Jacqueline DiSabatino is a young lady after Reading Assist Institute founder Ginger Biasotto’s heart.
Biasotto, of Brandywine Hundred, founded Reading Assist in honor of her son Andrew, a bright young man who struggled to learn how to read for years before his family found the help he needed.
DiSabatino, 14, of Greenville, struggled for the first couple of years of her education at Corpus Christi Elementary School in Elsmere. She would even bury her head in her book so that the teacher would not call on her to read aloud.
DiSabatino’s mother, Kelly, followed her instincts and had Jacqueline tested and patiently waited for the results that revealed Jacqueline had dyslexia.
From there, Jacqueline received help from her teachers, who in turn received Reading Assist training. She graduated from the program in fifth grade, graduated this past spring from Corpus Christi and will enter Alexis I. duPont High School in the fall.
WHY SHE’S COOL
DiSabatino was not shy about giving the keynote address at the Reading Institute’s annual luncheon to honor the volunteers that have helped several children learn to read. There, DiSabatino paid homage to her Corpus Christi teachers, Sister Joan Dew and Sister Maureen Stout, who both received Reading Institute training in order to help her. They used all of Jacqueline’s senses to help her learn words and had her trace over letters repeatedly.
Her teachers gave her a break on spelling for two years, not penalizing her on tests. Then, they decided to see if she could keep up with her classmates and penalized her for spelling.
DiSabatino said in her speech that she was able to graduate “with confidence.”
“At one point I never thought I would be able to read a word like confidence, much less have the confidence to stand before all of you and share my experience with how Reading Assist changed my life,” she said.
NOTABLE
Even though her mother tried to not make a big deal about her younger brothers’ terrific grades, DiSabatino could see how proud her mother was. Then, she felt “really dumb” when her mother, Kelly, had her tested. But finding out she had dyslexia turned out to be “one of the best things ever.”
“Go with your instincts,” Kelly DiSabatino said. “If you have a child that is struggling to the point of tears to do homework every night, that indicates to me that the child is not lazy.”
VITAL STATISTICS
Age: 14
Hometown: Greenville
Academics: She just graduated from Corpus Christi Catholic School, and she has enrolled in Alexis I. duPont. She chose A.I. because she wanted to go to a “big, All-American school, and she plans join the Tigers’ renown marching band.
Family: Her parents are Brian and Kelly DiSabatino, and she has two younger brothers.
Interests: Playing tennis, taking flute lessons to help her prepare for joining the A.I. band.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
The Reading Assist Institute has offices in Wilmington and Milford. Visit www.readingassist.org for more information.
