OnTrack Reading

Why would there be a “policy piece” to the dyslexia puzzle? If you have a dyslexic child you’re being affected by government policies in a multitude of ways.

You might have noticed it is difficult to get your school to use the word “dyslexia.” Schools treat dyslexia as a medical issue, that is, as a diagnosis of a condition over which they have no control. It’s like if your child has a broken leg, or asthma, or 20/200 vision in one eye; these are matters that, while they must be accommodated by school personnel, are not the school’s problem. The same holds with dyslexia, even though the first hint that your child has dyslexia very likely came from a kindergarten or first grade teacher working with your child.

To avoid using the word dyslexia, schools must find some other way (within the bounds of existing law) to tell you that your child isn’t learning to read as easily as his peers but without telling you that he’s probably dyslexic. And trust me, they know that he’s dyslexic. They see case after case after case, most presenting similarly. In smaller, rural schools, the experienced teachers even know which kids are most likely to be dyslexic because they taught the parents a couple of decades earlier. Remember, dyslexia runs in families, and experienced teachers are well aware of this.

So, how does the school let you know that your child is in trouble? Eventually they test his reading skills and report the results to you. Of course, you want something done about it. That’s when you find yourself confronted with policies again, this time federal ones.

In this chapter of the Guide, which I call The Policy Piece, I will try to explain what you are running up against when you try to get your public school to do something about your child’s obvious reading problem, regardless of whether they are willing to call it dyslexia.

The first page, The Discrepancy Model, explains the present situation in public schools. Then the following page, Response to Intervention - RTI, explains what you are likely to face soon, as schools adjust to a recent change in the federal law governing special education.

Later pages will deal with school-level and state-level policy changes that would go a long way toward helping dyslexic children achieve their true academic potential, a potential that I believe equals the potential of non-dyslexic children.

Next: The Discrepancy Model, or return to the OnTrack Reading Home Page.