About

Hello!  Thanks for visiting!  I’m Jill Nellis.  I am a certified Orton-Gillingham reading specialist with the Barton Reading and Spelling System.  I’m also trained in the Wired For Reading curriculum.  My goal is to support students in their journey to reading and writing with ease and pleasure.  I specifically support students with dyslexia or are perceived to have dyslexia. I engage students with a multisensory approach and use their interests in drawing, acting, games and movement to teach my lessons.

I meet with my students in Kirkland and on the Eastside, as well as online.

Qualifications

Certified Reading Specialist with the
​Barton Reading and Spelling System

Certified Special Education Dyslexia Advocate
Dyslexia Training Institute

Trained in the Wired For Reading Program

Dyslexia Training Institute Certificates:

• Advocating for Reading Skills in an IEP: Reading Goals
• Dyslexia Tutors Can Broaden Their Scope to Include Basic Math Help
• The Executive Functions
• Launching Lifetime Learners
• Phonetics 101
• Rapid Automatized Naming as a Screener, Predictor, and Correlate of Dyslexia
• Shifting from Word Walls to Sound Walls
• Spelling-Meaning Correspondences Are Missing in Action
• The Writing Rope: A Framework for Evidence-Based Writing Instruction
• What Should be Included in a Comprehensive Assessment of Dyslexia
• Differentiating Literacy Instruction: Students with EF Deficits
• Go Beyond "Spellcheck": Using Technology to Bypass Spelling Problems
• How Spelling Instruction Can Improve Reading
• Helpful Online Teaching Tools for Spelling Instruction
• Keys to Beginning Reading Basics
• Making Social and Emotional Learning Accessible for Students with Learning Differences
• Morphology and Etymology with Peter Bowers
• Sensory Smart Strategies for Real-Life Challenges
• Starting the Spelling Journey with 4 and 5-year-olds
• Why is it spelled that way? Teaching Spelling to Young Students
• Building strong readers through home-school partnerships.
• Can apps be the game changer we've all been waiting for? Technology and Design for All Learners
• Creating Connections: A Path to Spelling and Vocabulary
• What dyslexia teachers need to know about dyscalculia
• Dyslexia and Mental Health: Helping people identify destructive behaviors and find positive ways to cope
• Educational Accommodations for Students with Dyslexia and Related Disorders
• Linguistics: Lending Tools to Language Investigation - From Structured Word Inquiry to Structure Sentence Inquiry
• Orthographic Investigation: Beyond the Surface
• The Adult Side of Dyslexia
• The Dyslexia Experience: A different way of assessing social and emotional well-being​​
• Overview of IDEA and Dyslexia Advocacy Basics
• From Grade School to High School: Cultivating Self Advocacy in Students with Dyslexia for Lifelong Success Goal Writing
• Applying the Law to Advocate for a Student with Dyslexia
• Don't Forget the Qualitative Data
• Crossing the Chasm: Creating Effective Intervention Plans Using Test Scores and Patterns
• Taking Your Advocacy to the Next Level: Influencing state change.
• Advocating for Children with Dyslexia Using the Reading Brain and Scientific Theory
• The Small Stuff can make a Big Impact on your Child's IEP
• Black Literacy Matters and the Advocating Challenges that Persist
• Advocating for Assistive Technology Devices and Services: How to get students the tools they need
• Goals: The Heart of the IEP
• Preparing for and Pursuing Legal Action in the Struggle for FAPE for Children with Dyslexia.