We are a grassroots movement driven by Idaho families.

We are committed to improving access to educational interventions and teacher professional development for dyslexia and language-based learning disabilities in public schools.

Our mission is to raise dyslexia awareness, empower families to support their children effectively and advocate for evidence-based practices to identify, remediate, and support students with dyslexia throughout Idaho's education system. Established in 2018, Decoding Dyslexia Idaho joins a nationwide network of successful chapters, initially founded in 2011 in New Jersey, which has made significant strides in creating legislation, teacher training, and dyslexia awareness to support the 1 in 5 children in classrooms who struggle to be understood and supported.

  • Robin Zikmund

    President

  • Denise Camacho

    Vice President

  • Jordan Atnip

    Secretary

  • Dr. Kim Zeydel

    Director of Teacher Training

  • Kirsten Lewis

    Speech Language Pathologist and Dyslexia Specialist

The History of Decoding Dyslexia Idaho

Decoding Dyslexia Idaho is a grassroots movement driven by Idaho families concerned with increasing access to educational interventions and teacher professional development for dyslexia and other language-based learning disabilities within our public schools. We aim to raise dyslexia awareness, empower families to support their children, and inform policymakers on best practices to identify, remediate, and support students with dyslexia in Idaho public schools.

Decoding Dyslexia was established in 2011, in New Jersey by a concerned group of parents and educators who were looking to provide resources for their children with dyslexia.  The movement quickly grew and has become one of the most successful grassroots movements of its kind creating legislation, teacher training, and dyslexia awareness to support the 1 in 5 children in our classrooms who struggle to be understood and supported.  All 50 states have established successful chapters as well as chapters in Canada, Bermuda, and Tanzania.  Idaho was one of the last states to establish a chapter.  DDID was established in the Fall of 2018 and became a 501(c)3 Nonprofit in June of 2019.

A Timeline of DDID

September 2018 Established the Idaho Chapter of Decoding Dyslexia

  • November 2018 Meeting with SDE, Dr. Charlie Silva, and Alayna Knop

  • March 2019 DDID Founder became a member of SEAP (Special Education Advisory Panel) at the Idaho State Department of Education

  • April 2019 DDID Founder became a member of the Idaho State Department of Education, Enhanced Literacy Workgroup.

  • June 2019 Established Decoding Dyslexia Idaho as a 501(c)3 Nonprofit

  • August 2019 DDID Founder attended the DD State Leaders Conference in Minnesota

  • November 2019 DDID Founder was introduced to Dr. Louisa Moats

  • December 2019 DDID Founding Member was introduced to Brett Tingley, OH-KID and founder of Our Dyslexic Children Documentary

  • September 2020 DDID Founder became a member of the Idaho State Department of Education, Early Literacy Project

  • July 2020 DDID Founder was introduced to Kelly Butler, CEO of The Barksdale Reading Institute

  • September 2018-October 2019 Diligently researched and established relationships with every single individual in the state of Idaho I could find who has played a role in Literacy and/or Dyslexia in Idaho and Dyslexia/Literacy leaders across the country.  I met with the following people:

    • Dr. Deb Glaser

    • Dr. Louisa Moats

    • Dr. Nancy Mather

    • Dr. Jan Hasbrouck

    • Henry Sinclair Sherrill, Founder Boon Philanthropy

    • Kelly Butler, CEO of The Barksdale Reading Institute

    • Dean Bragonier, Founder of NoticeAbility

    • Dr. Sally Brown

    • Dr. Kim Zeydel

    • Karyn Kilpatrick-Snell, Coopalo Learning Center

    • Kirsten Lewis, SLP/Dyslexia Specialist

    • Lee Pesky Learning Center, Evelyn Johnson

    • Sherry Black, Dyslexic Consultant/Susan Barton Specialist

    • Connie Risser, NILD Educational Therapist.  Founder of the Joshua Institute

    • Barbara Decker, Boise SLP

    • Tracy Marshal, M.Ed, MRT, Reading Specialist

    • Brett Tingley, OH-KID

 

October of 2019 DDID 1st Dyslexia Awareness Summit!  With just 2 moms and 1 special education teacher, zero budget, and little marketing we held our first annual Dyslexia Awareness Summit.  Our conference drew over 100 teachers eager for training on how to support this population of students they serve in their schools. 

