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raising dyslexia awareness & empowering families

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Decoding Dyslexia
Utah is ...

a grassroots movement driven by Utah families concerned with the limited access to educational interventions for dyslexia in our public schools. We aim to raise dyslexia awareness, empower families to support their children and inform policy-makers on best practices to identify, remediate and support students with dyslexia in Utah public schools. Decoding Dyslexia Utah is a 501.3.c non-profit.

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What Do We Do?

Advocate for Students

We advocate for all students with the Utah State School Board and Utah Legislature by sharing our stories and working for better reading outcomes. We also advocate for students with dyslexia at local school districts and schools and help Utah Families advocate for their children to receive help in learning to read.

Scholarships

We provide scholarships to students with dyslexia who cannot afford an Orton-Gillingham trained tutor for reading intervention.

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Wasatch Reading Summit

We host the annual Wasatch Reading Summit Spring Seminar and Fall Conference to provide educators and parents access to national leaders in the science of reading and dyslexia.

Empowering Student Advocates

DDUT Youth Advocates share their stories and experiences calling for better policy around dyslexia and mentor other students with dyslexia in advocating for themselves.

Practical Workshops

We hold informational and practical workshops for families and educators.

What Do We Want?

Dyslexia Definition

Universal definition and understanding of “Dyslexia” in the state education code

Screening

Early screening assessments for dyslexia

Technology Access

Access to appropriate assistive technologies in the public-school setting for students with dyslexia

Pre Service Instruction

Pre-service instruction in the science of reading and dyslexia for all future educators attending Utah’s institutes of higher learning

Reading Intervention

Reading interventions that are evidenced based for students with dyslexia, anchored in the science of reading, and available to both general and special education populations

"You are your child’s best advocate, if not you, then who? Become an informed, educated parent."

~ Marianne Russo, The Coffee Klatch

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Got Questions? We're Here To Help.

Contact us: If you have questions or would like more information, please fill out the form below.

A member of the Decoding Dyslexia Utah Board or representative will respond in a timely manner.

Meet our dedicated board members.

Phoebe Beacham

President/Co-founder

Emily Gillrie

Board Member

Heather Subenvoll

Secretary

Amy Sandgren

DDUT Advisory Committee

Phillip Chipping

Legislative Chair

Michele Chisholm

Wasatch Reading Summit Advisor

Maja Wells

Website Administrator

Brooke DeMann

Treasurer

Jenny Snedaker

Youth Advocates/Community Outreach

Adriene Kool

Adriene Kool

Adrien Kool

Maja Wells

Website Administrator
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Brooke DeMann

Treasurer
BrookeHeadshot

Jenny Snedaker

Youth Advocates/Community Outreach
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Phoebe Beacham

President/Co-Founder

I co-founded Decoding Dyslexia Utah in 2013 and it is my heart and soul! I love the dyslexic community, especially Utah’s! My work experience centers on advocacy in the disability community. I support parents and students with learning disabilities. I advocate for awareness and change at the local, state, and national level. I educate teachers and administrators on best practices for struggling readers. My leadership experience includes non-profit development, entrepreneurship, healthcare management, adjunct faculty at SLCC and volunteer work. I graduated from Utah State with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Midway University with a Masters in Business Administration and an emphasis in Healthcare Administration. I have three children, two boys with dyslexia. While I am an advocate first and foremost, I also tutor students in the science of reading. I love connecting, please feel free to reach out!

Emily Gillrie

After receiving a BA in Interior Design, Emily worked in Manhattan for a high end design firm and then transitioned into design sales. She was able to work alongside some of the top design firms in the country and help source one of a kind custom furnishings. Soon Emily was ready for the never-ending sunny days of California. In California, she flipped & staged nearly 100 houses under tight timelines and acute financial pressure. This unique experience propelled Emily into independent opportunities and she started Complete Design at 25 years old. She has taken the lead on many projects with a recent focus on luxury (7,000+) square foot homes. Emily incorporates the traditional formality of design from the east with the cleaner, simpler palettes of the west in her projects creating a sophisticated, effortless feel in her spaces. Emily’s passion and skills for design are palpable and contagious to her clients making collaborative design meetings a highlight and something to look forward to. Her favorite aspect of design is getting to know her clients so she can truly help them function seamlessly in their homes.

Amy Sandgren

DDUT Advisory Committee

Amy Sandgren, M.Ed. is an assistant principal in Canyons School District. Amy is passionate about teaching all students to read. With a commitment to students, she seeks to collaborate with teachers, staff, and families to overcome reading barriers. Amy loves teaching and has taught upper and lower elementary grades and has worked as an instructional coach. She currently serves as a board member for Decoding Dyslexia Utah and a collaborator on the Utah Literacy Coalition. In recent years, Amy served on the Advisory Committee for Equity of Education Services and worked on the English Language Arts Committee tasked with revising the Utah State ELA Standards.

Michele Chisholm

Wasatch Reading Summit Chair / Education Professional Development Committee Member / Social Media

I graduated from BYU with a Bachelor of Science in elementary education. I am currently the owner of Beautiful Mind Tutoring. My passion for helping students with dyslexia began when my own child struggled to learn to read. I am also on the education committee for DDUT and currently serving as committee chair for Wasatch Reading Summit. When I’m not teaching, I love spending time with my three children or hiking in the beautiful mountains of Utah!

Maja Wells

Advocacy Chair

Dyslexia has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. When I was young my mother knew my brother had a reading disability. In the 1970s she had heard the word dyslexia and wondered if he was dyslexic. She even tried to get help for him but was unsuccessful. Fast forward to the first grade year of my oldest child. His teacher said he was too smart not to be able to read. This sent me on a quest to learn about reading disabilities. In reading I decided that he had dyslexia which sent me on a quest to help him learn to read. It turns out that we had to turn to tutoring outside of the school system. Thankfully, when my other children needed tutoring I knew where to turn. Through the tutor I became involved in dyslexia and have been a member of Decoding Dyslexia Utah since the beginning. It is the second board related to dyslexia that I have served on.

Adrien Kool is an educator and learning advocate with a strong interest in helping individuals develop confidence and independence through skill-based instruction. His perspective is shaped in part by his own experience growing up with dyslexia, which required him to rely on persistence, problem-solving, and alternative learning strategies from an early age. Rather than limiting him, this experience helped him develop a practical understanding of how differently people process language, memory, and information.

Because he has personally navigated the challenges of reading and traditional academic expectations, Adrien brings empathy and realism to his work with students and families. He focuses on structured, step-by-step learning, strengths-based encouragement, and clear instruction that makes complex tasks approachable. His approach emphasizes that learning differences are not deficits but variations in processing that can be supported with the right tools and methods.

Adrien is committed to helping others—especially struggling learners—recognize their abilities, build resilience, and discover effective ways to succeed in school and daily life.

Christy Austin

Pre-Service Educator

Christy is passionate about preparing preservice teachers to deliver effective, research-based reading instruction. Her research interests focus on: (a) intensive intervention for students with significant reading difficulties and disabilities, (b) theoretically informed intervention integrating word reading and word meaning instruction, and (c) policy and legislation related to identification and instruction provided to students with dyslexia.