WEIRTON, W.Va. (WTRF)
Jaimee Szymanski is a speech language pathologist.
Her practice, in Weirton, specializes in dyslexia.
She decided on this career path years ago when she saw her sister struggle with dyslexia and there were no local resources.
Now she helps children and adults from many states.
And she answers the phone around the clock.
Dyslexic children live an uphill battle.
“Every day, they strap on their backpack and they go to school and they know that for the next six hours, they’re going to be asked to do things that they cannot do,” Jaimee explained.
Even if diagnosed—and that’s the best case scenario—people from teachers to parents will have misconceptions.
“It has nothing to do with your eyes,” Jaimee explained. “And it has absolutely nothing to do with intelligence.”
Albert Einstein understood this; he was dyslexic.
“I love the Albert Einstein quote that says if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid,” she said.
Jaimee’s passion runs deep.
Her sister was diagnosed in 2008.
She said her family had to go out of state because no one in West Virginia dealt with dyslexia.
She knows there are dramatically hard moments, so she is available to her clients, not just nine to five.
“I always tell all my families to call me, email me, text me anytime,” she said. “I don’t care if it’s 5 a.m. or midnight. I am here to help in whatever you need.”
Dyslexia is lifelong.
The printed word will always enter their brain in a scrambled way.
So the answer is accommodations like audio books or speech-to-text technology.
“And with a few accommodations, they’re fine,” said Roxanne Szymanski, Jaimee’s mother and office manager. “They’re just fine. They have gifts, and they’re going to do well.”
Jaimee’s practice, Dynamic Dyslexia & Speech, is getting notice.
She received the Health Care Hero Award, the West Virginia Wonder Woman Award and the American Speech Language and Hearing Association’s Early Career Distinguished Professional Award.
Her clients thank her with success stories, even years later, like the man whose dream was to be a firefighter but he couldn’t pass the test.
“So they do start to feel like they’re not smart, that there’s something wrong with them,” she said. “And that’s not the case.”
“Jaime did his diagnosis, gave him some accommodations on the test– a little extra time, they read it to him, and he just found out he passed that test, and he’s going to live out his dream of being a fireman,” said Roxanne.
Congratulations to Jaimee and to all the 7News Remarkable Women nominees.