 

October 2019 Idaho’s first public proclamation signing with Governor Brad Little, proclaiming October as, Dyslexia Awareness month as it is across the world.

 March 14, 2020 - DDID Hosted a workshop in McCall, Idaho, and had over 100 registered but due to COVID just hitting our state, we had about 80 attendees!

September 2020 Created and Launched the DDID Website

October of 2020 DDID Founder served on the Idaho State Department of Education Comprehensive Literacy Plan Workgroup to revise, per Idaho Code, the ID Comp Lit Plan.

October of 2020 ~ 2nd Annual Dyslexia Awareness Summit.  Due to COVID this Summit was virtual with nearly 300 attendees.

  • Dyslexia Awareness Summit Speakers Included:

    • Dr. Kristin Barbour – CEO National Institute for Learning Development (NILD)

    • Alayna Knop, M.Ed. – State Department of Education, ELA Literacy Assessment Coordinator

    • Dr. Sally Brown – Assistant Professor Department of Education, College of Idaho

    • Connie Risser – NILD Educational Therapist/Adult Dyslexic

    • Kirsten Lewis – SLP, Reach the Summit Literacy

    • Dr. Kim Zeydel – NILD Educational Therapist/Adult Dyslexic/2015 Idaho State Teacher of the Year

    • Jordan Atnip –SPED Teacher Council School District, NILD Educational Therapist

October 2021 Public proclamation signing with Governor Brad Little, proclaiming October as, Dyslexia Awareness month as it is across the world.

October of 2021 ~ 3rd Annual Dyslexia Awareness Summit.  Due to COVID, this Summit was virtual with nearly 200 attendees.

  • Dyslexia Awareness Summit Speakers Included:

    • Connie Risser – NILD Educational Therapist/Adult Dyslexic

    • Nancy Mather, Ph.D. – University of Arizona, College of Education, Department of Disability and Psychoeducational Studies, Author

    • Kim Zeydel, Ed.D.– NILD Educational Therapist/Adult Dyslexic/2015 Idaho State Teacher of the Year

    • Sally Brown, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor Department of Education, College of Idaho

    • Karyn Killpatrick-Snell – SPED Teacher/Coopalo Learning Center

    • Nick Stallings – Idaho Assistive Technology Project

    • Rebecca Minnette – Consultant on Trauma Informed Culture

 

October 2021 - March 2022 DDID collaborated in drafting, testify and passing Idaho State Dyslexia Legislation, H731

  • October 2021 brought together experts in the field to meet with Governor Brad Little’s Senior Advisor of Education to discuss support in passing Dyslexia Legislation and drafting an Idaho State Dyslexia Handbook.

  • DDID moved forward with experts on this Dyslexia Legislation Committee to begin drafting Idaho Dyslexia Legislation.

  • DDID established a sponsor for our bill, Senator Carl Crabtree.

  • DDID connected with SBOE to recommend committee members and authors to draft an Idaho State Dyslexia Handbook. 

  • SBOE formed Dyslexia Handbook Workgroup, DDID Founder is a member.  Dr. Louisa Moats will be the author. 

  • H731 passed unanimously on March 22, 2022

 

July 19-20, 2022 Dean Bragonier and NoticeAbility Student Dyslexia Workshop!  First EVER Dyslexia Kids-Day in Idaho.  Dean Bragonier brought his Student Workshop to Idaho and we SOLD OUT!

 July 25-29, 2022 DDID hosted an IMSE Teacher training in Idaho Falls.  DDID partnered with 2 Idaho SDE Regional Reading Coaches out of Region 5 and Region 6 and launched ticket sales via Eventbrite to bring IMSE to Idaho!  We quickly sold out to 54 teachers, administrators, and SLPs from across the state who attended.  We raised $15k in donations to support scholarship opportunities for teachers to attend, won Firehouse Subs HERO’s FREE lunch provided to all participants, and had an East Idaho News attend to write a follow-up story to the work we do. 

 October of 2022 ~ 4th Annual Dyslexia Awareness Summit.  DDID Partnered with the Idaho CEC (Council for Exceptional Children) and hosted a Hybrid conference. We had over 300 in attendance from across the state.

