READING MAKES MY BRAIN HURT: ONE FAMILY’S PATH TO A READING SOLUTION

BY DR. MARIA FINARO CLEARY

Our daughter, Desi, came to us from an orphanage in Bulgaria when she was almost three. We had no idea she had special needs until she started having difficulty acquiring language. After a visit with a neurologist and an MRI, we were told she had left brain hemiatrophy, a form of cerebral palsy. The left side of her brain was half the size of the right, probably as a result of a stroke or some other vascular event either in utero or at birth. When we asked about her prospects, one doctor said, "Well, she probably won't go to Harvard."