“After four years at school, I still couldn’t spell my own name correctly. In every new exercise book or on every new sheet of paper, the first thing we had to write was our name and the date. It is deeply humiliating when you get even that wrong,” says Mike Jones. “This is why I’m Mike instead of Michael.”
We will hear Mike Jones’s story this Saturday, 10 October, at the Non-Reading Festival in Kaunas, where we will meet both Mike and his wife, Tiffany James. They are coming to Lithuania to share decades of experience working with children with dyslexia, their families and their teachers. Mike Jones, creator of the Nessy learning platform, and Tiffany James, a teacher, author and founder of The Reading Center in Texas, USA, help adults understand what lies behind children’s difficulties with reading and writing.
“I very quickly realised that I was different”
At Mike’s school, children learnt to read using books colour-coded by difficulty. The first and simplest book was orange. The other children would excitedly tell one another which colour books they were reading. Mike never got beyond the first one. “Every week, I got a failing grade in my spelling test. I couldn’t read. I had never heard of dyslexia, but I very quickly realised that I was different — that I was stupid,” he recalls.
Dyslexia is a reading disorder that makes it harder for people to read and write fluently. It is not a lack of intelligence or ability: dyslexia means a different way of learning and thinking. Data from different European countries suggest that between 5 and 20 per cent of people have dyslexia.
“The hardest thing is not understanding why reading and writing are more difficult for you,” says Mike. “When you know the reason, you can work on overcoming the difficulties. But if you think you’re simply too stupid to learn, it breaks you.”
Attainment ranging from third grade to the first year of university
Tiffany noticed her difficulties in second grade. Although she did very well in reading comprehension tasks, she struggled badly with writing (“I made so many spelling mistakes!”). She later learnt that she had dysgraphia, a writing disorder. “I knew I struggled with these things, but somewhere inside I also felt that I was intelligent,” Tiffany says.
Later in her schooling, she was refused entry to an advanced English language course. Tests at the end of the school year revealed a striking difference between Tiffany’s abilities: although her spelling was only at third-grade level, her IQ was high, and her results in most other areas were at college or first-year university level. She was fourteen at the time. “The teacher apologised and said he hadn’t realised how intelligent I was. He invited me to join the course.”
The word “disorder” has negative connotations, but “dyslexia” does not
“I’ve lost count of how many times, working with older children — from around eight through to their teenage years — I’ve seen their relief when they realise that their difficulties with reading, writing and sometimes memory aren’t because they’re stupid, lazy, distracted or lacking in discipline. Their brains simply work differently,” says Tiffany James. “When we name dyslexia, dysgraphia or another condition, a child understands that they aren’t ‘broken’. They simply aren’t getting — or perhaps have never had — the support they need to learn successfully.”
In Lithuania, dyslexia is not formally diagnosed. A reading and writing disorder is the diagnosis most commonly given instead. Mike’s response to this information gives pause for thought: “In my opinion, ‘disorder’ feels negative; dyslexia does not.”
What if the child is already trying their hardest?
“Everyone in my class will learn to read!” “You must read ten pages every day.” Children with dyslexia constantly hear remarks like these from parents and teachers.
“This behaviour comes from a lack of understanding among parents and teachers,” says Tiffany James. “They genuinely believe this will help the child overcome their difficulties, but it doesn’t work. Quite the opposite: when we say, ‘You’re just being lazy,’ we damage the child’s self-esteem and undermine their confidence. We need to go back to the beginning and build firm foundations.”
Tiffany James distinguishes between two situations. When a child can already read a text independently, even slowly, practice helps develop fluency. But if the foundations of reading are not yet in place, simply demanding more and more reading is not enough. The child first needs teaching that will help them acquire those foundations.
When only the completed task is assessed, a child’s effort can go unnoticed: the adult sees mistakes, slow reading or work that is still unfinished. Tiffany urges adults to recognise how much effort all this takes. “In my experience — and I think Mike would agree — most of these children are already trying very hard. So telling them to ‘just try harder’ only wears them down further.”
Good intentions need knowledge
Although Mike Jones remembers school as a difficult experience, he speaks warmly of his favourite teacher, Miss Wiltshire. She noticed that he was falling behind and worked persistently to help him. “It didn’t help me learn, but I never forgot her kindness, and we stayed in touch for many years,” Mike says. “I’m sure that if only she had known how to help me, it would have made a big difference.”
Mike’s mother, Pat, began looking for a more suitable way to teach him. She used the Orton–Gillingham approach. Mike highlights several important principles: tasks are tailored to the individual child; learning engages different senses; and everything is explained explicitly, rather than leaving the child to guess. Learning is sequential, with new knowledge building on what has already been learnt.
But the repetition needed for learning had to become something her son would want to return to. “Pat found a solution: she created lots of short games to make learning fun and interesting. I followed the same principle when I created the Nessy online learning platform,” says Mike.
Asked what she would change first in an ordinary lesson, Tiffany emphasises teacher training. In her view, if teachers understood how a child learns, many would look for ways to adapt their teaching accordingly. “Why did they choose this profession in the first place? Most did so because they love children, enjoy sharing knowledge and want to make a positive difference in the world. By helping teachers understand how to do that, we can fundamentally change things.”
Both interviewees urge adults not to delay seeking help. Tiffany says that signs of potential reading and writing difficulties can be identified as early as preschool. Families with a history of reading or writing difficulties should pay particularly close attention to their child’s learning, as dyslexia often runs in families. “As soon as a child shows signs of falling behind, intensive additional support should be provided — it is most effective before the age of seven,” Mike agrees.
What can change in the very next lesson
Some changes begin with teachers’ everyday decisions: how to present a task or how to ask a child to show what they know. “Never put the child in a position where they will feel ashamed,” says Mike Jones.
