About Different by Design...

I'm Deirdre Byrne, a reading specialist with a master’s degree in reading and nearly 20 years of experience working with students who learn differently. My work focuses on understanding the individual learner—not simply applying a program to a diagnosis. 

Learning differences are not deficits.
They reflect distinct cognitive architectures, different ways of perceiving and processing information.

Different by Design bridges the gap between complex neuropsychological evaluations and real-world instruction.

I approach this work from three perspectives:

Reading Specialist/Learning Disabilies Educator

For nearly 20 years, I have worked with bright, capable students whose learning profiles don’t always match the way traditional instruction is delivered.”When progress stalled, the question I learned to ask wasn’t simply, ‘What program should we try next?’ but ‘What is this learner’s profile telling us about how they learn?’ When programs overload processing speed or working memory, capable students experience repeated breakdown. Over time, misalignment fuels anxiety which further interferes with learning.

Parent Perspective 

As the mother of two sons with dyslexia, I understand the emotional toll when a child wants to succeed but continues to struggle. Repeated frustration can quietly erode confidence and turn students away from learning. Instructional decisions shape identity, not just achievement.

Researcher Informed Practioner

I draw on current research in reading, dyslexia, cognition, and learning to understand not just where a student is struggling, but what may be contributing to that struggle. Reading difficulty does not happen in isolation. Working memory, processing speed, language, attention, and cognitive load can all influence how a learner accesses and responds to instruction.

Research also continues to expand our understanding of dyslexia beyond a simple deficit model. Differences in how learners process and organize information can coexist with significant strengths in reasoning, pattern recognition, problem solving, and big-picture thinking.

The goal is not to chase the newest program or theory. It is to use research to ask better questions, understand the individual learner more fully, and design instruction that gives that learner the best opportunity to succeed.