps you motivated to do what you do, and to keep advocating for children and literacy after so many years?

EH: I am dyslexic and I want kids to have the better instruction I did not have in the early grades. In this day and age, there is fine research and strong evidence that the Orton Gillingham multisensory approach is an excellent type of instruction and remediation for these children and, for that matter, all children in the classroom. The Orton Gillingham approach is diagnostic and prescriptive, which generates outstanding progress for all students but especially those with dyslexia. It is clearly a motivator on its own to help the students that struggle. The kids keep me going. They are like snowflakes: no two are alike. They are great to work with and I learn from them every day. Sometimes I might learn a better way of doing something for them, or they might help me discover a new strategy that will help not only them but someone else. Kids are great teachers if we slow down to listen and watch what they have to teach us.

Interview: Jennifer Ramming

Today's interview features Jennifer Ramming, co-founder and director of OpenDoors of Asheville. Camp Spring Creek has partnered with Open Doors in the past (read more) and, this summer, four of our campers came to us through this partnership.

From the OpenDoors website: OpenDoors of Asheville connects local children living in multi-generational poverty with an active, individualized network of support, enrichment and education opportunities.  At OpenDoors, we invest in kids who live in poverty so they will learn to invest in themselves and in the end, break the cycle of poverty for themselves and for our community.

Camp Spring Creek: Briefly tell us about how you found yourself in the line of work you're in.

Jennifer Ramming: I was a volunteer in my son's class when he was in the 3rd grade. There were a small group of boys who could not read and the teacher asked me to work with them so that they would stop disrupting the class. They were eager to learn but couldn't access the material. I started to learn about dyslexia through a friend who knew one of the boys. That friend was Dr. Marcy Sirkin who owns the Arden Reading Clinic. She connected me with another colleague, Dr. Deirdre Christy, who assessed this boy and found him to be severely dyslexic and above average IQ. The school assessment showed that he was low IQ. Everyone was surprised! That initial relationship progressed organically over a couple of years as my oldest son’s friendship grew with this boy and his mother and I parented our boys, often together. We became extended family, like you might with a neighbor, though we actually live 10 miles apart. It was a conscious choice, but made possible because our kids were in class together and played on sports teams together. We created an intentional community around this family. This is a case study, which became a model of our school based community outreach and support that my co-founders and I replicated when we officially founded OpenDoors.

CSC: At the end of the day, what is it about OpenDoors of Asheville that puts a smile on your face and motivates you to continue all of the hard work? If you have a specific memory or anecdote to share, we would like to hear that.

JR: There are so many moments of shining joy and hope! One day a middle school boy who I didn't know well, but was the brother of a current OpenDoors student, jumped into the front seat of my car and looked at me earnestly and said, "I want to get an education." He was dead serious, but he was very much in trouble at his public middle school and was thought to be a low performer. It was an incredible insight into what turned out to be quite a gifted profile. This mental picture motivates me every day when I advocate for kids who are labelled as "behavior problems" or having "low ability." I instinctively fight for them as if they were my own. I have a natural propensity to believe that all children have a great deal of potential and I'm grateful for the few teachers I had in my life who did this for me. I'd like to think that I had a lot of potential too, but I was not a successful student until I was in high school.

CSC: Can you tell us about about a need in your community that OpenDoors of Asheville meets which, without donor funding, would otherwise go unmet?

JR: OpenDoors provides a individualized network of support that no other non-profit I know about in the region provides. This includes so many things that many affluent people take for granted, such as transportation, scholarships, Internet access, tutoring, phone service, extracurricular fees and equipment, etc. We use our social and professional networks to help OpenDoors families. Most of the team leaders can make a couple of phone calls to co-workers, friends and neighbors who are attorneys, accountants, or doctors, for example, and make connections that would not be as easy for OpenDoors parents. We use middle class cultural currency and connections to bring resources to the table. We invest in children so that they can learn to invest in themselves.

CSC: In a sky's-the-limit, perfect-wish-world, ten years from now, what would OpenDoors of Asheville look like?

JR: It would be a sustainable, seasoned organization that had a sense of community in its alumni. I hope that many of these kids will go on to be professionals and experts in their fields of interest and make Asheville a better place to live for all of us. We are only limited by our financial and human resources. The sky is truly the limit with these kids.

To learn even more about OpenDoors, check out these full-length articles: Asheville Citizen-Times and The Laurel of Asheville.

Profile: Harvey Hubbell V

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scf7Rpvloh0&w=420&h=315] This is an excerpt from the Capture Time Productions website, which features a brilliant essay by renowned filmmaker and dyslexia advocate, Harvey Hubbell V. Camp Spring Creek used Hubbell’s most recent film, Dislecksia: The Movie, during staff training. For information on the movie or Hubbell’s full director’s statement, please click here.

In second grade, they found out I was dyslexic. Little was known back then about what to do with a dyslexic. Testing continued on me, year after year. Testing never ends when you are dyslexic. I learned to read outside of the school system through a series of one-on-one tutors. In 1977, I graduated from Newtown High School. My class rank was 275 out of 325 students…

It wasn’t until 1975, a few years before I graduated from high school, that the first laws were passed to identify students with learning disabilities and to support their rights to education. It was too late for me. At sixteen years old I was already considered damaged goods. I felt that my teachers and others did not understand me…

I started telling my own stories through movies. It turned out that people liked them, and I got some awards. So I made more films and got more awards, some of which turned out to be Emmys…

In 2003, my crew and I decided it was time to make a film about dyslexia and show how things had changed since I was in grade school. We were anxious to get answers to all of the questions swirling through my head. What are educators doing today? How do students with dyslexia get treated in school now?...

Our movie started in New York City interviewing people on the streets and asking the simple question, “What is dyslexia?” Quickly we learned that most people have no idea what it is. Some even thought it was a sexually transmitted disease; others thought it was a condition where people do not sleep. Public awareness on the subject was low. It didn't take long to discover that the same apathy on the subject was the norm within multitudes of school systems. Although many are making changes to help dyslexics, too many aren't doing anything at all. There are even school systems that are in legal battles with parents who want their dyslexic children educated.  Instead of paying for teachers to learn new methods to teach dyslexics, schools are using their funds to oppose parents and advocate that they are doing “enough”…

It is my mission to raise awareness on the topic, and to help dyslexics to get the education they need by offering the movie as a tool for advocates who work to get laws changed.

Stay tuned for an upcoming interview with Harvey Hubbell, right here on the Camp Spring Creek blog. Subscribe for updates via email on the right-hand side bar.