She struggled to explain her son’s dyslexia to him — so she wrote a book about it

When Courtney Davidson learned her son was dyslexic, she looked for a way to explain the diagnosis to him.

“I couldn’t find a children’s book … that I could read to my child to say: ‘Here’s what’s going on with your brain. Here’s what you’re experiencing. You’re not alone,’ ” she said.

So she decided to write one herself.

Davidson, who works full time as the vice president of account services at Matt Jensen Marketing, started asking around about the process to write and self-publish a children’s book.

“I had never written a book in my life,” she said. “I, even now, feel like I can’t consider myself as being an author.”

She connected with illustrator Hector Curriel, and the two worked together over the past two years to create “Colt the Courageous,” with the goal of showing kids that dyslexia can be a superpower, not an obstacle.

The book follows main character Colt, named after Colt Davidson, the now-9-year-old, and in many ways, it parallels his real-life experience.

Colt Davidson said he hopes the book shows people what it’s like to have dyslexia, but he also hopes it helps people understand how to teach kids who have dyslexia.

“I hope they understand how dyslexia kids’ brains work and that they work differently and that I think my brain is pretty cool,” Colt Davidson said.

The journey to discovering his dyslexia had been a long one, starting in kindergarten when he struggled with his alphabet. He began working with a tutor who specialized in working with children with dyslexia in August of the following year, and it took another six months to get the official test and diagnosis of severe dyslexia.

In the process, Davidson and her husband, Mike, also learned their son’s IQ. He was gifted, just like his older brother, but his challenges with reading because of dyslexia were an obstacle to reaching that higher level of achievement.

“I think it’s an important story to tell, and with so many parents in the same position that Mike and I were in, I’ve got to think it could be a resource for others,” Davidson said.

The book is available for pre-order at coltthecourageous.com.

Davidson also plans to host a launch party for the book later this month.