There is often a misconception in public education that if a student has problems reading, special education services may be in order. After working in special education for 15 years, I can tell you that if a student can be support in general education, that is ideal. Some people think that reading specialists only exist in special education. The reality is that reading specialists actually support GENERAL EDUCATION, and special educators are the ones who support reading interventions once students are in special education. Reading specialists typically have significantly more training in teaching reading than special educators do. If your school district has reading specialists, and your child is struggling with reading, you are in luck!! I interviewed Susan Blanco, reading specialist at Encinal School in Menlo Park, CA, because I was giving a workshop on Dyslexia to school psychologists and I wanted some insight and perspective from a reading specialist. Susan is a Reading Recovery teacher and is also a trainer of Reading Recovery specialists. Susan shared so much valuable information about reading in this interview that I decided I should make the entire thing available for others to see and hear. Enjoy! I'm Jana Parker, a Licensed Educational Psychologist in Campbell, CA. I provide psycho-educational evaluation, wellness and executive function coaching, and educational/IEP coaching and consultation. Welcome to my passion project, EduSwitchboard, where I connect families to valuable community resources that can support us during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. More information for this interview as well as other community resources can be found at www.themindbydesign.com. You can find me at: https://www.themindbydesign.com/ Email: jana@themindbydesign.com Facebook: @themindbydesign Please subscribe to my channel, like, and comment, and listen to my podcast, EduSwitchboard! If you would like to be featured as a helping professional on this show, please reach out! I'd love to hear from you!