Cardinal Reading Strategies - Montgomery Village, Maryland

Jessica S.

Our two children were diagnosed at a very young age (Kindergarten/1st grade) with ADHD and severe reading learning disabilities/dyslexia and I found it difficult for the kids to gain results through working with specialists in county schools (and through interventions at home). We were desperate at the time for help and were unsure of making the financial commitment. However, I am so thankful we decided to work with Dr. Dunson. I know the investment has been worth every penny as both of my children made vast improvements in short periods of time in various subjects.

We started working with Dr. Dunson 2x/week and saw such significant improvements in the kids' reading/decoding, spelling, writing, vocabulary, and comprehension. After working with my daughter during the pandemic, his methods narrowed my child's reading gap from being 2 years behind to on grade level. My son closed his reading gaps and mastered spelling. Both kids no longer have any de-coding issues. My son is doing very well in school with minimal to no support.

We have continued working with Dr. Dunson for 6 years for my daughter and she is still on grade level for reading. We know she continues to succeed with the support from Dr. Dunson, so much so that when we move out of state, we are taking him with us.

My daughter is vastly improving her vocabulary, spelling (even though she is exempt on an IEP), reading comprehension, and is learning both Latinate/Greek base words to improve her understanding and comprehension. Her writing, test-taking (understanding instruction/directions), and her story-telling has improved because of the tools Dr. Dunson has given her.

We came from a situation where we were fearful for the educational future of our children, to feeling confident that both our children have been, are, and will be successful in their learning. Both our children are now thriving and are doing so in a competitive and challenging private school environment with additional workloads. I can't imagine where our family would be without the tools and guidance Dr. Dunson has provided to our whole family.

Theresa K.

Our child is in elementary school. Dr. Dunson spent about one hour working with our child, and I was pleased that he kept our child engaged with validated tests. We received a written evaluation about a week later, and Dr. Dunson also spent roughly 30 minutes discussing with us about what our child needs. He provided examples of what methods can achieve success and also gave reasoning of why he made those recommendations. I highly encourage any school or parent to speak with Dr. Dunson about reading plans and methodology.

Steve S. J. G.

My grandson is nonverbal and always will be. He can hear but cannot speak. Think about it. How did you learn to speak? Did someone teach you? You spoke automatically without being able to read a single word. If you said a word incorrectly, someone would pronounce it correctly. You then repeated the word until you mastered it. You did this automatically without reading or spelling the word.
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In our world, we believe Dr. Dunson taught our grandson to speak! Why do I say this? Before I explain, let me give you a little insight into how this happened.

Dr. Dunson has many online interactive tools to work with. If a child can see and hear, that is all that is required. We never had a Zoom meeting face to face. His learning tools were interactive where my grandson could either use a touch screen or a mouse. Dr. Walter could see if my grandson was learning, understanding and comprehending. He was always reviewing, repeating, and communicating with a child that would never speak.

You have an "inner speech". You hear the words "pale, pail, pal". Why do the first two words sound the same and the third sound totally different? Good question! You just read those words, but how did you do that? Why do you know how and why they sound as they do? Most likely you are not sure why that is true. Maybe you just used your ears and voice and repeated it until you knew. MY GRANDSON DID NOT HAVE AN INNER SPEECH - HE HAD NO SPEECH!

Dr. Dunson teaches his student why words sound they way they do. He teaches his student the ENGLISH CODE - the rules of the English language, the sounds of our symbols (the alphabet), and the combination of these symbols. He teaches the structure of our language beyond phonics, teaching the meaning of prefixes and suffixes, and the meaning of all of roots of our language if appropriate.

My nonverbal grandson can now look at a word he has never seen, and based on its structure, knows the meaning of that word. Think about the power of this when a child can read with meaning and understanding even though he encounters unfamiliar words. My grandson can now do this. I sat through every lesson, and I wish I could do half of what he now does daily. Thanks to Dr. Dunson's skills, training, hours of repetition and most of all, his patience and understanding of his clients individual needs, our grandson has benefited immensely. To our family he is a miracle worker, the absolute best teacher and a godsend. If you work as hard as Dr Walter does with your loved one you will get much more than you pay for. As the commercial says it in INVALUABLE.

Karyn R.

My daughter has made tremendous progress!