  • Oct. 7th was Virtual only with Robin Zikmund and Dr. Sally Brown sharing the newly passed Dyslexia Legislation.  We opened with a short video of Idaho’s Dyslexic children and then had Dr. Moats join to share the Idaho State Dyslexia Handbook she is the key author of that will soon be complete.

  • Idaho State Superintendents of Public Instruction Candidates, Debbie Critchfield and Terry Gilbert joined for a series of questions.

  • Oct. 8th was in-person at the West Ada Training Center w/ Keynote Speakers, Dr. Nancy Mather and Dr. Jan Hasbrouck.  Followed by several breakout sessions.  Here is a link to the agenda.

 April 2023 ~ DDID Southeast Idaho branch hosted a Dyslexia Simulation

  • The simulation was held at Thunder Ridge HS in Idaho Falls. Liz and Sidney put together this event.  Sidney walked attendees through a Dyslexia Simulation.  64 Attended to included teachers and parents and was an incredible success of connection and a deeper understanding of what our children with dyslexia go through every day.

July 2023 ~ DDID Sponsored IMSE Training

  • July 24-28 OG Comp at West Ada Training Center

  • July 24-28 OG Comp in Idaho Falls

  • July 31-Aug 4 IMSE Morphology in Idaho Falls

DDID Virtual Webinar Series

We offer free monthly training webinars through Zoom and monthly Parent Support Group meetings. 

  • February 2021, Microsoft Education ~ Rachel Berger, Microsoft Learning Disability Assistive Tech Specialist.  AT Support for our Dyslexic learners.

  • March 2021, Alby Lee Lewis ~ Author of You are More than Your Words: Dyslexia Does Not Define Who You Are.

  • April 2021, Reach the Summit Language and Literacy Clinic ~ Building a Strong Foundation in Phonemic Awareness

  • May 2021, Coopalo Learning Center ~ Foundational Skills Necessary for Decoding Words

  • May 2021, DDID was contacted by The Children’s Therapy Place, a developmental disabilities agency that provides services for children of all ages and has seen an increase in Idaho families seeking support for their children with Dyslexia.  We partnered with them to provide a 2-part “Lunch and Learn” Series on What is Dyslexia and how do we better serve this population of students. 

  • August 2021, Kiki Schrijver, Cognitive Behavioral Health Therapist ~ Back2School Webinar: Working with Emotions in School-Aged Children

  • August 2021, Diane Dragon, Attorney ~ Advocating for your child in our Public Schools

  • January 2022, Steve Sandak, Head of Partnership at EaryBird Education ~ Developed by Researchers at the Boston Children’s Hospital, introduction to the EarlyBird Dyslexia Screening tool.

  • February 2022, Idaho Talking Books ~ Rebecca McKay Idaho Library Commission for Libraries

  • March 2022,  Lacey Watkins, Idaho Title 1 Reading Specialist ~ Finding Fun and Structure in Learning to Read.

  • April 2022, Paul Black, Reading Horizons ~ The Science of Reading and Structured Literacy in a MTSS Framework

  • May 2022, Mert Berns, Mediator/Facilitator with the Idaho State Department of Education ~ Advocacy and Dispute Resolution:  The process in the State of Idaho

DDID School District Programs

  • February 28-April 30, 2020 ~ Paramount Elementary School, West Ada School District In person training with Connie Risser and additional course work for one credit through NNU

  • September 1 – December 30, 2021~ Marsh Valley School District, monthly Zoom book study meetings on Overcoming Dyslexia Part 1 by Dr. Sally Shaywitz conducted by Kim Zeydel, Ed.D.

  • September 1 – December 30, 2021~ Cottonwood School District, monthly Zoom book study meetings on Overcoming Dyslexia Part 1 by Dr. Sally Shaywitz conducted by Kim Zeydel, Ed.D.

  • January 11 – May 24, 2022 ~ Marsh Valley School District, monthly Zoom book study meetings on Overcoming Dyslexia Part 2 by Dr. Sally Shaywitz conducted by Kim Zeydel, Ed.D.,

  • January 11 – May 24, 2022 ~ Cottonwood School District, monthly Zoom book study meetings on Overcoming Dyslexia Part 2 by Dr. Sally Shaywitz conducted by Kim Zeydel, Ed.D.

DDID in the News