“It is reprehensible that California is one of 10 states that doesn’t screen for dyslexia,” said Portantino. “The issue isn’t going away. Every year we don’t screen first-graders is another class lost. Shame on us.” Despite some high hopes this past year, a bill for...
Huge Win for Dyslexia in Federal Court
Federal Court Orders Clark County School District to Reimburse Parents $456,000. A federal court has ordered a school district to reimburse a family that had accumulated significant expenses to document their student's educational needs with dyslexia, ADHD, and...
Students Untested Due to Pandemic
A recent article has sounded the alarm that schools and entire school districts are unable to assess and meet the needs of LD students. As an example, after a math teacher raised a question that a student was dyslexic, a parent initiated a process last January to have...
Response to Intervention RTI Hurts Students with Dyslexia
RTI or Response To Intervention is currently the dominant approach to reading instruction in public schools across the United States (over 70% of school districts), but in a just-released progress report funded by the Department of Education from the Institute of...
Dyslexia Laws 2021
Here's our 2021 snapshot of Passed Dyslexia Laws in the US. This is a rapidly changing time for dyslexia legislation, so please update us with corrections, changes, or newly passed laws. Huge thanks to the Dyslexic Advantage community, Decoding Dyslexia, and other...
NASP Publishes Advice About Dyslexia Screening [Premium]
NASP or the National Association of School Psychologists recently published an article entitled: “Four Dyslexia Screening Myths That Cause More Harm Than Good in Preventing Reading Failure and What You Can Do Instead.” As many of you who are involved in dyslexia advocacy know, NASP holds a great deal of influence over school psychologists. At […]
Surviving IEP Season [Premium]
IEP season usually runs from late March through early June, and it’s a time when parents and teachers meet with the IEP team to assess the past year’s progress and also plan for changes that should take place for the upcoming year. Be aware, too, that we have a new Supreme Court decision that is […]
GREAT Supreme Court Decision – Schools Must Provide More Support for Students with Disabilities
A GREAT Supreme Court Unanimous (8-0) was handed down that states that public schools must provide more than 'de minimus' or the bare minimum to benefit students with disabilities. The fact that some school systems (in this case, Douglas County) were fighting the...
Why It’s Important to Say Dyslexia But Also Support Its Strengths
What is Dyslexia? Dyslexia is a brain-based learning difference with a strong genetic basis. It characterized by unexpected difficulties in fluent reading and specific patterns of difficulty with writing, spelling, and sometimes math as well as strengths in...
States Fall Short on First Professional Teacher Trainings for Dyslexia
So it's begun: states like South Carolina have begun making their first professional development for teachers explaining what dyslexia is and how teachers can meet their needs of the students in their classrooms. It's a start. However, if you look at the modules (see...