Skywriting To Success

Cammie East
Associate Editor 
"Living Today"
The Mobile, Alabama,  Press Register



Every school day since September 1991, 12 youngsters have trouped down to the Scottish Rite Temple-that big white building guarded by sphinxes on the corner of St. Francis and Clairborne streets. There, in a specially prepared classroom, they've learned how to better manage the language they've earlier found frustrating.
	One group of the youngsters confessed that, at first, going into the building was scary. They didn't know what mysteries they might encounter inside the cryptic building. They tackled some mysteries, all right-and they've learned techniques for dealing with them. The youngsters have dyslexia, a learning disorder, and thanks to the help of the members of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, who put up $8,000 to establish a pilot program, they've learned ways to deal with it.
	Dyslexia is a disorder which causes difficulty with symbols of written language. It may be an inherited disorder and affects about 10 percent of the population.
	The Scottish Rite program, based on the organization's long-term commitment to aid children who have communication disorders, uses a program developed by Dr. Lucius Waites, 32, a pediatric neurologist at Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas. The Mobile, Alabama, Scottish Rite program began in September 1991. A classroom was specially set up in the Temple to accommodate the pilot program. The youngsters come to the Temple each schoolday and have worked with a program of videotaped lessons and workbooks, developed by Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children (TSRHC), under the supervision of Mary Metcalf, a trained teacher whose services are provided by the Scottish Rite.
	Everybody's raving about the youngsters' progress. "By the middle of the year, I was amazed," says Dr. Frank Schneider, 33, a retired educator. "The children are decoding and reading like crazy. And I have not, in the past, been one to promote videotape learning."
	Now, to expand the program, the Scottish Rite hopes to make the tape program available to other groups-schools, churches, and other organizations. The tapes have proven themselves effective, and they can be used out in the community, with trained volunteers leading groups of youngsters.
	A look at the children who've been in the program shows their enthusiasm. One group of six upper elementary students made it clear that they joined in Mrs. Metcalf's enthusiasm for the videotapes and workbooks.
	"Is it fun, now, or is it work?" they were asked. "It's both fun and work," said Dana Arnett. She and Stephen Kayda, William Ankom, Travis Seals, Joseph Williams, and Nathan Brown are all dyslexic, but of average or greater intelligence. (Some of these students are in programs for gifted children; they simply have a problem with written symbols.)
	One of the major emphases of the programs, Mrs. Metcalf said, is "to assist the children in decoding sounds." That means there are lots of phonics involved in the instruction. These kids can tell you what a diaeresis is, and what a macron means, and what a breve is . . . and how they're symbolized. (If you're not in their league on the subject of diacritical marks, get out your dictionary, and you can learn, too.)
	The "skywriting" involves gesturing-standing up and drawing the letters in the air. "They need to get visual stimulation, auditory, and kinesthetic all at once," Mrs. Metcalf explained.
	The tapes include segments on handwriting, learning a new concept in phonics or decoding skills, and stories or poems-usually based on classic themes such as fables and moral stories. The lessons are parceled out into 10-minute segments, to keep the children's attention. They also learn to use a "writing frame," a wire device on which the hand sits, holding a pencil, "so that your hands don't cramp up on the pencil," Mrs. Metcalf explained. Some students' penmanship has advanced two letter grades just by using the device.
	When the students first began, Mrs. Metcalf said, "They were unfamiliar with the tapes, and at first it took us three days to do a one-hour lesson." Now the students have developed their facility with the program-and their self-confidence-and can do portions of the program unsupervised.
	They enjoy the tapes, Mrs. Metcalf said, quoting one of the secretaries at the Temple as having said the youngsters "explode" into the building, eager and enthusiastic for each day's lesson. She fuels that enthusiasm with much positive reinforcement, helping to eliminate any earlier stigma the children may have felt because of their learning disability.
	To find out more about the two-year videotape program, write or call Mary Rank, Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, Child Development Department, 2222 Welborn Street, Dallas, TX  75219. Tel. (214) 559-7800.     s

Editor's Note: This article, originally titled, "Program for Dyslexics Reaches Out to Community," is reprinted from The Mobile Press Register of May 3, 1992, and is a good example of Masonic public relations.
