Shannon Chamberlin

Chase Chamberlin was a 5-year old in pre-school when his mother, Shannon Chamberlin, knew something was wrong. “He was struggling to learn his letters, he didn’t know his sounds,” Shannon tells the Journal.

“So, we started tutoring him after pre-school, that whole summer. But by that fall, his kindergarten teacher was still concerned he was struggling.”

Chase was ultimately diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD. Following his diagnosis, the Chamberlin family sought out a number of different types of tutoring to help their son. “I have a reading disability myself and I’ve taught elementary school, so it was really frustrating to me that I couldn’t help my own son.”

With the help of Susan and IMSE’s OG, we knew he was really prepared for the start of first grade. He can read now. It’s changed his life.

“We tried Lindamood Bell and a couple of other programs. But nothing was really working,” Shannon tells the Journal.

And the Chamberlins had another problem. “We knew we needed a specialist to work with Chase throughout the school year. At that time, Chase was enrolled at San Ramon Christian Academy. We loved the school, but they didn’t have a reading specialist on-board. So, we started looking at public schools in the area that could accommodate him,” Shannon says.

As luck would have it, in time for Chase’s entry into kindergarten, Christian Academy did bring on resource specialist, Susan Lindahl.

“The principal told us he really thought Susan could work with him and we said okay. We love the school and the class sizes, which are small.”

Susan began working with Chase last school year. At the same time, she was working on IMSE’s 45 Hour Practicum. “That was great, because all the lessons are videotaped, so I could really watch Chase blossom over the time he was working with Susan,” Shannon says.

Shannon credits Susan with working hard to engage Chase in things he’s interested in, both to motivate him and to inspire confidence. “He really has a short attention span, but she was great about keeping things moving. And he loves football, soccer, any sports. You can see in the video where Sue even came in a referee shirt one day, while Chase got to wear his Raider’s jersey. It was that connection, I think, that really helped Chase feel like he could succeed.”

Like so many students, Chase began to have great success with IMSE’s OG. “In just a month, we could tell that this was a program that was going to work,” Shannon tells the Journal.

“Chase was so excited about what he was learning, he couldn’t wait to show it off to my husband and me. My husband almost cried when Chase wrote, “d-a-d.” It was a really special moment for all of us,” Shannon says.

Currently, Chase is in first grade at San Ramon Christian Academy and doing well. “With the help of Susan and IMSE’s OG, we knew he was really prepared for the start of first grade. He can read now. It’s changed his life.”