Great Kills resident Wendy Ramos' son has been diagnosed with dyslexia.  She says when he was growing up, public schools didn’t have the proper resources to teach children with the learning disability. 

 

"He was a 5th grader who could barely read," said Ramos.  

 

So Ramos enrolled her son in a different school with more resources. The only school she could find was almost an hour away. 

 

Now Ramos' son is 14, and finally on the right track. 

 

"It's no longer about my son because he's getting what he needs," she said. 

 

She says now it's about the other families on Staten Island going through the same struggle.  She says she launched a program in Great Kills called "Wishes of Literacy."  

 

"I can't give up the fight because they need the help that he did. Dyslexia is one of the most common learning disabilities yet it is the misunderstood "

 

According to the Borough President, roughly 9000 children on the Island suffer from the learning disability.  Elaine Noseworthy's sons are in that group.

 

"Everyone says oh they're just dyslexic, they're bright. But when you struggle with reading and writing being able to pass these common core tests it is really really just a very very difficult struggle for them," said Noseworthy. 

 

Ramos realizes there's a need for what she's offering, so last month she expanded the organization. 

 

"We have advocacy services, evaluations, counseling, different therapies .... workshops sometimes we're a shoulder to cry on for parents." 

 

Ayelet Schwartz's daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia last year, so she brought her to the center.  

 

"Now that she knows that many more kids who are dyslexic, she feels some camaraderie with them,” said Schwartz. 

 

And that's how many students here feel. 

 

"I'm doing better by coming here a lot," said one child.

 

"It makes me feel happy because I know kids are getting help," said another child.

 

And that makes Ramos happy too.  She says her doors are always open for anyone who needs support on the Island.