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.