In Alabama, the state and the school districts refuse providing services for dyslexic students. It seems to be sink or swim. I wonder if the Alabama Correctional System knows that demand for their services can be reduced by effectively educating people to read? (Paging Judge Karen Cole to Alabama, stat!)
Once again, the Scottish Rite Masons are stepping up to the plate, and providing free dyslexia remediation services.
Dyslexia almost always goes unidentified in Alabama schools....[but] more than 20,000 students in Alabama public schools struggle with a severe form of dyslexia. The number of those who struggle but could learn to read under the right conditions could be much higher.
Children of the Code has a remarkable interview with Dr. Peter Leone on the connection between crime and schools' failure to teach children to read.
The invisible disability
Alabama schools won't accept that dyslexia exists
Sunday, March 06, 2005
By CHALLEN STEPHENS
Times Staff Writer, [email protected]
Throughout Alabama, thousands of bright children struggle with the written word in public schools that don't recognize or test for dyslexia. The children have trouble spelling, connecting sounds to letters and remembering what words mean.
Most can be taught to read, but many of them are falling behind.
"The teachers aren't trained," complains Lorraine Fredrick, a mother seated at the rear of the monthly meeting of the local dyslexia support group. In which school system aren't the teachers trained? "All of them," comes the immediate chorus of about 20 parents and grandparents. "The United States," says Fredrick.
Frustrated parents say school officials fight providing their children with extra help because of the potential expense of treating a puzzling disability that may affect as many as one out of every 10 children. Cheryl Jones, a professional parent advocate, explained schools' position as she sees it: "If we assess it, then we have to address it. And sometimes we are not sure what to do with it, because there are several forms of dyslexia."
State officials say federal law does not list dyslexia as a special education category. Otherwise, public schools would be required to offer special services, as they do for autism and other recognized disabilities.
"Teachers are kind of in a bind," Dr. Denise Gibbs tells the support group gathered at Asbury United Methodist Church in Madison. As director of the Scottish Rite Foundation of Alabama Learning Centers, Gibbs travels the state training teachers and diagnosing dyslexic students.
Gibbs says schools have to wait until a child's achievement trails the child's IQ to provide extra help through special education. That means waiting for dyslexia to disrupt reading and drop grades while the child falls behind his classmates.
"Immeasurably and irretrievably behind," Gibbs tells the parents.
Teachers, who aren't qualified to diagnose students, often don't notice the problem until the third grade, she says. However, children should be identified in first grade to receive intense language lessons before the grades plummet.
But if a parent doesn't seek a diagnosis from Gibbs or someone else outside the school system, dyslexia almost always goes unidentified in Alabama schools.
No cure
Gibbs, who has a doctorate in special education, defines dyslexia this way: "It's a learning disability that occurs in students who are not retarded but have trouble reading because they have trouble with the sounds that make up words."
Letter reversals are a common symptom. For example, a child sees a "b" when the letter is a "d." But many young children flip letters. It doesn't mean they're dyslexic. Rather, dyslexia hinders reading and thinking in much broader ways.
For some dyslexic children, reading aloud or making rhymes may be impossible. For others, connecting meaning to a word or putting words in sequence is difficult. For many, spelling is a challenge. There can be trouble with short-term memory, organization, even telling left from right.
Dyslexia never goes away. Although there is no cure, there are proved pathways to improvement.
Many dyslexic children can learn to read with special lessons that break up the parts of words, link words to pictures, provide the rules of pronunciation and involve most of the senses.
Yet not all public schools guarantee this type of instruction. And between any two Alabama school systems, there is little agreement on how to handle kids who clearly can't read well but don't fit one of the state's disability categories.
Unspoken disability
"We get a lot of calls from families or teachers about dyslexia because they think it is part of special education," said Dr. Julia Causey, special education coordinator for the Alabama Department of Education. "Just because you have that label that does not mean you meet other criteria" for special education services.
