Parents' create school for kids with dyslexia

Might parents and educators benefit from seeing this film?

The movie “Left Behind” documents how a group of five mothers of children with reading problems convinced New York Public Schools to create a special school for their own and others’ sons and daughters. The film, which premiered at the Woodstock Film Festival 18 October 2024, will open in theaters 17 January 2024. Here’s the trailer for it:

Left Behind was directed by Anna Wild Toomey and written by Karen Sim. There is an official Web site for Left Behind at https://www.leftbehindthefilm.com. Other films also have the title, “Left Behind,” but the Internet Movie Database includes an entry for this one. Also see the Left Behind page from the Woodstock Film Festival. Also see the entry for Left Behind from DocNYC, a source about documentary films.

The Literacy Academy Collective is a group that “created the first district public school in the nation specifically designed for children with dyslexia and other struggling readers.” Writing for Parents Together, a non-profit organization that provides news for parents, Natalie Smith published an account of the founding of a school 21 November 2024. Under the headline, “New York mom opens new public school for kids with dyslexia and learning disabilities.” she related the story of Naomi Peña, a parent advocate, who realized that her son was not learning to read in school. Here are the first paragraphs of Ms. Smith’s story:

Naomi Peña didn’t mean to become an activist for kids with learning disabilities, but when she realized that her son was struggling to learn to read in school, she knew that something had to be done.

Naomi is a lifelong New Yorker as well as a supporter of the New York public school system. So when her son, Jonah, began getting in trouble at school almost two decades ago, she was confused and concerned. She knew he was a kid who didn’t like to get in trouble, so why was he acting out during reading lessons?

When she asked him what exactly was going on, he told her, “Mom, I don’t know what it is. It’s like my brain won’t let me.” Gutted, Naomi decided to have her son evaluated for learning disabilities and ultimately discovered that he was dyslexic.

There are popular media discussions of the film and dyslexia. For example, Juju Chang hosted a video conversation with four people connected with the film. Also see a list of press coverage of the film.

I have not seen the entire film. I hope to do so, as I am eager to learn the story. Also, I would like to see how Ms. Toomey (the director) treats the topic of reading problems. Does the film portray it accurately? How is instruction for these kids shown? Does the film perpetuate myths about dyslexia?

Wait and see!