The Dyslexia Awareness Network (DAN) is a not-for-profit corporation, started in January 2014 by staff of the former Children’s Dyslexia Center of Illinois. Joined by parents and local tutors and teachers, DAN operates with the mission to improve the lives of children and individuals with dyslexia, and related learning disabilities, through high-quality, professional development for teachers, the public and the families of the students it supports.
DAN promotes research-based approaches that teach reading the way children and individuals actually learn. Related methods have been derived from the work of the late Samuel T. Orton and others.
Working as partners with schools, teachers, parents and other experts, DAN strives to eliminate educational inequities and create excellent learning opportunities for all students.
Our Director
Stacy Carroll
Director
Prior to becoming the Director of the Dyslexia Awareness Network, Mrs. Carroll worked as a Special Education teacher in the public school system for 6 years. During 2007 – 2014, she earned her Initial, Advanced and Initial Trainer Certifications in the Orton Gillingham Multisensory Approach from the Children’s Dyslexia Center of Peoria.
Immediately following her Initial certification, Mrs. Carroll became an active member of the more than 40 tutors that staffed the Children’s Dyslexia Center.
The Center’s tutoring staff was responsible for tutoring over 100 students. In addition to tutoring, Mrs. Carroll participated countless community education activities aimed at informing the public about dyslexia, who it affects and how they can help support people directly impacted by dyslexia.
As Director of the new Dyslexia Awareness Network, Mrs. Carroll is excited to work to ensure these services continue to be offered in our area and to provide quality training and tutoring for our community. She understands the educational and emotional struggles associated with dyslexia and will work to spread the awareness that dyslexia is very real.
Favorite quote:
(on how Harry Potter changed her view of reading) “Dyslexia is not a pigeonhole to say you can’t do anything. It is an opportunity and a possibility to learn differently. You have magical brains, they just process differently. Don’t feel like you should be held back by it.”
~Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice Elizabeth Mary of York