How to make me cry!

I get a lot of questions about The Girl, reading, dyslexia.  So here is a post about my current passion/obsession:

The Girl...is doing AMAZINGLY well.  She has grown sooooo much these last months.  Here are several MAJOR accomplishments:
1.  She has had a word worm on the wall in her room since she was in kindergarten.  It has had words on it that are simple words a kindergartner may be learning.  She hated the worm.  So as far as I knew it was just sitting on her wall and I had actually forgotten about it for the most part since realizing she had a learning disability.....WELL.....last night she informed me she could read all the words and they were easy.  This is amazing because SHE initiated it.....SHE DOES NOT EVER INITIATE ANY TYPE OF READING/WRITING....unless it is me reading to her or me copying a dictation for her.  She not only read them.....she read them fluently.  I cried.  I am such a baby about this!
2.  Two weeks ago we were at my mom's house (mom was out of town....so we planned a party at her house-some things never change ;)) and as I was talking to my SIL Sophie went over and wrote on a notecard.  She can write.  She LOVES to copy.  She LOVES handwriting.  She LOVES cursive.  She LOVES telling me stories to write for her.  She HATES writing without a model on her own and she has NEVER done it before.  She quietly slipped a piece of paper into my hands with words she had written on her own.  Again it is stuff my kindergartners write.....and she can write bigger words.....but again this was self initiated.....and MAJOR...and again I got very teary.
3.  For the last couple months at bedtime she has been journaling.  One of her best friends gave her a fancy journal, that was silver glitter with a big pink glitter S on it for,  her birthday.  I have been taking her daily dictation at bedtime each night.  Then about a month ago she started wanting to write and for me to sit beside her and help her spell every. single. word.  So I did (I will pretty much do anything to encourage her reading/writing) Lately she has still wanted me beside her but she is starting to write and sound it out on her own.  I KNOW these skills are soooo late to emerge.....but I am THRILLED that they are finally emerging! 

People want to know her reading level.  The answer is I don't know.  She does not learn to read in the same way as a "normal" reader.  She uses a whole different part of her brain to learn to read.  "Normal" readers use the back of their brain to read in a very predictable way she uses the front of her brain.  So she has to be taught to read very explicitly and very systematically.  Which means....she does not yet know the long vowel rules.  She can read short vowel words.  She can read blends and digraphs....so in some ways she is at a kindergarten level and in some ways she is more advanced.  Sight words (words that do not follow phonics rules) are extremely difficult for her to read.  When she sees the word of.....she does not say /uv/ she says /o/ as in olive and /f/ as in flower.  She follows phonics to the t.  Unfortunately for her.....English does not!  So I may make a sight word worm for her....hmmmmm.

Other positive changes I'm noticing in my sweet girl....her personality seems to be emerging as she is becoming more confident.  She used to be EXTREMELY SHY in public but she is starting to peek out of her shell S-L-O-W-L-Y......at church she is always eyeing Shay and even asked Ann if Shay was in the office when went to have our pictures taken last week.  She is starting to talk to him a little and smile at him a lot.  She also has a new friend in Mrs. Pam.  She has taken to telling Mrs. Pam wild tales of her weekly adventures.....it is quite amusing and she is quite the little storyteller!  It is neat for me to see her talking to and engaging adults.  Another big thing is she has decided to do Odyssey of the Mind this year.  She watched her brother do it for 2 years and when she was invited to be on the younger team this year she said no....and then yes.  I was stunned.  At the first meeting Monday she even answered a question in front of the group and she reached her hand in to work on a problem even though there were a bunch of rambunctious boys running it!  I was floored.  I am enjoying seeing her come into her own.  She is still quiet and she is still cautious but she is slowly engaging and slowly asserting herself.  LOVE IT!  She even said she might want to say something in the children's musical this year.  Her talking on stage?????  We'll see...
She retains information read to her extremely well.  She is highly intelligent and does well in her other subjects. 

So that is the update.  Slow and steady.  But definitely moving forward.