Our story begins with a bright and talented high school student in Indiana named Katie. Years ago, she contracted an extremely high fever, and possibly meningitis. Thankfully, she recovered. But from that point forward, she had to deal with some mysterious conditions.
When Katie reads for too long, she becomes dizzy and develops an optic migraine which can trigger seizure-like activity. That means Katie, a gifted student, was in danger of seizing whenever she read—something that students like her must do for hours each day. Letting her experience consistent seizures was not an option, so Susie came up with an initial solution.
“When she was in 6th grade, everything had to be read to Katie,” she said. “In 7th grade, I hired a 1-on-1 aide. Now, this is an honors student we’re talking about. She had to have an adult with her all the time, one that would read everything to her. It was frustrating for her.”
It worked, but it wasn’t ideal for anyone, especially Katie. But in 2017, Susie went to an Indiana public schools conference where everything changed.