01/03/2024
It’s time to do the right things for dyslexia rights.
This was published 21 years ago. It’s taking the schools around the world a very long time to “ pay attention , try harder, get motivated “ or learn more about dyslexia.
Here are some questions that society needs to address:
1. Which educators feel responsible to learn more to educate the students with dyslexia ?
2. Which schools feel responsible ?
3. What factors allowed the schools to not study the past 75 years of educational information related to literacy, dyslexia and the science of learning ?
4. How do union negotiations around the world impact an educators mindset about lifelong learning and the responsibility to learn more ?
5. Why are some professions required to maintain lifelong learning and others only learn if paid more with time from work ?
6. How will educators ever keep up if they don’t adopt a lifelong learning code of ethics like similar professions ?
Too many educators are lightyears behind in knowledge with no accountability to prove they know how to teach Tier 1 literacy and numeracy.
7. Are students with dyslexia part of the whole school or only the responsibility of select teachers ?
8. What needs to be done in earlier grades when so many high school teachers express concerns about the amount of students arriving at high school with below grade level reading, writing, spelling and math skills ? Colleges express the same concerns.
9. Do schools take a longitudinal look at struggling learners in grades K-5 as they perform in middle school and high school ? Australia has looked into this.
10. Who is going to address the massive responsibility of better literacy instruction for the K-5 teachers ?
Should schools hire and train literacy experts for each grade because literacy is so critical ? It’s too risky for any child to have a general Ed teacher who is not skilled enough to teach literacy.
Should the school invest money and training for all teachers or focus on the teachers who have more skill, will and drive to learn the complexities of literacy ? Hire literacy experts. Let the gen ed teacher handle other class needs.
11. Should every elementary school offer a transitional kindergarten to support students who need more language-based help ?
What happens to all the children ages 3 to 5.5 who truly need pre-literacy supports from Speech and Language Pathologists?
The USA schools are suppose to serve those children. This is a massive dark hole in the system. Very few parents know about this. We need a much better system to identify and support all the children who may be at risk of learning struggles. Early intervention is truly missing.
12. Wouldn’t it be better to hire literacy and numeracy experts for all grades while the USA teachers get up to speed in teacher training ? What can we do to train many more literacy and numeracy experts to coach all educators ?
The pressure is now on the K-5 teachers who may have their own weakness in literacy and numeracy if they graduated from our schools. Maybe we need experts instead.
13. Can dyslexic students have full access to an education when the majority of educators do not have enough expertise in dyslexia, dyscalculia , dysgraphia and executive functions ?
14. How many students are moved from grade to grade with reduced expectations so they can graduate from high school without ever receiving proper remediation ?
How many of those students do not graduate from the Community Colleges they are encouraged to attend?
Do high schools ignore the true transition goals knowing they can send any struggling student to a community college so their statistics look good ?
Does instant access to community college allow schools to drop the responsibility to prepare students with proper reading, writing and math skills ?
How many students need remedial help at college ? Where is all this data ? Is it even collected ?
Some countries have far more supports at the college level than the USA offers.
How many dyslexic students graduate from high school without getting proper remediation for reading, written expression, math, executive functions or life skills ?
What factors are at play that allows a mindset of passing students from grade to grade, encouraging lower level classes, receiving lower expectations and accommodations instead of true remediation ?
15. How does all of this impact the academic, social, emotional, financial, vocational lives of the dyslexic students ?
Why is the well-being of the student and family so easily overlooked in this process even when concerns are voiced ?
How does the concept arise to make a collective group decision of moral exclusion ?
How do statements such as “the system is broken, union contract problems, we are not funded, this is the best we can do” allow people to feel this is an acceptable set of practices for a group of students ?
How many unions are not supportive of literacy improvements or dyslexia /human rights because their main focus and agenda is on teacher salary, cost of living allowance, health care premiums, maternity/paternity/, pensions, tenure and all related benefits ?
How does outdated Tier 1 literacy instruction impact students with dyslexia in elementary, middle and high school ?
16. Which schools are willing to talk about this with transparency in different countries? Australia is looking at longitudinal studies to see how struggling elementary students perform in high school.
17. How can we get educational leaders to address all of these questions ?
18. What other questions do you have ?
19. When will they ask the creative dyslexic adults for input ?
20. How is it possible that 21 years have passed since this Time magazine was published and the USA schools are not held accountable ?
How is it possible that almost 150 years of dyslexia research and news is ignored by so many schools?
