The Goat Footed Children chronicles the stories of fourteen individuals who have dyslexia, their struggles and triumphs, their tragedies and successes. It explores a range of possible outcomes from those who succeed with and without intervention to those who continue to struggle or fail.
The first section of The Goat Footed Children concentrates on defining the innate talents of individuals with dyslexia and demonstrates how they must be approached as individuals regarding their learning differences. It reveals the anxieties both parents and their children have to overcome. It also opens the doors to the many difficulties both experience in dealing with the bureaucracy and the prime need for a professional diagnosis from a qualified diagnostician. Lastly it presents the unique talents many of these subjects possess and ride to a successful and productive life.
The second section, the longest, contains thirteen case studies which cover the spectrum:
1: Those who succeed without any help
2: Those who succeed because they received some help.
3: Those who were offered help and refused it.
4: Those who seek help and use it as a perch from which to fly.
5. Those trapped on some experiential level of hell.
This section contains first person narratives as well as third person observations. There are at least two studies for each of the above categories. Some have almost Hollywood endings, but others show the frustrations and bitterness which develop when they fall short of their potentials.
In addition to the experiences of the students themselves, several parallel companion pieces describe the experiences of the parents or families. Others explore the experience of the interventionist or teacher. These observations describe the view from outside the individual’s vortex and detail the enormous effort some parents, students and teachers exert in coming to grips with the learning challenges associated with dyslexia. This book is not meant to be a road map or laundry list of any one approach to intervention. It is meant to simply chronicle a range of experiences from multiple view points.
The book is needed so parents, teachers, administrators, and the subjects themselves can examine the roots of their learning differences, the advantages their differences may offer, some techniques a teacher/interventionist needs for successful remediation, and possible implications for adjusting and dealing with the students themselves. The Goat Footed Children is both a book of grief and celebration that mark the boundaries of dyslexia.
