We chat with Dr Saskia Kohnen, Clinical Director of the Macquarie University Reading Clinic, about the incredible, life-changing work taking place at the clinic every day for children with spelling and reading difficulties, and their families.

1. In a nutshell, my job is to…
Translate science into practice, which includes developing new intervention programs, training and supervising our clinicians, keeping our services up to date with the evidence, and speaking to parents, teachers and clinicians about how to improve reading and spelling.

2. The question I hear most often in my work is…
How long will it take until my child reads as well as their classmates? Unfortunately, the science on predicting how well children respond to an intervention isn’t advanced enough to give any definitive answers to this important question.

3. The thing I find most rewarding in my role is…
Witnessing improvements in literacy facilitated by our programs and the profound impact this can have on children and their families.

4. This year I want to…
Finish writing the clinic’s new group intervention programs and kick-start our online workshop offerings.

5. A place that’s special to me is…
Mexico’s west coast. Some amazing surf there. Can’t wait to go again.

6. My father always told me…
“Jede Jeck is anders”. That’s a saying in the local dialect of Cologne where my father was born, and it means ‘every fool is different’.

7. My guilty pleasure is…
Reading long (maybe not terribly well-written) novels.

8. I’m scared of…
Someone discovering these books in my bookshelf.

9. My hidden talent is…
Convincingly losing at Uno when playing with the kids at the clinic.

10. A moment I’ll always remember is…
The tears in the eyes of a mum when her 8-year-old read his first book at the clinic. She didn’t think this day would come.