School officials argue that federal law does not require schools to provide extra help if the student doesn't qualify based on testing for special education.
Dr. Katherine Mitchell, a state assistant superintendent, said the Alabama Reading Initiative and a program called Language! are designed to help all kids who struggle to read. She also said educators don't agree on a definition of dyslexia. The disorder comprises too many symptoms.
So, is there such a thing as dyslexia?
Mitchell avoids the term. "A syndrome exists that has an organic base that causes kids to struggle," she said. "Learning how to read is 10 times more difficult for them. "Whatever their label, they are having trouble learning how to read. The struggle is real and it is frustrating."
Local educators are left to follow state leaders' view of dyslexia. "It's not recognized at all," said Dr. Barry Carroll, superintendent of Limestone County Schools. "It makes it difficult to deal with the situation because there are no approved programs. Certainly, I think it's a real problem."
Parent learning curve
Angie Hood tells the same story as many parents across the state: You see the low grades. You talk to the child, you know he knows the answers.
You wait. Nothing improves. He's in second grade now. He still can't write his address but could give you directions to his house. Exasperated, you pay for private tests. You carry the dyslexia diagnosis to the school.
"They said we can't accept these. These are not our tests," says Hood, recalling her experience five years ago at West Madison Elementary. Mary Long, principal at the time, remembers Hood but said she can't comment on an individual child.
In general, Long said: "We take them through all the proper procedures at looking at eligibility for services. We've got state guidelines to follow."
The school starts with a team of teachers and administrators, who recommend changes in the classroom. After six weeks, they meet again to recommend more changes or maybe screening for special education.
Eventually, said Hood, the school tested Hood's son for a learning disability. He tested too high for special education, so there were no services for him. School officials told her he was fine, she said. "But he wasn't fine. He was failing reading," said Hood.
You persist. You study the disability, the suggested teaching methods. You haggle over accommodations and special lessons. You set up camp at the school. You attend meeting after meeting, "coming out feeling like you've been sucker-punched. They'd say they were going to do things and they wouldn't," said Hood.
You notice time passing. You check your savings. You can sue the system. Or you can switch to private school. Hood chose private school.
Then she and two other mothers started the North Alabama dyslexia support group. The group counts 118 members on the e-mail list now.
A medical diagnosis?
Amy Sledge, director of special education for Huntsville, can't say how many dyslexic students attend city schools. She says that's because dyslexia is not one of the 13 disabilities listed in federal law.
But child advocates are quick to argue that dyslexia is a well-established learning disorder. It is not mysterious. The disability has been mapped through brain imaging in the last decade.
"A lot of information has come forward in the last 20 years and it hasn't reached everybody," says Jerry Burfit. "In some areas you just get an absolute deaf ear."
Burfit is president of the Alabama Scottish Rite Foundation, which is the charitable arm of the chapter of the Masons. The group made dyslexia its exclusive focus four years ago.
From 2001 to 2003, the group diagnosed 695 Alabama children and trained 3,868 teachers to better help those children.
There is no definitive count of how many students cope with the disability. Alabama, like most states, doesn't track them.
"Some schools systems will say it's a medical diagnosis and they don't have to test for it. It is under specific learning disability in federal law and school systems have to test for it," said Jones, the parent advocate.
Jones works for SEAC or the Special Education Action Committee of North Alabama.
Using a federal grant, the small outfit informs parents about their child's right to a free and appropriate education. Jones, occasionally brought in to represent a parent, will tell a reluctant principal: "If y'all don't have a test for it then y'all are going to have to pay for it."
Splitting hairs
What does it take to be recognized? For parents and school officials, the battle often hinges on the interpretation of federal law.
State officials contend that Congress didn't make dyslexia a separate category for special education services, that a diagnosis of dyslexia from an outside source doesn't change that. No federal category, no federal guarantee of special services, they say.
