My daughter is 10 years old and has always struggled with reading. She has had a reading tutor since she was 6 years old, and has made some progress. However, when her teachers thought she should be doing much better given the reading intervention services she received at school, we decided to have her tested for a reading disability. She now has a clinical diagnoses of both ADHD and dyslexia. We decided we needed to try a more evidenced-based approach to helping our daughter with reading, and went searching for a tutor specifically trained to work with dyslexic students. We found exactly what we were hoping for.....Leslie!

Leslie is a seasoned elementary school teacher with expert knowledge working with children that are bright and motivated but just need things explained in a different way in order to learn. Leslie is trained to use the Wilson Method of Decoding and Encoding (WADE) which is approved by the International Dyslexia Association.

As my daughter goes through each step in the process, she is more and more confident in her ability to sound out words, her reading pace has increased significantly, and her reading comprehension is allowing her to be curious and thoughtful rather than frustrated and angry. Her teachers have noticed a big change as well.

Leslie tailors the tutoring session to fit my daughter's needs and mood, and always makes the learning fun. My daughter is tutored three days a week and loves to go and learn. It is really amazing how much my daughter has blossomed in the last 6 months since she has been tutored by Leslie. The process is challenging for her, but she no longer gets frustrated when she doesn't get it the first time. She feels very comfortable with Leslie, who seems to know when to motivate and when to try a different approach.

Leslie also keeps in touch with my daughter's teachers so that her tutoring complements what she is learning in the classroom. She is always looking for ways to keep her engaged and using all her senses to learn. Our daughter is so much happier. We truly feel blessed to have found Leslie!

Leslie has been tutoring our 10 year old son for almost a year for a reading disability that affects his spelling, word recognition and reading fluency. The improvement he has shown this past year in spelling and reading is amazing and he has definitely developed more self-confidence in these areas. He will continue to work weekly with Leslie until he completes the Wilson Reading System program. The lessons keep his attention and he has never complained that it's "boring" which is his usual complaint about most things that don't involve video games. He looks forward to sharing interesting details (i.e. a new toy, family trip, new experience) from the previous week or playing a card game with Leslie at the end of each lesson.

Leslie has been great with my daughter who was diagnosed with dyslexia. In the time that Leslie has been working with my daughter, I can already see the difference in her confidence and skill level. She has made a huge difference in the path my daughter has taken in education. She is a God send and I am very happy to have found her!

Leslie is a wonderful tutor! My daughter, who has dyslexia, has made amazing strides working with her for the last year. My daughter instantly connected with Leslie and through the Wilson program, is now able to read grade level texts. Her fluency, decoding and comprehension have all improved and the work done in tutoring mirrors what she is doing in school. Thanks, Leslie!!

Leslie is a uniquely qualified, specifically trained and experienced tutor, with a gifted nurturing temperament and a disciplined teaching methodology specifically honed, over her years, to treat my grandson. My grandson is 9 years old and has a sever ADHD reading disability. Just in the 4 months since he has been with Leslie, we have seen a steady and remarkably positive improvement and can now see the light at the end of what seemed to be a
hopeless situation. He is now reading and enjoying it and the whole experience has effected his overall confidence and self esteem. Don't make the mistake like I did...thinking that just a regular reading tutor could help. He needed a highly and specifically trained ADHD teacher. Leslie is a gift from God for our boy and we feel blessed to have found her, as she is saving his future for us.

After several years of worrying that my son was not catching-on to reading, I finally had him tested and learned that he is dyslexic. Although I did not doubt the diagnosis, it was very hard to hear. I knew this was going to be a very long journey for my family. I started researching how I could best help my son, and quickly learned that time was of the essence -- I needed to find an experienced tutor so that my son would not fall further behind. After sorting through the skills and experience of many, many tutors, I chose Leslie and feel extremely fortunate to have her working with my son. She is everything you could hope for in a tutor! Leslie has many years of experience as a teacher and reading tutor, and is certified as a Wilson Reading Program instructor, which is considered the gold-standard reading program to teach dyslexic children. She is extraordinarily kind and patient, and absolutely dedicated to helping my son succeed. My son’s reading skills have improved dramatically since she has been working with him this past year, and together they are steadily making their way through the Wilson program. My son’s self-confidence has improved, and now he is even willing to read aloud at school. Leslie also has provided me with excellent feedback, and is always available and willing to speak with me further. I highly recommend Leslie to work with your child -- we are so glad she is on our team!!!

-- Janene M. Smith

Leslie has been the miracle we needed to help our daughter with her reading, writing and anxiety. Leslie is such a positive, calm and upbeat tutor. My daughter loves and looks forward to her sessions every week. Erica is more confident and uses the techniques that Leslie has taught her every day. I can't believe how my daughter has blossomed over the last 2 years under Leslie's instruction. Erica no longer cries and get's upset when faced with writing or reading assignments. Her spelling and handwriting has also really improved as well. School work use to be agonizing for her and she would cry over having to write a few sentences or a paragraph. Thanks to Leslie, she has tools to help her and to help her focus and decode. Dyslexia will always be a struggle for Erica, but thanks to Leslie's calm, upbeat personality and her ability to connect with Erica, Erica is open to working hard with her every week to learn how to overcome the barriers, hurdles and frustration she faces with her dyslexia. I am so HAPPY we found Leslie - to us she is a Miracle Worker!!

When we found Leslie my son was a stressed out second grader struggling daily in school with anxiety over reading. At the time he did not have an official dyslexia diagnosis, but I knew something wasn't right. We decided to start tutoring with Leslie right away, while working on getting to the bottom of what was going on. My son is quite shy generally and HATES trying to read. Leslie has been absolutely amazing from day one. She immediately built a rapport with my son, and made sure that overall he did not feel pressure or anxiety while working together in their sessions. My son took to her style of teaching immediately and has been actually excited to work with her on a weekly basis. He has come leaps and bounds in the 2 years they have worked together. He has gained confidence in himself when reading and is able to move through more difficult texts, for him, putting the skills he has learned from Leslie to work instead of breaking down and giving up. My son is not on grade level for reading, YET, but honestly this was never my highest priority. I wanted him to gain the confidence in himself to keep trying. Our school system is not equipped to give my son the one on one attention he needs to learn to read with dyslexia. I cannot thank Leslie enough for the time she has devoted to helping my son continue to improve in reading and feel better about reading overall! 

My son has dysgraphia and had worked with several tutors before Leslie. None have helped him as much as Leslie has. We are so happy to have found her! She has given him confidence in spelling, which has helped with his confidence in writing. She has helped him use various tools to complete writing assignments in school, and he has much more confidence now that he has learned to use the tools and the spelling tricks she taught him. He is actually retaining what she teaches versus what the other tutors tried to teach him. Her patience and positive attitude are so refreshing when dealing with his learning challenges.

We cannot say enough good about Leslie. Our son has dyslexia and dysgraphia. He struggles with transitions and going places, at times. However, he never complains about seeing Ms. Leslie. He tells his friends that he can't do things because he has Ms. Leslie time. She gives him space to be who he is, and teaches him in a way that he feels confident and strong. He remembers what she is teaching and she is always finding new ways to approach learning for him. She is adaptive and supportive of her students. When he had to memorize a pledge, she spent 2 sessions just working on that with him so that he could succeed. We are so very grateful for Leslie.