As literacy education hits an inflection point the Science of Reading forcing a course correction after decades of balanced literacy, yet the gap between proven research and what struggling readers receive remains vast, Sarah Fudge refuses to wait. The Founder & Director of Saybrook Reading and OG Learning Lab has turned her own experience of sitting undiagnosed in the lowest reading group into a mission delivering what science demands: structured, explicit, multisensory Orton-Gillingham instruction tailored to each child.
Armed with a Master’s in Reading, Connecticut Special Education certification, and Clinical Level credentialing from the Orton-Gillingham Academy, she brings the precision of a highly trained clinician fused with the honesty of someone who knows exactly what it feels like to wonder what is wrong with you. From her two Connecticut locations, she serves students with complex profiles, older learners, and those who have slipped through traditional school evaluations.
Beyond direct instruction, she is building a broader ecosystem of change; the Learning Lab Foundation scholarship program ensures access regardless of income, and the Dyslexia Stories podcast delivers research-grounded conversations to families, teachers, and pediatricians. This is the story of a leader who stopped compensating for her learning differences and built the structure she once needed, ensuring the next generation never waits as long as she did.
No longer hiding in the back, now leading the pack
Long before founding Saybrook Reading and OG Learning Lab, Sarah Fudge was the child sitting in the lowest reading group, quietly moved to the back of the room. She knew she was smart but nothing about school reflected that back, and no one could tell her why she struggled. Not until third grade did anyone name it dyslexia and ADHD. The diagnosis brought relief but also a painful realization: she had spent years believing something was wrong with her, when what was actually wrong was that no one knew how to teach her.
That experience never left her, and as a special education teacher in Old Saybrook Public Schools for thirteen years, she watched bright, capable kids cycle through the same confusion and shame, struggling not from lack of effort but because no one was teaching their brains the way they needed to learn. Saybrook Reading and OG Learning Lab was born directly from that truth, a place that did not exist for her as a child, where kids are seen, taught correctly, and sent back into the world knowing they are capable, because every child deserves to feel confident in school.
The Art of Asking for Help and Staying Rooted in Purpose
While the vision, the drive, and the belief that something better is possible always came naturally to her, she did not anticipate how much there would be to learn about actually running a business. The financial side, the operations, the legal pieces, the marketing, none of it was taught in a master’s program in reading, and the weight of navigating those unfamiliar territories became the most significant challenge of her entrepreneurial journey.
What saved her was the inner circle she built of talented individuals who brought expertise she lacked, believed in her mission, and taught her that asking for help is one of the smartest things a leader can do. Not everyone wants to see you succeed, but that only sharpened her focus, because her purpose is too important to be derailed by noise. Every time a student who once believed they couldn’t read walks out with confidence, she remembers exactly why she started, and her leadership remains grounded in that clarity: stay close to your purpose, surround yourself with good people, and don’t let critics live rent-free in your head.
A Mission Rooted in Science and Self-Understanding
The mission is simple: every child deserves to feel confident in school. With dyslexia and ADHD unidentified until third grade, Sarah Fudge knows firsthand what it means to wait years for the right help, an experience that shaped her certainty that no child should endure the same. What sets her apart is her method: where most schools rely on balanced literacy frameworks that fail one in five students, she delivers structured, explicit, multisensory Orton-Gillingham instruction rooted in the science of reading, because these children are not behind from lack of effort they have simply never been taught the code explicitly.
Her diagnostic-prescriptive framework sets her apart; each student undergoes a comprehensive assessment to pinpoint exactly where their reading and spelling breaks down, and every lesson targets those gaps. She takes the emotional dimension seriously, knowing reading difficulties carry deep shame and often manifest as anxiety. Every session is structured for early, genuine success with effort-focused praise so children understand the why behind every skill. When a child realizes their brain is not broken but simply wired differently and a teachable path forward exists, something fundamental shifts a transformation she witnesses every week.
The Moment Everything Changes, 2 Stories of Transformation
For her, the stories that stay are rarely just the data, though the data matters. What she remembers most is the moment a child looks up from the page and something in their face has changed.
A fourth-grade student arrived two years behind with significant anxiety. Within two sessions, tailored Orton-Gillingham instruction unlocked her stalled progress; her fluency surged nearly 40 percent beyond expected growth, reading advanced two grade levels, and alphabet writing dropped from ten minutes to 39 seconds. Her mother later shared that watching her daughter step onto the dance stage with newfound confidence revealed the growth had changed not just test scores, but who her daughter believed herself to be a sentence that remains with her.
A boy deemed “average” and denied services was exhausting every cognitive resource just to read a single sentence the school measured what he could do slowly, not what dyslexia truly costs: speed, automaticity, and effortless mental energy. Through Orton-Gillingham instruction and family partnership, she helped secure a new evaluation and taught them their rights under IDEA. He now has a 504 Plan reflecting his actual needs. His father shared that when a parent truly understands the word dyslexia, the guilt and confusion release the diagnosis freed him.
