Twelve-year old Moore, of North Brunswick, N.J., decided to use his dyslexia to his advantage and collect and donate 801 books to the PSE&G Children's Specialized Hospital in New Brunswick and the Children's Specialized Hospital Outpatient Center at Hamilton. The Hamilton facility has helped him overcome his own difficulties with reading.

Ryan helped organize a book fair in May at the North Brunswick Barnes & Noble, and had his favorite author, Tracey West, of the Pokémon series fame, appear for a meet-and-greet.

“It feels good,” Ryan says of donating so many reading, puzzle, reference and adult books to the hospitals.

Because Ryan received occupational therapy from the Hamilton facility of the hospital for three years for dysgraphia and hypotonia, which affect motor skills and muscle tone, he chose to donate the books to that facility. Children's Specialized Hospital, which opened a new wing in New Brunswick, services any child with any disability, whether from a brain injury, car accident, birth defect, etc.

The books were boxed into 27 copy paper boxes and about 11 boxes of books, or about 300, were delivered to the newly built New Brunswick location. Ryan's family and Rabbi Eric Milgram of Temple B'nai Shalom in East Brunswick helped deliver the books.

“The project represents Ryan's giving back to the community in such a meaningful way – to help other children,” says Amy B. Mansue, president and CEO of Children's Specialized Hospital. “He is a fine young man who understands the importance of pediatric therapy and how it will help them be more successful in life. His gifts give back in a very special way.”

Children's Specialized Hospital, an affiliate member of the Robert Wood Johnson Health System, is the largest pediatric rehabilitation hospital in the country. It provides care to children with chronic illnesses and disabilities, and health care professionals evaluate and treat learning, language or hearing problems, developmental delays, and behavior or attention problems and sports injuries. The hospital offers brain injury, spinal cord, educational technology and outpatient services.

The books will be used by patients and families, either at the Family Resource Center in New Brunswick or in the outpatient therapy waiting room in Hamilton.

“We couldn't be more proud of Ryan's success, both in his therapy and his donation efforts. He has certainly made significant strides, and his decision to help our patients exemplifies his giving spirit,” Mansue says.

Moore was unable to recognize words when he was younger, but now the seventhgrade student at Newgrange School in Hamilton loves to read, especially the Henry Winkler series “Hank Zipzer,” based on the actor's own dyslexia, and the Pokémon books.

“It's cool,” Ryan says of his bar mitzvah project. “The books are available and they can help [patients].”

Ryan also got a personal tour of the new wing of the New Brunswick hospital, which he says was “fun.”

Source: Jennifer Amato/ North Brunswick Sentinel