The Michigan Dyslexia Institute, Inc. (MDI) was established as a nonprofit educational organization in October 1982 to serve the more than one-half million children and adults with dyslexia in the state. In a very short span of time, MDI emerged as a unique resource and significant educational force in Michigan and in the country. Today:
- MDI offers the most comprehensive set of services expressly designed to serve children and adults with dyslexia in Michigan.
- MDI is the only organization providing direct remedial reading instruction, teacher training, and public information in both the Lower and Upper Peninsulas.
- MDI has presented more public information programs on dyslexia and trained more schoolteachers to teach dyslexic students than any organization in the state.
- MDI, through its eight centers, is the principal provider of one-on-one remedial reading instruction to children and adults with dyslexia in Michigan. Financial assistance is provided as resources permit for those unable to pay.
- MDI is the only private organization to be awarded state grants to train public school teachers to teach students with dyslexia, and the only one to be formally recognized by the Michigan Legislature for its educational and service contributions to Michigan’s citizens with dyslexia.
- MDI has participated in the wide range of cooperative programs with state agencies, private business, literacy groups, and public and private schools.
- MDI has been a model and catalyst for action in other states, providing advice and assistance to citizen groups that have formed similar organizations in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Missouri.
Through September of 2005 MDI has:
Provided 6,698 language and math evaluations, 395 diagnoses of dyslexia, 176 diagnoses of A.D.D. or A.D.H.D., and 269 diagnostic consultations and/or interviews. Completed 304,535 hours of one-on-one instruction in reading, writing, spelling, and comprehension, and over 1,336 hours of math instruction. In a sampling of student performance, the average gain in reading in 100 hours of instruction was over 2.8 grade levels.
- Conducted over 1,190 public information programs throughout the state with groups of interested individuals in schools, town meetings, colleges, social service and health agencies, industry, and government. Provides information about dyslexia upon request at no charge. Typically, MDI mails out approximately 2,000 packets of information yearly. It also maintains a website, www.dyslexia.net, which is an informational source.
- Trained 2,193 individuals to recognize and teach children and adults with dyslexia. Of this total, over 1,369 were teachers or paraprofessionals in private and public schools. Training, with one notable exception, has been Michigan-based. The exceptions have been training programs for 17 instructors in Key Largo, Florida and 56 instructors in Wellington, Florida.
- Developed a unique Volunteer Teaching Program to provide testing and remedial reading instruction to children and adults who have dyslexia and are unable to afford the cost. Over 100 trained volunteers taught 135 students.
- Raised over $1,364,192.00 in scholarship funds to provide diagnostic and remedial services for children and adults who are financially disadvantaged.
- Established and continues to develop its regional centers in Michigan (Lansing, Flint, Harbor Springs, Metro-Detroit, Downriver-Detroit, St. Clair, Jackson, and Marquette), where testing and remedial instruction are available to clients. Initial funding for these developments has come from individual donations and foundations.
- Received major grants and funding from over 60 Michigan foundations, agencies, and organizations.
- Provided 5 one-day conferences on dyslexia at teacher training universities in Michigan (CMU, WMU, MSU, WSU, U of M). Major funding was provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
- Contracted with numerous school districts in Michigan to train teachers in Special Education, Chapter 1, Remedial Reading, and General Education: Lakewood Public Schools, Lansing Public Schools, Maple Valley Schools, Greenville Public Schools, Montcalm Intermediate School District, Montcalm Area Schools, Petoskey Schools, Charlevoix-Emmet Intermediate School District, Hillsdale Intermediate School District, Flatrock Community Schools, Sanilac Intermediate School District, West Ottawa Public Schools, Shiawassee Intermediate School District, Alpena-Montmorency-Alcona Intermediate School District, Livingston Intermediate School District, Grosse Ile Township Schools, Marquette-Alger Counties (Kellogg Youth Initiatives Project), Calhoun County Reading Council/Calhoun County Intermediate School District (Kellogg Youth Initiatives Project), Detroit Public Schools, Garden City Public Schools, North Branch Public, St. Clair Intermediate School District, L’Anse Creuse Public Schools, Lake City Public Schools, West Branch-Rose City Area Public Schools, and Gaylord Public Schools.