A Professional Obligation Ft. Credentials, Research, and Advocacy
Staying current in this field is not optional for her, it is a professional obligation, because families trust her with their child’s relationship with learning. If she is not growing, her students are not getting everything they deserve.
Her most significant commitment is Clinical Level certification through the Orton-Gillingham Academy, a rigorous process refining her diagnostic precision beyond what coursework alone could achieve. She stays current through the Yale Center for Dyslexia, the International Dyslexia Association, and peer-reviewed research, updating her practice whenever the science evolves.
Beyond clinical work, she founded the Dyslexia Stories podcast and the Learning Lab Foundation scholarship program because proven evidence must not remain exclusive to those who can pay. Her advocacy spans independent evaluations and IEP and 504 processes. Most foundationally, her dyslexia and ADHD make her a better diagnostician and more honest advocate; she knows the weight of wondering what is wrong and the relief of learning the brain is simply wired differently. Staying current keeps that path clear for every child.
Credentialing, Advocacy, and Lived Experience
For Sarah Fudge, staying current is a professional obligation, if she stops growing, her students stop getting everything they deserve.
- Clinical Level Certification: She is completing Clinical Level certification through the Orton-Gillingham Academy the second-highest designation in the field refining her diagnostic precision beyond what coursework alone could achieve.
- Research Engagement: She follows the Yale Center for Dyslexia, the International Dyslexia Association, and peer-reviewed research when the science updates, her practice updates with it.
- Dyslexia Stories Podcast: She founded Dyslexia Stories (IG: dyslexiastories) to bring research-grounded conversations to families who often arrive years into a struggle because no one gave them the language earlier.
- Learning Lab Foundation: Her nonprofit, the Learning Lab Foundation, exists because access to proven literacy instruction should not depend on income or zip code scholarship pathways ensure it doesn’t.
- Direct Advocacy: She conducts independent evaluations and advocates in IEP, 504, and PPT meetings closing the knowledge gap between parents who understand their rights and those who don’t is a core responsibility.
- Lived Experience: Her most important credential is dyslexia and ADHD lived experience that makes her a sharper diagnostician, a more patient teacher, and an advocate who truly understands.
Where Literacy Education Is Headed and How Saybrook Reading Is Ready
The Science of Reading is a genuine course correction, with most states now mandating structured literacy, but she believes the decisive factor will be teacher preparation legislation without trained teachers produces paperwork, not outcomes. Closing that gap requires sustained professional development, and she watches closely to see whether this moment translates into real change for real children.
Early identification through universal screening will define the next decade, pushing diagnosis into kindergarten rather than waiting for failure every year of waiting costs a child something irrecoverable. She also sees the intersection of dyslexia and mental health gaining overdue attention, as years of unaddressed struggle compound into anxiety and depression. She believes integrated models will emerge treating literacy difficulty and its emotional aftermath as one problem.
Technology is reshaping accommodations, but she believes assistive tools support rather than replace explicit instruction a child must still be taught the code. Equity drives the Learning Lab Foundation because proven research remains stratified by income, and legislation without funding doesn’t close that gap. Saybrook Reading stays rooted in research, builds school partnerships, and shares accessible information through Dyslexia Stories. The next decade will deliver children identified early, taught correctly, and never left wondering what is wrong.
Earning Trust Through Rigor, Transparency, and Relationship
Trust is earned session by session through how Sarah Fudge communicates, teaches, and handles every piece of information. Her rigorous clinical credentialing a Master’s in Reading, Connecticut Special Education certification, 092 endorsement, and Orton-Gillingham Academy credential with Clinical Level certification underway ensures families know she meets an external standard. Every student receives instruction grounded in the science of reading and Orton-Gillingham, designed around that child’s profile, not a pacing guide. Ethical practice means strict confidentiality, genuine respect for every family’s story, and honesty even when the data is difficult.
Continuous improvement is embedded in her model errors are targeted the next session, regular assessments track growth, and clear progress reports keep families informed. She checks in with students directly, maintains open parent communication, and participates in PPT and 504 reviews so all parties operate from one framework. The feedback she values most: a parent sharing their child asked to stop at the library, or a student reading three chapters before bed because they wanted moments when instruction is right, the relationship is safe, and the child finally trusts their own brain. That is the outcome that lasts.
Credentials and Recognition
Credentials in structured literacy are earned through documented clinical practice and external review, not ceremony which is why recognition from within the field has always meant the most to her.
- Foundational Credentials: Master’s degree in Reading, Connecticut Special Education certification, and Connecticut 092 administrator endorsement.
- Orton-Gillingham Academy: Pursuing Clinical Level certification among the OGA’s highest designations a standard of accountability every practitioner should meet.
- Pursuing Accreditations: Pursuing Connecticut APSED designation and Academy of OG accreditation the most important external reassurance of quality and fidelity to the model.
