For over two decades, the Scottish Rite Masons of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction have been national leaders in the effort to help children and their families overcome the painful obstacles of dyslexia. With more than 40 active Dyslexia Centers in 13 states, the Children's Dyslexia Centers tackle the challenge of dyslexia head-on, both by providing free tutoring for children with dyslexia and by training a growing cadre of highly skilled and dedicated tutors.
How many of you know that it all started here in Boston with one small center in Newtonville? In 1992, Ill∴ J. Philip Berquist, 33°, PGM, and Past Thrice Potent Master of Boston Lafayette Lodge of Perfection, and a small group of dedicated local Freemasons set out to change the world – at least the world of children affected by dyslexia. In collaboration with the Reading Disabilities Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, those men opened what was to become the first of more than 40 children’s dyslexia centers in July of 1993. Today known as the J. Philip Berquist Children’s Dyslexia Center of Greater Boston, it became the model for a network of dyslexia centers spread across the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction.
Dyslexia is a lifelong challenge that people are born with. This language-based learning disability can hinder reading, writing, spelling, and even speaking at times. Dyslexia is certainly not a sign of poor intelligence or laziness. Children and adults with dyslexia simply have a neurological disorder that causes their brains to process and interpret information differently. Dyslexics are frequently highly creative, intuitive, and even excel at three-dimensional problem solving and hands-on learning. Dyslexia may affect up to 5 to 10% of the population. According to the International Dyslexia Association, “as many as 15 - 20% of the population as a whole have some of the symptoms of dyslexia.”
Scottish Rite Children’s Dyslexia Centers use the Orton-Gillingham Method which combines multisensory techniques along with the structure of the English language. The items taught include phonemes and morphemes, such as prefixes, suffixes, and roots. Common spelling rules are also introduced. Multi-sensory education incorporates the three learning pathways, which are auditory, kinesthetic, and visual. It is a very hands-on technique which stresses the educator capitalizing on the child’s most dominant learning mode.
In addition to the Greater Boston Center, Massachusetts is home to the Boston North Center in Lowell and a center in Worcester.
For More Information contact:
Greater Boston (Newtonville), Lunda Pinaud, 716-965-3960;
Boston North (Lowell), Diane Baum, 978-621-8550;
Worcester, Heather Davenport, 508-754-7700
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The Bodies of the Scottish Rite, sitting in the Valley of Boston, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, acknowledge and yield allegiance to the Supreme Council, 33°, of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the United States of America, whose Grand East is in Lexington, Massachusetts.