Samantha Woods is the author of Write2Spell2Read. Sam is an Occupational Therapist (B.Occ.Thy.) with a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy (University of Queensland, 1990) and she is a certified Neurodevelopmental Therapist. Sam owns an allied health private practice ‘Therapy Works CQ’, in Rockhampton, Central Queensland, Australia. Sam has over 30 years experience assessing and treating clients with a variety of diagnoses, including literacy difficulties (writing, spelling, and reading). She has specialist knowledge of treating dysgraphia, dyslexia and working memory difficulties.

After working alongside Speech and Language Pathologists – and with an ever-increasing waiting list of children with literacy difficulties for whom other supports and programs had failed – Sam authored Write2Spell2Read. Sam’s neuroscience training has produced a highly effective, evidence-based literacy program based on current neuroscience research. Write2Spell2Read is a ‘sound to print’ literacy program where students learn the 44 sounds of the English language, and how to write these sounds with the alphabet letters. What differentiates Write2Spell2Read from other programs is that students learn at the same time the English language sounds and how to write these sounds, rather than learning these skills separately, as is often taught. The student learns to blend these sound/letter groups together to read and spell words fluently. Write2Spell2Read teaches these sound/letter groups in a clearly defined developmental sequence, using lots of visual memory prompts. 

Sam’s extensive clinical knowledge has produced a simple to use, visually and phonologically organised, true multisensory program that addresses working memory difficulties. Her aim was to author a literacy program that was fun and engaging, simple for teachers and parents to implement, and could be used as a consistent whole primary school approach for the teaching of handwriting, spelling, and reading from Beginners to Year 6.