But a few parents and advocates answer that dyslexia is indeed listed in both the Code of Federal Regulations and the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Some of this confusion can be explained by two ways of talking about the same disorder.
Alabama does work with children who have trouble with language and qualify for special education. "Specific learning disability" is the official federal category for reading delays that can't be explained by retardation or brain injury.
It is correct to say there is no stand-alone category for dyslexia.
But section 602 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act uses the term. It can be found there as an example of a "specific learning disability."
"Such term," reads the act, "includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia."
Frustration
For many children, qualifying for special education isn't always an answer, anyway. Schools may offer extra lessons in a "resource room" among students with unrelated disabilities, from Down's syndrome to traumatic brain injury.
Teachers "told me, you don't want him in there," said Jennifer Stone, "because that's what a lot of our special education kids are. They're behavioral problems." Instead, she said her 9-year-old son, Garrett, at Sylvania High School, has been watching the dyslexia videotapes from the Scottish Rite. The Scottish Rite offers free copies to schools without other dyslexia programs. But Stone said they haven't helped her son. "I do watch them. They are very boring."
Dyslexia researchers say it takes a specific diagnosis, a well-matched curriculum and a trained teacher for a dyslexic child to learn to read. According to researchers, dyslexia must be diagnosed early so children can be trained to cope before they fall behind.
From Limestone County to Jackson County, parents grow frustrated with few programs and the lack of acknowledgment.
"They told me it was state law that dyslexia was not a learning disability," said Vickie Gant, whose son, Tyler, attends Section School in Jackson County. "I'm tired of going up against a brick wall."
Gant said her son is grouped with special education kids who do not have dyslexia. "Last week he begged me not to make him go to school," she said. "He's a regular 13-year-old that likes to skateboard and play video games."
From Athens to Guntersville, parents turn away from public schools. But that's not an option for everyone.
"Sometimes I think home schooling would be the best way to go, but I am not a stay-at-home mom," wrote Marty Richardson in an e-mail about her son and his experiences at Guntersville Elementary School. "It would be very difficult to work his school into our schedule and I don't make enough at my job to send him to a private school."
How many have it?
Alabama is not alone in its reluctance to search for dyslexic students.
"I realize Alabama sometimes takes some hits for being at the bottom at some lists; the good news/bad news here is Alabama's got company," said Tom Viall, head of the International Dyslexia Association in Baltimore.
Because most states do not recognize or test for dyslexia, they also don't track how many kids are diagnosed with dyslexia by outside agencies or doctors. Across the country, there are few reliable counts.
Gibbs tells the support group that researchers estimate between 10 percent and 20 percent of the population is somewhat affected.
But that estimate encompasses all sorts of struggling readers. For one child, dyslexia may mean he reads slowly. For another child, dyslexia may mean he will never be able to read well.
In her studies, Yale neuroscientist SallyShaywitz also found no one tracked dyslexia, instead citing U.S. Department of Education figures that show 2 million school-age children qualify for special education for reading difficulties. She said the vast majority are likely to have some form of dyslexia, but many more dyslexic students never qualify for special education.
Viall uses his own numbers. The International Dyslexia Association, founded in 1949, claims 14,000 U.S. members, as well as thousands more in 60 other countries.
As head of the nation's oldest dyslexia group, Viall estimates 3 to 5 percent of the population has a debilitating form of dyslexia, meaning they will never be skilled readers.Using Viall's low estimate of 3 percent, that would mean more than 20,000 students in Alabama public schools struggle with a severe form of dyslexia. The number of those who struggle but could learn to read under the right conditions could be much higher.
"Why is this all of a sudden such an issue? Well, our economy has changed dramatically in one generation," said Viall, pointing out dyslexia wouldn't interfere in many factory or trade jobs. But most service jobs today require the ability to read, said Viall, even driving a forklift or checking out video rentals.
"A disability is a disability only if a society values that thing you don't do well," said Viall.
