Parenting Tips: Young Dad Podcast · Jey Young

Transforming Dyslexia Challenges: Helping Kids Thrive with Russel V.B. | Ep272

·51 min·3 clips

They said this isn't going to work

Dyslexia gets talked about up close here. The host brings Russell on to help parents move from daily reading frustration toward more confident school moments. Russell starts with his own winding path. He says the work began when he wanted to understand how government actually worked, which gives the conversation a practical, lived-in feel. The talk keeps circling back to fathers. Russell is not treating dyslexia as only a school issue; he is talking to dads trying to help a child at home. His main point is direct. During intervention, when a dyslexic child is working toward grade level, the reading material should connect to what the child already cares about. He uses a movie example. The movie is not really the point. The point is that a kid can be strong in one lane and still struggle hard somewhere else. That matters for parenting. Russell wants fathers to notice the child's speciality instead of turning reading into one flat assignment. Then he gets specific. He describes working with Kimberly, whose homeschooled son Reed had tested at 190 when grade level was 211. The expected gain was tiny. Russell says the school-year expectation would have been 2.8 points, but Kimberly's work with the process moved Reed to 210. That hits harder than theory. The example shows a parent using focused intervention and getting close to grade level. The host closes by saying dyslexia is a topic the show has not spent much time on, but dads have a lot to learn here. It stays warm and practical, especially for the dad who may not have the right language yet but knows his kid is up against something real.

As heard by us

A grounded conversation about shaping dyslexia support around a child's strengths.

Russell's story gives reading frustration a clear shape: he recalls bringing a neuropsychological evaluation that showed first-grade reading and writing levels to a New York State Assembly internship program, only to be told it would not work.

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Why you'd press play

Press play when a child's dyslexia support needs a reset built around strengths, patience, and actual progress numbers.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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