CAPITAL REGION, NY (WRGB) — Dyslexia is a common processing disorder that can affect a person’s ability to read and learn – and according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, one in five people suffer from it.
It can especially pose challenges for kids in school – from learning to making friends.
When Megan Furman was a kid she says growing up with severe dyslexia meant school wasn’t easy.
“Anything that had to do with language, spelling, making friends in class, talking to us her parents, friends, and family; Megan was not doing that. even her speech was very difficult to understand,” said her mom Debbie Furman.
She says those first few years were spent finding ways to help Megan succeed.
“I tried a whole bunch of different things from Special Ed to send Megan to summer camps for dyslexic kids where they had private tutoring and such and nothing was helping,” Furman added.
Then came Dysolve AI, an online platform specifically designed for students with learning disabilities.
“The games are designed to activate certain processes and the games are brief,” Dr. Coral Hoh, CEO added. “They activate a small number of brain processes as possible so that it can discover where these problems are.”
Dr. Hoh and a former IBM engineer spent the last decade creating the program.
“When a child struggles through the program- the games are designed during the corrective phase to stretch the child past its current limits,” said Dr. Hoh. “We tell them the good news is that’s a sign the program is working because the child’s weak spots are being identified.”
Experts at Dyslove AI admit it doesn’t solve all the deficiencies in school-aged children
For example, most recent state data shows special ed students in just the Albany schools did not meet state targets in English Language Arts in grades 4th, 8th, and high school.
“The solution is already here we don’t want to wait until next fall to implement it today,” added Dr. Hoh.
For Megan, Dysolve AI was positive and she says she’s now thriving, graduating high school with honors and going on to study biology in college.
“I have hope, early on I wasn’t sure where Megan was going to end up, If Megan would go to college, be able to succeed in this world, be able to read at all.”
Dysolve AI is looking to partner with school districts across the state and expand its programs to target other learning disabilities.
