The Right to Read Reviewed by
Dr. John Breeding
Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist, Texas:

I enjoyed reading Jan Strydom and Susan du Plessis' new book, "The Right to Read: Beating Dyslexia and Other Learning Disabilities." It is very well written, but not only that, it is also a great service. Part of my own work as a practicing psychologist involves actively challenging the regrettable trend to label our precious children with psychiatric diagnoses, and place more and more of them (perhaps 8,000,000 school-age children in the United States today) on psychiatric drugs. I loved it that Strydom and du Plessis refer to the failed search for the cause of dyslexia as a "fafrotsky," that experts act as if the cause of reading problems was some mysterious biological or genetic defect that presumably just "FAlls FROm The SKY." I have learned that the same is true of so-called psychiatric disorders/diseases in children. The authors make clear the truth that these child psychiatric diseases, such as the ubiquitous ADHD, are very often a result of failed learning in school, and that dyslexia is just another name for such failure. This information by itself will be of great value to many parents and other adult allies of children who have been led astray by educational and mental health authorities. But that is only the beginning of the important information that readers will receive from this book.

I appreciate the authors' clarity and plain speech for parents and other readers about how the system works. I appreciate even more that they explain in a straightforward way the actual skills and processes involved in learning to read, showing the real reason for the dramatic decline in literacy witnessed in American schools. Parents and teachers who are most concerned with getting the job done will be especially grateful and delighted that Jan Strydom's detailed and proven Audiblox program for ensuring that all children can read is presented in detail in the book.

Dyslexia is not a neurological disorder that "falls from the sky" on unfortunate children. It is just a word we put on the child victims of our failure to give them the necessary training and experience to learn how to read. Strydom and du Plessis lay it out, plain and simple. No need for more labels, more special education for "disabled" children, or more drugs for "disturbed" children. It is only necessary to be willing to be disillusioned of blind faith in the experts, willing to take full responsibility for the well-being and education of our children, and be committed to do the work. Many lives can be saved by helping our young people become fully literate. I heartily recommend this book to parents and educators.