- MSN’s Top Entrepreneurs of 2026: Recognizes not just practice growth but the broader mission of building sustainable, credible, community-rooted pathways to literacy for historically underserved students.
- Education Insider Magazine’s Top Student Services of 2026: Meaningful because it specifically honors impact on students and families, which is the only metric that ultimately matters to her.
The Long-Term Vision for Saybrook Reading
Sarah Fudge’s vision has always been bigger than two locations. What drives her is closing the enormous gap between what research proves works for dyslexia and what children actually receive.
- OG Learning Lab Expansion: Expanding the Portland Lab nationwide, including for older students and complex profiles catching them before the gap becomes a canyon.
- Learning Lab Foundation: Her most personal investment: a scholarship program ensuring OG instruction isn’t limited to those who can pay for proven research that belongs to every child.
- Dyslexia Stories Brand and Podcast: Reaching parents who told their child is fine, teachers lacking next steps, and pediatricians needing resources for public health communication about a condition affecting one in five.
- School District Partnerships: She wants Saybrook Reading to become Connecticut’s trusted specialist tier, serving students who need more than a classroom can provide.
- Training Pipeline: A future mentorship program for OG practitioners in underserved communities equitable access demands equitable distribution of talent.
Before and After: The Evolution of a Leader
| Aspect | Before | After |
| Career Stage | Special educator, 13 years, Old Saybrook Public Schools | Founder, Saybrook Reading & OG Learning Lab; two locations, nonprofit foundation, podcast |
| Mindset | Committed, capable, constrained by system pace | Only limit is own capacity and creativity; implement changes immediately |
| Challenges | Students waiting, bureaucracy blocking, quietly managing undiagnosed dyslexia and ADHD knowing more than she could do. | Uncertain without salary; administrative weight of multiple ventures feels like work for three. |
| Lifestyle | Stable, salaried, structured; someone else’s calendar | Fluid, self-directed, demanding; pace of impact unmatched |
| Priorities | Serving students within system constraints; credentialing; showing up fully | Knowing each child completely diagnose precisely, teach explicitly, celebrate genuinely |
| Identity | Quietly compensating for unnamed learning difference; working harder than everyone around her | Stopped compensating, started speaking; personal disclosure; permission to be fully who she is |
| Biggest Difference | Doing good work inside someone else’s structure | Built her own structure: rigor, warmth,commitment potential never questioned, only instruction quality. |
A Day in a Leader’s Life
- 5:00 AM — Early Morning: She wakes to coffee brewing in a quiet house, clears her inbox, and responds to parent and school emails before the day takes over. Nothing falls through the cracks.
- 6:30 AM — Start of Workday: Finnegan, her son, takes priority breakfast, packing lunch, and snuggles are non-negotiable. Out the door by 7:10, headed to see clients across Connecticut.
- Midday — On the Road: She moves across Connecticut attending IEP meetings, advocating in PPT meetings, conducting evaluations, and seeing students—no two days ever look the same.
- 3:00 PM — Key Work Priorities: At Saybrook Reading, she is most in her element: one student, one table, sixty minutes of precise, structured instruction built entirely around that child’s profile.
- 5:00 PM — Evening: Returning to her little farm chickens, cats, and bees need attention. A beekeeper, she finds the rhythm of tending living things resets her completely.
- 8:00 PM — Night/Wind-down: Best part of the day—beach runs, patio dinners, or Fortnite with Finnegan. Her little family is the reason behind everything she builds.
- 8:45 PM — Self-Care: She eats clean, avoids alcohol, and is in bed by 8:45 PM—the rested version of her is a far better clinician, advocate, and mother.
Advice for Aspiring Leaders
Nothing matters more, Sarah Fudge believes, than sitting across from a child failed by a system and watching them begin to trust that this time will be different and that experience keeps decisions honest. She urges leaders to pursue rigorous credentials for what the process demands, build practices around research not trends, and know their own story lived experience is not a liability but often the greatest credential. She spent years quietly managing a learning difference before leadership required her to stop hiding the most important part of her clinical perspective.
Finally, build for the child who cannot afford you, because the research belongs to every child, and so does the intervention. Her leadership philosophy is simple enough for a sticky note yet complex enough to guide every decision: every child deserves to feel confident in school, not just those whose parents found her or whose districts funded the evaluation, but every child. That conviction is what the Learning Lab Foundation and Dyslexia Stories podcast are built on, and what Sarah Fudge intends to spend the rest of her career building toward.
Key Takeaways:
- The right instruction can change not just a child’s test scores, but who they believe themselves to be.
- A child struggling to read is never the problem, the quality of instruction they have received is.
- Every year a child waits for the right help that costs them something they do not fully get back.
- When a child understands their brain is wired differently, not broken, everything shifts.
- The gap between what research proves works and what children actually receive is a gap worth dedicating your life to closing.
- A child who trusts themselves as a learner is the outcome that truly lasts.
