Over the course of 60 years, the Reading Center has quietly tested and taught over 7,000 students and trained over 1,200 educators from all over the country (and the world) in Orton-Gillingham,  the teaching approach proven to help struggling readers learn to read.

     Paula Rome and Jean Osman founded the Reading Center in 1951 in Rochester, MN.  Both women are known throughout the United States and the world for their tutoring, training and for their groundbreaking publications, The Language Toolkit, and The Advanced Language Toolkit.   Both publications remain the “go-to” books on how to teach people with language learning difficulties.  They provided leadership in national and regional organizations that are committed to helping those with dyslexia, such as the International Dyslexia Association, the IDA of the Upper Midwest and the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators.

The Reading Center/Dyslexia Institute of MN continues the work of our founders today, with an impressive track record of tutoring, training, educating the public and providing leadership in the field of language learning difficulties. 

The origins of the Reading Center begin when Paula Rome moved from Philadelphia to Rochester, Minnesota in 1947.  She brought with her the knowledge and expertise that she had learned from her uncle, Dr. Paul Dozier, about effective ways to work with students with reading disorders.  Dr. Dozier was Director of the Language Clinic at the Institute of the Pennsylvania Hospital, and his teacher and colleague, Dr. Samuel T. Orton was a professor at Columbia University.  Neuro‑psychiatrists by profession, both Orton and Dozier had intense interests in individuals with reading difficulties. They spent a large part of their professional lives working on discovering the causes and developing methods of teaching that would solve the special needs of those with problems acquiring written language skills.  Their pioneering work played a very important role in designing effective teaching techniques for this population.  In the course of their work, they asked Miss Anna Gillingham, a master educator with a great deal of experience in teaching English, to analyze the organization of the language for instructing those with language learning disorders.   

Through her knowledge, wisdom, and caring, Paula Rome established an organization of teachers in Rochester who could apply the specially designed instruction that became known as the Orton-Gillingham Approach, for those struggling with mastering reading and spelling skills.  The informal mission statement in those early days of the Reading Center was, "....to help all who came asking for assistance and to do it at a cost each family could afford." 

       Educational testing was done at the Reading Center office and a staff of tutors provided the instruction in their homes, schools, or church rooms.  What started as Paula Rome's crusade to provide educational services gradually grew with the help of Jean Osman, a gifted teacher and innovator who joined her in 1957.  They shared the work and responsibility as it developed into a sizable, thriving, knowledgeable, and caring agency.  With a well-trained and talented staff, the Reading Center became a facility offering many and varied services.

The Reading Center moved from the basement of Paula Rome's home in Rochester.  In 1989,  Paula, Jean, and several staff members began structuring the Center into a not‑for‑profit organization which in 1991 assumed the official title, Dyslexia Institute of Minnesota. The Institute's official mission statement became, "Toward literacy For All".  During this transition, the agency also kept its community‑familiar title of The Reading Center.

The organization has grown from being spearheaded by one very committed woman to an organization directed by dedicated members of the Board of Directors who come from a wide variety of backgrounds representing diverse professional expertise. 

          The Reading Center has earned state and regional recognition for its ability to help find answers for those with language difficulties.  It is the only center west of the Mississippi accredited by the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practioners and Educators to provide training in the Orton-Gillingham approach.  The Reading Center is also accredited by the Academy for providing the highest quality Educational Therapy (tutoring). 

Jean Osman took over the administrative and executive duties of the Reading Center in 1990.  She retired from that post in 2005, but she continues contributing to the Reading Center as one of the most prolific and impactful tutors at the Reading Center, working with 11- 14 students at twice a week each.  Nancy Sears served as Executive Director from 2005 - 2010, and Cindy Russell assumed the post in 2010.

Paula Rome passed away in 2008, but her effect is felt each day by the hundreds of students, families and trainees who are served and helped at the Reading Center each day of each year.