His organization suggests a new system where dyslexic students occupy a middleground between special education and general education, a system where teachers are trained to spot struggling readers in first grade. Those children are then sent for extra help in a "median tier," instead of being funneled into special education or held back.
"In every school building in America you have 10, 15, 20 percent of your kids who are going to fall into this group," Viall said of students affected in some way. "We know that there are ways we can teach those kids. The key is to identify them early."
Through the cracks
As Gibbs crosses the state diagnosing children and training teachers, working for a charity that neither answers to parents nor the schools, she has grown encouraged.
"Everything is coming to bear in such a good way now for dyslexic kids," she said. Some small systems, such as Madison city and Lauderdale County, have begun to accept dyslexia as a diagnosis, even opening programs for kids who don't otherwise qualify for special education.
So Gibbs worries that if dyslexia were suddenly recognized as a separate disability by the state, kids would receive the special education label but not necessarily the right help.
"I don't think that's something we should aspire to," said Gibbs. Instead, she promotes teacher training and early intervention.
Special education teacher Margaret Petty offers an unusual perspective.
Last summer, Petty took training to instruct dyslexic children at Rainbow Elementary in Madison. Petty makes an understanding teacher - she is dyslexic.
As a child, she learned the old-fashioned way. "Back then they didn't know what dyslexia was. It was, 'Just try harder.' " Today there are more diagnostic tests. More schools are training more teachers, even parents are becoming more aware, said Petty. But, she said, school systems need to do more to help children at the earliest ages.
Should dyslexia be recognized as a separate special education category? "Yes," said Petty, pausing briefly. "These kids sometimes fall through the cracks. You spend most of your life thinking you are stupid."
Seems to me that this is a clear violation of the IDEA.
Posted by: Bill | Monday, March 07, 2005 at 06:14 AM
My son is dyslexic and I have been able to help him with his school work until this year. We have spoken to the school about putting him under the 504 plan. The school explained to me that because he was not failing he did not qualify. He is a bright child but can not fluently read. His math does not come easily either. He is in the 6th grade and without the accomodations his teachers have given over the years he would have failed. I am very thankful for their help but I know with each year and so many different teachers during a trimester he is going to fall through the cracks. He has a good spirit and I do not want that to be broken. I understand the 504 plan would give him the protection for the accomodations he needs.
Written report instead of coping from the board. More time for math. Less reading projects or just more audible books. I don't know what our next step will be.
Posted by: Delane Milligan | Tuesday, January 23, 2007 at 07:52 PM
I am the parent of a dyslexic child. I am soooo tired of trying to get these school administrators to recongnize that he is dyslexic. Now at the age of 14, his confidence is getting pretty low because he is not retarded, but the accommodations that are susposedly being made for him are for retarded children. I refuse to stop fighgting for him, although I know it's a long road in Alabama!
Posted by: melanie | Friday, June 08, 2007 at 12:02 PM
y darling dyslexic daughter will be starting college in the fall. Never give up!
I'd like to share some more resources with you
If your son's reading is still delayed, you may want to investigate the Barton Reading & Spelling system
http://www.bartonreading.com/
It has been well received by the SchwabLearning parents, below
One is the online resource and community at SchwabLearning
http://www.schwablearning.org/index.asp
There's a parents' discussion group there too:
http://www.schwablearning.org/message_boards/index.aspx
They just published a short essay I wrote
http://www.schwablearning.org/articles.aspx?r=1143
Another resource is Wrightslaw
http://www.wrightslaw.com/
This can help you with the School district
Posted by: Liz Ditz | Friday, June 08, 2007 at 12:31 PM
My son Logan is 10 years old and is dyslexic.
We have been to meeting after meeting
at our public school. We live in
Chelsea, Alabama. At the end of the year
the talk at Chelsea was how excited everyone
was bout clustering all the gifted children
together. My heart just dropped, I had
been seeking help for my son for three years. We have decided to try Spring Valley
School for dyslexia.
