Get to know our Founder, Kristy Jones.
Kristy Jones is the Managing Director and Senior Reading Specialist of The Reading Specialists, which she founded in 2017.
What do The Reading Specialists do?
We’re a team of highly trained professionals that help people with reading and spelling difficulties work towards reaching their full reading and spelling potential.
We do this by firstly conducting an assessment using standardised and error tests. This assessment identifies the gaps in a person’s reading and spelling skills, which helps us to create a tailored treatment program to fill those gaps, building a solid foundation for literacy. If a person has recently had an assessment by a school, educational psychologist or clinical neuropsychologist. In that case, we can use those results to help form a treatment plan.
We use direct or explicit instruction and evidence-based, synthetic phonics programs. We also use programs that build on sight word knowledge, reading accuracy, blending, segmenting, reading comprehension, vocabulary, morphology, syllables and, where needed, letter formation.
We’ve also developed a Growth Mindset Training program, which helps those with a negative mindset about their literacy abilities. The program teaches people how to shift from a negative or a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. Having a ‘growth mindset’ is about knowing that learning can be challenging. Still, we can improve with the right strategies and practice. Instead of saying, “I can’t do it”, say, “I can’t do it, yet.” This shift from a negative mindset is essential, as saying ‘I can’t read’ sets up a barrier to learning which needs to be removed for learning to be effective.
We use positive behaviour strategies with our students, as this helps build trust between the specialist and student and helps the student feel supported and understand that we’re working together to help improve their literacy.
Our programs can be offered individually. However, most clients need a combination of programs to help improve their reading and spelling, which we can easily accommodate into each session.
What are the origins of The Reading Specialists?
My family moved to Singapore in 2017 for my husband’s job, leaving Sydney, Australia and my role as a clinician at the Macquarie University Reading Clinic. At that time, working remotely was impossible, so I established ‘The Reading Specialists’ in Singapore. I was among the first clinicians the Macquarie University Reading Clinic licensed to use their evidence-based treatment programs.
In the years since, the business has grown, and we now have a highly-skilled, dedicated team helping those with reading and spelling difficulties.
Can you tell me a little bit about who you are?
As a child, I was curious (always asking questions!) and loved reading. I would hide in my room to read when I was supposed to play outside with my sisters! I also looked up to my grandfather, a teacher and principal, and wanted to be a teacher. When I moved from the UK to Sydney, my first job was as a research assistant working on a longitudinal reading study at Macquarie University’s Department of Cognitive Science. It now seems like it was meant to be, as I stuck with it and later became a clinician, assessing and delivering treatments to clients, and fast forward to now, and I’ve been working in the reading research, assessment and treatment for over 15 years.
I feel very grateful that I get to combine teaching, learning about the mechanics of reading, and sharing my love of reading with my clients.
What does a typical day at The Reading Specialists look like?
In between seeing clients, we are prepping to see clients, conducting assessments, writing reports, meeting with teachers and parents, and I also try to squeeze in tasks to help run a business! The days can be quite busy!
What are you most passionate about with The Reading Specialists?
The most rewarding part of my job is watching people discover they can do something they never thought possible with evidence-based intervention and the right mindset. Even if that journey takes a few months or years, it is incredible to watch someone achieve even the smallest of goals, and watch a person realise that they can read, and also watch their confidence grow! I get more excited than my clients when they’re achieving goals, small or large!
I also believe that education is a right, not a privilege, and we at The Reading Specialists are determined to create accessible evidence-based reading and spelling intervention for anyone who needs it.
What are your favourite kinds of books for your clients to read?
Trying to foster love or even a ‘like’ of reading helps with intervention, so I always ask clients what type of books they would like to read.
Most young children love anything humorous or about adventure. David Walliams’s books are very popular, as are the Tree-House Storey books and the Bad Guys series. Popular picture books are, again, anything by David Walliams or Julia Donaldson. The Supertato series is also very popular with my students.
Secondary-aged students tend to like books they can relate to on an emotional level or books where characters share similar interests or experiences. Young adults and adults will typically have a book they’ve always wanted to read, so that’s a good place for us to start.
Regarding books that help my clients learn to read, we use decodable readers that help students practice the skills that they are learning through our intervention. There are some great decodable book series that can be targeted to an individual’s reading abilities, so for younger children, Initialit by MULTILIT work very well. We use the Phonics Books Catchup Series for more skilled readers, such as The Magic Belt or the Totem Series. SPELD South Australia also have a fantastic range of decodable readers that educators or parents can access.
What is a diagnosis in the reading and spelling space? And, how does it help?
If you require a formal diagnosis of a Specific Learning Disorder for Reading (i.e., dyslexia), a standardised assessment needs to be conducted by an educational psychologist. This will assist in setting up provisions at school or the workplace. For example, a child may need a reader or extra time for exams at school. Your employer or HR department can help you install software to read emails or documents at work.
We see children that are diagnosed with not only Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) but also ADHD and ASD. Knowing these diagnoses also helps us to make provisions when conducting treatment sessions.
An assessment for a diagnosis is not the same as an assessment for setting up a treatment plan. A diagnostic evaluation will use only standardised tests, and you may receive guidance on necessary provisions after the review. An assessment for a treatment plan will also use standardised tests to assess the reading and spelling difficulty level. It will also use error tests to determine where a person’s literacy gaps require intervention.
What does ‘evidence-based’ mean? And how does it help?
‘Evidence-based’ means that the programs are supported by scientific research. The researchers conducting these studies should ensure they use rigorous research methods to analyse the effects of a reading program on how well it improves reading or spelling abilities. That study is then reviewed by other researchers (i.e., peer-reviewed). If it passes their reviews, it can be published in scientific journals for educators, health professionals, specialists and other researchers to decide whether a reading program’s results are effective enough to help those with reading or spelling difficulties.
Contact The Reading Specialists today for a free consultation. We can provide tips and resources to help you make the most of reading aloud and nurture your child’s love of language
