Trailblazer and Alice Garside Award Winner Nancy Lelewer gives hope to families struggling with special needs
BOSTON, Sept. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- In 2004, the Massachusetts branch of the International Dyslexia Association awarded Nancy Lelewer the Alice Garside Award for her outstanding contribution to the field of dyslexia. While acknowledging she shared the same lifetime dedication to the field as past recipients, they noted she, unlike other recipients, was completely self-taught. This was the first year since the award's inception in 1985 that it had been given to an individual who had never taken an Orton-Gillingham training program, and she was only the second dyslexic to be chosen in the awards history.
Lelewer's book, "Something's Not Right," highlights her fight with dyslexia. She struggled with it throughout her life, and she eventually taught herself to read. As an adult, her awareness of her children's dyslexia and other learning disabilities served to deepen her interest in the field. Her book is written as a first-person narrative with the intention to both educate and give hope to struggling families learning about their special needs child.
"I want my book to capture the reader's attention, and help them become aware of various ways they can help their children," said Lelewer. "We still have a major problem in this country with children and adults having reading issues and other learning struggles."
Initially published in 1994, "Something's Not Right" won a Parents Choice Award. Lelewer has gone through and updated the book to still address dyslexia, but also ADD, ADHD, and those on the upper end of the autism spectrum. She also completely revised the reference guide as a helpful resource for parents, teachers and children.
"If you have a child with dyslexia and/or other types of learning disabilities, this book is the first step in a long but very rewarding road," said Lelewer. "It's not easy, but with early diagnosis, appropriate education, warmth, understanding, and nurturing, the future can be bright for an individual with these learning problems.
Something's Not Right 2nd Edition: One family's struggle with learning disabilities
By Nancy Lelewer
ISBN: 9781665734684 (softcover); 9781665734660 (hardcover); 9781665734677 (electronic)
Available at Archway Publishing, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
About the author
Nancy Lelewer received a BA from Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY, an Associate in Neurology from Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Mass., and was a research affiliate at MIT's Man Vehicle lab: Center for Space Research, Cambridge, Mass. Her work was published in Cortex and Annals of Dyslexia. She was a cofounder of Permobil, a Swedish wheelchair company, today the largest computerized wheelchair company in the world. Lelewer has served on three dyslexia boards and spent five years as chairwoman of the board for a school for dyslexic boys. She has four children, eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, and currently resides in Boston, Mass. To learn more, please visit http://www.NancyLelewer.com.
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SOURCE Nancy Lelewer
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