One example he gives of what to avoid is asking a child to read aloud in front of the class. Tiffany stresses that reading aloud should be voluntary. If a child wants to read, they should be encouraged. But making a pupil who struggles with reading do so in front of the class is deeply humiliating, and that shame will certainly not help them learn better.
Mike Jones also urges teachers not to read out marks or display charts comparing a child’s progress with other pupils’ achievements. Another practical suggestion from Tiffany is not to require children to copy from the board: because of neurological differences, children with dyslexia can lose their place in the text they are copying. The teacher can prepare the material in advance and put it on the pupil’s desk. “You can give them the material to take home, so they can return to it, read it at their own pace, or perhaps get help from Mum or Dad,” she suggests.
“Do not expect children to simply learn from spoken or printed information. Explore different ways of presenting information,” Mike urges.
The myth of reading aids: coloured filters will not “switch off” dyslexia
Audiobooks, text-to-speech software and the option to dictate text to a computer instead of writing it yourself can give children with dyslexia more opportunities to learn. But might using these technologies take away a child’s motivation to learn to read and write independently?
Tiffany urges adults to consider the child’s age and skills. Even after learning to read, a child with dyslexia may read slowly, particularly if early support was absent or insufficient. Listening gives them access to content they would find difficult to read independently.
However, she emphasises that assistive tools should not replace direct, structured teaching of reading and writing. This is particularly important for young children who are still acquiring these skills. Mike also warns against confusing assistance in completing a task with the development of the skill itself: “Assistive technology is very helpful for older children. But it should not replace teaching young children to read and write.”
Asked about dyslexia myths, Mike highlights coloured filters, or transparent coloured sheets placed over a page. “Irlen syndrome, also known as scotopic sensitivity syndrome, if it exists at all, is a separate condition. Some people may have it alongside dyslexia, but they are not the same thing,” the specialist says. “The sensation of glare from the page is often made worse by fluorescent lighting in classrooms. Many UK schools give children coloured overlays because they are cheap. This is used as a justification for not providing specially adapted teaching, which would cost considerably more.”
According to Mike Jones, scientific evidence does not support the use of coloured overlays to alleviate dyslexia.
When is today’s homework finished?
When lessons end, dyslexia comes home with the child. Tiffany, a mother of children with dyslexia, describes how it can change daily life for the whole family. In the evenings, a child needs a great deal of time and help with homework. Parents helping them have less attention to give to other family members. Visits to tutors and extra assignments begin, and gradually family life starts to revolve around a single issue: dyslexia.
According to Tiffany, homework can take a child with dyslexia four hours, while a classmate needs only one. One of the most useful agreements with the school is therefore to set a limit on how much time the child will spend on homework. The stopping point becomes an agreed period of genuine effort, even if some tasks remain unfinished when that time is up. “If a child has worked hard and honestly for an hour, it’s time to say, ‘That’s it, we’re not doing any more homework today,’” Tiffany gives as an example.
For Mike, it matters that learning difficulties do not take up a child’s entire day. “Home should be a place where you can have a break from school,” he says. A homework time limit agreed with the school and the child makes room for everything: the child puts effort into learning, and the family and community recognise that effort.
Give as much time to nurturing a child’s strengths as to overcoming their difficulties
The time a child spends on difficult tasks has another cost: it leaves less time for activities they enjoy and do well. Tiffany urges adults to give deliberate attention to these parts of a child’s life. “Spend as much time nurturing your child’s strengths as you spend helping them overcome their difficulties,” she says.
When talking about dyslexia, adults, sometimes even specialists, try to encourage a child by saying they have “superpowers”: they are creative, have good spatial awareness, can see the bigger picture or are particularly good at sport. Tiffany understands the appeal of this approach, but points out the danger: the child hears yet another expectation they cannot live up to.
“When a child is constantly told in the classroom, ‘You have a superpower,’ but repeatedly experiences what they see as failure, it can be very oppressive. A child is perceptive enough to understand that they are struggling. So talking about superpowers can undermine their self-esteem even further,” she says.
Tiffany stresses that the abilities of people with dyslexia are just as varied as anyone else’s. Identifying strengths therefore means getting to know the individual child: noticing what interests them and what they enjoy doing. “Dyslexia itself doesn’t give you a superpower, but a child may have one. Perhaps they are great at skating, football or drawing. Help your child discover what they enjoy, what they are good at or what interests them, and encourage them to do it,” Tiffany urges.
Mike agrees, saying that an activity a child enjoys and does well should never be taken away simply to make more time for additional learning tasks.
More experiences of dyslexia at the Non-Reading Festival
There will be an opportunity to meet Mike Jones and Tiffany James in person on Saturday, 10 October, at the Non-Reading Festival at Ąžuolynas Library in Kaunas (Radastų g. 2). The festival will feature the launch of the Lithuanian edition of Tiffany’s book What I Need, published as Suprask mane by the Lithuanian Audiosensory Library in 2026. The Lithuanian title, meaning “Understand Me”, has also become this year’s festival theme. There will also be a screening of Mical (2020), the short film based on Mike’s childhood, shown under its Lithuanian title, Makas.
Organised by the Lithuanian Audiosensory Library and the Lithuanian Dyslexia Association, the festival welcomes children, young people, parents, teachers and anyone who wants to understand dyslexia better. The programme includes personal stories from people with dyslexia, talks by specialists, practical workshops for teachers and creative activities for children. Visitors can explore tools and technologies that make learning easier, talk to families with similar experiences, or take home a copy of Suprask mane fresh from the printers. The organisers believe it will help not only children and families, but teachers too.
Admission is free. Registration is required only for educational sessions and workshops. The full programme is available at neskaitymofestivalis.lt.