21. What are the factors that allowed schools to not study the past 75 years of information related to the science of learning, literacy, numeracy and more ?
Dr.Pamela Snow in Australia has written articles on how all other professions are held accountable by license laws, yet educators do not need to prove adequate expertise. No other profession gets paid professional development at work and instead must prove lifelong learning standards.
Here is a USA research article from educational leaders in the 1960’s expressing concerns that too many schools are not taking action to follow best literacy practices.
This 172 page document is still relevant today : https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED297290.pdf
What factors allowed them to ignore the journals, books, webinars, conferences, literature, seminars, workshops and more ?
How can they be light years behind in knowledge while private schools have implemented far better instruction with greater ease ?
What factors allow them not to feel the need to stay up-to-date even when free information was readily available ?
How does a percentage of educators get away with such a remarkable lack of knowledge while other educators have studied and developed expertise ? It’s so highly unprofessional.
The Google search bar is 25 years old so people can look anything up to know better and do better. The ERIC has offered free education news since 1962. Numerous professional organizations have given free education news for 50 to 75 years.
How is it possible these people made a choice not to learn when their job is to help kids learn ?
22. How will society come to terms with this pocket of shame that excellent schools with fabulous teachers have created a system of moral exclusion and dehumanization? We hold our schools in such high regard. However, society will need to address the historical way students and families with learning differences have been treated.
23. All concerned people should review this critical document from the 1950-1960 era showing the same concerns were discussed back in that time by educational leaders.
They actually put in writing they are deeply concerned about the lack of action towards helping dyslexic students who are “ ignored, mislabeled denied help, not properly educated “ by schools.
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED297290.pdf
24. We can only hope that a neurodiversity rights movement will help students feel valued, welcomed, supported, accepted, understood and fully educated. Clearly schools will need to hire dyslexia experts. Society will need to find ways to encourage more young adults who want to enter education fields.
25. It’s a shameful situation that students with learning differences plus families have suffered so much trauma that society has not yet talked about. The USA had to create laws and state agencies to protect parental rights. It’s very sad that people had to develop support groups to survive. Educator Sanford Shapiro addressed this before he passed away. We honor his integrity, honesty and compassion.
26. When discussing dyslexia, we must also include related topics of students with dyscalculia, dysgraphia, dyspraxia and executive function needs. All of these are interconnected. The terms may vary based on each country.
27. The questions listed here have been written about in books and discussed by large agencies. A number of movies have been produced too. People are familiar if they are part of the global dyslexia community. However, most of society is not yet fully aware unless a celebrity makes a public statement about their childhood school trauma from unsupported dyslexia.
Anyone can learn more here :
International Dyslexia Association
National Center on Improving Literacy
EarlyBird Education
Center for Reading
Reach Every Reader
Five From Five
Sortegories
Understood
Reading Rockets
Reading Universe
MTSU Center for Dyslexia
Decoding Dyslexia-MA
Decoding Dyslexia,
The Reading League
95 Percent Group LLC
Dyslexia Canada, Dyslexia Ireland, Dyslexia Scotland, British Dyslexia Association , European Dyslexia Association
Made By Dyslexia,
Dyslexic Advantage.
Landmark Outreach
Cox Campus
TX Reads
Iowa Reading Research Center
The Florida Center for Reading Research
University of Florida Literacy Institute
People who need professional advocacy help can go here : Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc. and Wrightslaw
Anyone can get supports from Decoding Dyslexia.
Do the right things for neurodiversity rights from 2024 onward.
The book “ Overcoming Dyslexia” by the Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity was published over 20 years ago. It’s time⏰ to do the right things to help the 1 in 5 dyslexic students in each classroom. Dr. Shaywitz testified to explain we don’t have a knowledge gap. We have an action gap.
145 years worth.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/3582953958583235?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=unfATTTSiPk
🚀🚀🎤 https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/dyslexia/articles/dyslexia-and-brain-what-does-current-research-tell-us?
https://podm8.com/podcasts/science-of-reading-the-podcast
https://www.flipsnack.com/B88EAE88B7A/perspectives-winter-2024/full-view.html
We are volunteers. Please consult with professionals.
We don’t have all the answers to the questions we posed here. It’s up to each individual educator to decide that every brain matters.
The people who tell you the lack of dyslexia help is due to lack of funding, resources or staff are often the people who have a lack of desire and drive to learn more on their own.
