Marianne Cintron

What is your connection with the San Gabriel Valley?

I’ve lived in San Gabriel Valley for a little over 40 years. I came here after I graduated from Santa Barbara UC with my English degree.

I didn’t know what I was going to do with it, and a department store in West Covina recruited me to go into their management training program.

I’ve been here ever since.
 

What do you do?

I train teachers and parents to work with their dyslexic children. I developed a reading program where children make significant gains in 30 sessions.

I’ve developed a musical app that plays classical music with the reading program.

I also tutor kids from my home.

I’ve also been a public speaker.
 

What led you to do this?

Interestingly, teaching is my third career. After about ten years in retail, I wanted a change and was invited to work at Jet Propulsion Laboratories as a technical writer.

I then got a job with general dynamics and then moved to a position at ITT Barton, where I met my husband.

I became interested in education when we had children because I volunteered in their preschool.

The preschool director suggested I become a substitute teacher. So, I took the test and never thought it would put me on the path to being a teacher and getting two masters and my Ph.D.

My first job as a substitute teacher was in a third-grade class, and I saw how these children couldn’t read or write. This was when I started thinking about training teachers to help the students.

I met a woman who was using music with her reading program, and she challenged me to use it with my students. I was working with a dyslexic student who was struggling with reading. So one of the things I did was have him read from the computer, and while he was reading, I’d play classical music in his left ear. All of a sudden, his reading improved.

I showed the principal the student’s results, and he said we needed to get that program into the school. I started a summer school program four to five days a week for six weeks. There was one student who was going into middle school and was reading at a third-grade level. After my program, he made a three-year jump in his reading and comprehension ability.
 

What is dyslexia?

Dyslexia is neurobiological in origin, and it’s a student’s inability to read, write, or spell.

Usually, their writing is challenging to read, and they often don’t capitalize sentences and won’t correctly punctuate.
 

How widespread is dyslexia?

Dyslexia affects one in five people. Interestingly, 35% of entrepreneurs have dyslexia. 40% of self-made millionaires have dyslexia. I’m trying to show that dyslexia is a genius trait. We talk about how Walt Disney, Albert Einstein, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Winston Churchill were all dyslexic people.
 

How does the auditory part play in treating dyslexia?

We aren’t born with a reading brain. It’s a man-made thing. The brain works together to read. Dyslexic people are reading from the wrong side of the brain. Functional MRIs will show the left side of the brain will light up when non-dyslexic people are reading. For dyslexic people, it doesn’t light up.

A dyslexic person will read from the right side of their brain, so when it sends the words to the left brain, it slows down the process and makes the words somewhat jumbled.

Adding audio into the left ear gives the right brain something it likes to do and kind of “clears it out” to make the process easier for someone with dyslexia.
 

What is the goal of your teaching methods? Is it to cure dyslexia?

Research has shown that when the child uses a reading program that is multi-sensory, their brain will look like a non-dyslexic peer a year later.

I’m currently in the process of conducting research showing that my music app with the reading program will retrain the brain faster than a year. This is happening in six weeks.

Kids’ brains are retrained, and they’re not going to regress.
 

You mentioned how a large percentage of entrepreneurs and self-made millionaires are dyslexic. Will they still get there if they don’t get the kind of intervention you do?

A lot of adults talk about how they worked it out and didn’t even realize they had dyslexia, but they are seeing it in their children.

We encourage the parents to get their children the intervention they need once they notice their child has dyslexia.

Children can also get accommodation such as doing tests orally and shortened tests.
 

How can you tell adults have dyslexia and never got that intervention?

Usually, I can see it in their writing.

Several years ago, I went to an elderly care center to visit one of my friends, and I had lunch with her husband. When the waitress brought me the receipt, I could see that she wrote the word guest wrong and wrote Dale as Dail.

If I see the writing, I can usually tell pretty quickly they have dyslexia.
 

Is the inability to spell a sign someone has dyslexia?

It is. A lot of dyslexic people memorize words as a workaround.
 

Is dyslexia genetic?

There is a genetic component. Around 40% of dyslexia is genetic. That means the other 60% is developing it. It could be from learning the whole language, where they memorize the world, and it goes to the right side of the brain. We want people to learn the letters and associations so it goes to the left side of the brain.
 

Do you notice any other conditions that go along with dyslexia?

I do. ADD and ADHD are usually present in those who have dyslexia.

I have even had parents send kids to me who have very mild autism.

I’ve also seen dysgraphia, where the writing is illegible.
 

What is next for you?

I am working on some research that shows music with reading impacts the brain.

I just published two new books. “Dyslexia Is A Trait Of Genius”, and “Prisms of Brilliance.”

I also have my curriculum up on courseworks and coachwares.

I also have a podcast where I interview adults with dyslexia, and they share their journeys.
 

How can people connect with you?

My website is https://www.stepbystepdyslexiasolutions.com/. There is a meet with me section where you can email or chat with me, and you can find my curriculum there.

My podcast is Dyslexia Solutions, and I have a YouTube Channel, https://www.youtube.com/@MarianneCintron, where you can find more information about how to help someone with dyslexia.