Say Dyslexia Bill Resources

 

 

In July 2016, the state legislature passed the Say Dyslexia Bill. This bill states that school districts must screen students who may be exhibiting characteristics of dyslexia as well as any students referred for screening by parents or teachers. After analyzing the results, students showing characteristics of dyslexia should receive an intervention targeting skills deficits commonly associated with dyslexia. In our district, S.P.I.R.E. and the Small-Group Reading Instruction Model are used to address these deficits. Click the graphic above to watch a video and learn more about dyslexia.

​According to TedEd: "Dyslexia affects up to 1 in 5 people, but the experience of dyslexia isn't always the same. This difficulty in processing language exists along a spectrum -- one that doesn't necessarily fit with labels like "normal" and "defective." Kelli Sandman-Hurley urges us to think again about dyslexic brain function and to celebrate the neurodiversity of the human brain. "
Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin and is characterized by difficulties with accurate and fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.(1)  Dyslexia is a language-based condition rather than a vision-based condition. Students with dyslexia struggle with the relationship between letters and sounds. Because of this, they have a hard time decoding, or sounding out, unfamiliar words, and instead often misread them based on an over-reliance on their sight-word memory. Deficits are unexpected relative to cognitive abilities in that the student’s skills are lower than their overall ability and are not due to a lack of intelligence. Screening for characteristics of dyslexia is a proactive way to address skill deficits through appropriate interventions. Screening results that reflect characteristics of dyslexia do not necessarily mean that a student has dyslexia nor can dyslexia be diagnosed through a screening alone.

1 International Dyslexia Association (2002). http://eida.org/definition-of-dyslexia/
2 International Dyslexia Association https://dyslexiaida.org/dyslexia-basics/

 

Dyslexia Resources:
The actual bill that was passed & a letter drafted by our district to help explain dyslexia more clearly and offer parents resources to help as they work with their child at home can be found below. Click on the link to access these documents.

 Alphabet knowledge: Understanding that letters represent sounds that form words. 
Sound symbol recognition: Understanding that there is a predictable relationship between phonemes (sounds in spoken language) and graphemes (the letters that represent those sounds).
Resources:

1. Letters and sounds - activities for practice at home: Reading Rockets
2. http://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/:
This site has free games that can help your child recognize letters and letter sounds. 

Phonological awareness: The ability to identify and manipulate units of oral language - parts such as words, syllables, and beginning and ending sounds. Children who have phonological awareness are able to identify and make oral rhymes, can clap out the number of syllables in a word, and can recognize words with the same initial sounds like 'money and 'mother.' -- readingrockets.org
Resources:
1. http://www.readingrockets.org/helping/target/phonologicalphonemic
2. http://www.readingrockets.org/reading-topics/phonemic-awareness 

Phonics/decoding: Decoding is the ability to apply your knowledge of letter-sound relationships, including knowledge of letter patterns, to correctly pronounce written words. Understanding these relationships gives children the ability to recognize familiar words quickly and to figure out words they haven’t seen before. Phonics is one approach to reading instruction that teaches students the principles of letter-sound relationships, how to sound out words, and exceptions to the principles. – readingrockets.org
​Resources:
1. http://www.readingrockets.org/helping/target/phonics
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Spelling/Encoding Resources:

 Spelling is the ability to spell words correctly. Being able to see patterns in words and apply those patterns when spelling other words is important as students build their spelling skills.

  Resources:  https://bit.ly/3mJEtMb : Spelling activities and strategies to practice at home.

                      https://bit.ly/3uJT5ha - List of common spelling rules with explanations.

Fluency: The ability to read with speed, accuracy, and proper expression. In order to understand what they read, children must be able to read fluently whether they are reading aloud or silently. When reading aloud, fluent readers read in phrases and add intonation appropriately. Their reading is smooth and has expression. – readingrockets.org)
Resources: http://www.readingrockets.org/helping/target/fluency