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"Mom, no one ever taught me how to read before." That's what Aimee's oldest son said after one day at Cathy Johnson's school — and it's the sentence behind this entire episode on how to help a child with dyslexia.

In this episode, Aimee Rickabus talks with Cathy Johnson, licensed Speech-Language Pathologist and founder of The Johnson Academy and the Speech, Language and Learning Center in San Juan Capistrano, about what actually works for kids who learn differently, when to start, and how a kindergarten diagnosis turned a mom into an expert, an advocate, and the founder of a school that's now in its 20th year.

Cathy shares:
• Why "they'll catch up" and "let's watch her" fail so many kids, and what to do instead
• The speech-delay warning sign that should trigger a reading screen at four or five
• The third-grade window — the research she cites on why timing matters so much
• What structured, multisensory instruction looks like (and why extra time on tests isn't intervention)
• Why more reading practice, flashcards, and timed tests can make things worse
• A one-minute-a-day phonemic awareness activity any parent can start
• How she financed a school with no public funding, and why she started the Ready to Read scholarship fund
• "There really isn't a too late" — the 70-year-old woman she taught to read

Whether you're a mom staring at a report card that doesn't match your kid, a teacher who suspects a student is being passed along, or a woman who keeps finding a problem nobody else will solve, this conversation will give you the language, the science, and the permission to stop waiting.

🔗 CONNECT WITH CATHY JOHNSON:
The Johnson Academy: https://www.thejohnsonacademy.com/
Speech, Language and Learning Center: https://www.speechlanguageandlearningcenter.net/
Instagram: @thejohnsonacademyoc · @the_sllc
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cathy-johnson-1554529a

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The Manage Her® Podcast — hosted by Aimee Rickabus. Honest conversations on leadership, financial empowerment, motherhood, wellness, and career reinvention for ambitious women.

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