Dyslexia & Literacy Educator • Author • Speaker • Orton-Gillingham Tutor
For more than 30 years, Nancy Knor has helped bright, creative students understand how they learn, build essential skills, and develop the confidence to thrive. As a dyslexia and literacy educator, she specializes in helping students understand and work with their unique brain wiring. Through Beautiful Brains Literacy, Nancy provides individualized Orton-Gillingham tutoring and writing instruction and offers workshops for students, parents, and educators.
Nancy graduated from Vanderbilt University with degrees in elementary education and special education. She is trained in Orton-Gillingham Plus, has completed Levels I & II of NILD Educational Therapy training, and recently completed advanced clinical-level Orton-Gillingham training. Her journey into dyslexia education began personally, as she sought ways to help her bright and creative son who struggled with dyslexia.
For over thirty years, Nancy has had the privilege of teaching in public, private, homeschool, and Montessori settings—and even in a thatched-roofed classroom in Belize. In her first book, Woven: A Peace Corps Adventure Filled with Faith, Laughter, and Love, she shares her lighthearted adventures from the K’ekchi’ Mayan village where she lived.
Today, Nancy is the owner of Beautiful Brains Literacy, where she delights in teaching—and learning from—students with many kinds of beautiful brain wiring. She provides individualized literacy instruction at Fusion Academy in Leesburg and The Hill School in Middleburg, Virginia, and develops workshops for students, parents, and educators that promote a deeper understanding of neurodivergent learners.
The Idea Behind the Fiddler Crab
Nancy has come to think of dyslexia much like the uneven claws of a fiddler crab. The “small claw” represents the very real challenges dyslexic students may experience with reading, spelling, and writing. The “huge claw” represents the remarkable strengths that can accompany the dyslexic cognitive profile—including big-picture thinking, spatial reasoning, storytelling, creativity, and conceptual understanding.
Nancy believes students need help with both claws: explicit, evidence-based instruction for the skills that are difficult and ample opportunities to recognize, develop, and use the strengths they already possess.
This conviction grew from listening to her students. Inspired by autobiographical stories written by middle and high school students who had “survived” the misunderstanding, shame, and blame often associated with dyslexia, Nancy created The Dyslexic Fiddler Crab: A Survival Guide for Students. By telling their stories and hearing the stories of others, Wright, Kenyon, Katharine, Josh, Garrison, and Nora became powerful advocates for dyslexia—even while continuing to face its challenges themselves.
Work With Nancy
Through Beautiful Brains Literacy, Nancy offers individualized Orton-Gillingham tutoring, writing instruction, student dyslexia workshops, parent education, and professional development for educators.
Contact Nancy
nancyknor@gmail.com
240-446-1843
The Dyslexic Fiddler Crab 