- Completed a 3-year program with the Michigan Department of Social Services. The Department’s General Assistance clients who participated in 72 hours of instruction reached an average gain in reading of 2 grade levels.
- Played a key role in facilitating the development of model school districts. The first two were the Lakewood and Maple Valley Schools, with a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. With assistance from a private donor, the Institute has assisted the Grosse Ile Township Schools in developing a model program. With funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, MDI was a major contributor in efforts to develop a model program in the Upper Peninsula in the Marquette Schools and model programs in Calhoun County, in cooperation with the Calhoun County Reading Council and the Calhoun County Intermediate School District. With local school funding, MDI has worked with the West Branch-Rose City Area Schools to develop a model K-12 program.
- Received funds authorized by the State Legislature, through the Educational Innovation Grant Program of the Michigan Department of Education, for Teacher Training for Dyslexia. In 1988-1990, trained 56 teachers from 52 districts and prepared 10 of these to be trainers in their own districts. In 1989-90, trained 153 teachers from 76 districts and prepared 19 of these to be trainers.
- Presented two Regional, Family, and Teacher conferences in Harbor Springs, Michigan in September 1995 and April 1997.
- Developed the Read to Succeed Program, in cooperation with the Wayne County Probate Court/Juvenile Division and with a Venture Grant from the United Way of Southeastern Michigan. MDI participated in the non-profit organization, Reading to Reduce Recidivism, in Oakland County, which serves the Oakland County Justice System. In 1997 MDI began to provide the training for volunteer instructors who will teach juvenile and adult probationers in the court system.
- Became a partial participant agency in the Capital Area United Way (Greater Lansing).
- Dyslexia Association of America/Michigan Dyslexia Institute was approved by the Michigan Dyslexia Institute Board of Directors in 1992. MDI received a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to plan the Association’s role as a facilitator of new initiatives in the private sector that would increase services to children and adults with dyslexia.
- Senior MDI staff participated in the founding and implementation of the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators. The Academy, authorized by the Board of Regents of the State University of New York and operating under New York State Education Law, is the only such body in the country so authorized. The Academy certifies individual practitioners and accredits training programs for the Orton-Gillingham Approach, the oldest and most influential of teaching approaches designed expressly for persons with dyslexia. Teaching staff of MDI are expected to engage in continuing professional education that leads to appropriate Academy certification. MDI staff members who are responsible for teacher training are all certified as Fellows of the Academy, the highest level of certification.
- Provides an in-house continuing professional education program for MDI staff. On average 8 to 10 workshops are given each year.
- Senior MDI staff members have been presenters at numerous state, regional, and national professional meetings. Presentations included those made at the Orton Dyslexia Society (International Dyslexia Association), the New York Branch of the Orton Dyslexia Society, the Dyslexia Institute of Wisconsin, and Conference on Disabilities at St. Louis, and conferences of the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators.
- Established MDI Community Partnerships in 1995. The partnerships are made up of local volunteers who plan to educate their communities about dyslexia and to advocate for the needs of those with dyslexia.
- Developed a mail order service, the Dyslexia Store Catalog, with funding from the Kellogg Foundation, to make information and teaching materials on dyslexia more readily available to the public.
- Worked with media from around the country on stories about dyslexia such as NBC’s Dateline, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Guidepost Magazine.
- Assisted in the development of Dyslexia Institutes in Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, and Florida.
- Established Camp Starlight in 1996, in cooperation with the YMCA of Lansing, Michigan. Located at Mystic Lake Camp, Camp Starlight is an annual one-week camp for students aged 7-16 who have dyslexia. Campers get to meet others with dyslexia, improve their self-esteem, and develop advocacy skills. MDI raised $87,047.00 to provide over 254 scholarships for needy children.
- Received approval from Central Michigan University for six undergraduate or graduate credits for MDI’s basic Orton-Gillingham Teacher Training class. The curriculum of this class is based upon the national standards established by the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators.
- Began in 2002, and developed at all MDI centers, a preventative instructional program, Pathways for Potential. This program is designed to serve the needs of children already struggling with reading in kindergarten or for those with a family history of language difficulties.
- In preparation for a change in administrative leadership, a Ten-Year Strategic Plan was developed in 2005, and a one-day conference on Fund Development was completed.