Posted by: Krista Guy | Tuesday, July 17, 2007 at 10:02 AM
My son is turning seven. He is scheduled to take the test with the scottish Rites in Oct. i also live in Chelsea. The teacher told me there' snothing thatthe school can do, and the administration has not phoned me back. I am interested in advise on whatI should do. I fear thatthis is going to be such a long process that he will suffer educationally. I am just in teh beginning stages of this so lessons learned would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Posted by: Tracy | Tuesday, September 04, 2007 at 07:29 PM
Hi Tracy -- welcome to the wonderful world of language differences! My daughter is dyslexic and just started college, so there is hope.
I'd suggest you go to four websites for help immediately:
1. For help and guidance in dealing with the school district, I would recommend Peter Wright's disabilities and the law page, Wrightslaw
http://www.wrightslaw.com/
I'd also order his book, "from Emotions to Advocacy", training you how to interact with the school district.
2. For a parents' forum filled with knowledgeable people who have marched further down this road, I'd recommend the SchwabLearning Parents' Forum:
http://www.schwablearning.org/message_boards/index.aspx
The main page,
http://www.schwablearning.org
is also a goldmine of helpful articles
3. Susan Barton's main website, Bright Solutions for Dyslexia
http://www.dys-add.com/
has a number of informative videos that willl help you understand your son's issues
4. Susan Barton's homebased reading program, Barton Reading & Spelling, may be more available to you than the excellent Scottish Rite program, as it allows you to intervene more intensively than the Scottish Rite program (I believe).
http://www.bartonreading.com/
Posted by: Liz D. | Thursday, September 06, 2007 at 12:48 PM
The link to the original Huntsville Times article is dead, but the article part of larger series of articles on Dyslexia published they published that is archived on Greengate School's website here: http://www.greengateschool.org/articles/
Posted by: John Allen | Friday, January 25, 2008 at 04:03 PM
My child was tested through the Scottish Rites Foundation and we recieved little help from the school for my than 5 years now because he was making B's and C's. They had to do there on test when he was in the 5th grade. He passed it as it took him 4 hours to take it because he wanted to get it right. After he started failing Algebra they tested him again. They even suggested that maybe he wasn't Dyslexic anymore. Nothing had changed in reading but he was still doing really good in his other classes. Now he is placed in some classes that are moving slower. We are very happy so far because even in AlgebraII and the other classes he has A's. He has a very high IQ when he was tested so he deals with this very well it just takes longer that other students do. They still aren't helping with the reading though. We were told be Jefferson County Board the it is not reconignized as a disabilty.
Posted by: April | Sunday, August 31, 2008 at 05:08 PM
When will help ever come for children with dyslexia. I need grant money for this child. The expense to send him to a school for lerning disabilities is costing me $5,000 per year on a social security and small retirement check.
Posted by: Bennie J. Riley | Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 11:30 PM
I just found out my 14yr.old might have dyslexia.I took her to sylvan learning center for an assessment,i wish you could have seen the look on my face when she told me she thought my baby had dyslexia.I was speechless,but finally it wasnt just a reading disabilty,thats what her school had been calling it for 5yrs.now!I have been doing lots of research the one thing i do know,its going to be very expensive to get her the help she needs.I am an un-educated woman myself i have a minimum wage paying job i can barely pay my bills,but all i can think about is helping my child as any mom would do but'what do you do when you have no money to do that?if anyone has any advice please HELP!THANK YOU
Posted by: misty bright | Friday, January 08, 2010 at 01:09 PM
Dont go with sylvan,rip off,been there done that,all they want is you're money,better to order program on line,www.bright solutions.com
Posted by: debra McDonald | Thursday, February 25, 2010 at 08:40 AM
My grandson is dyslexic,been fighting for him since kindergarden,alabama schools will not help,they just aren't up on dyslexia and don't want to take the time,its a terrible thing to need help so bad and no one will listen,I don't understand how they can watch a child struggle so and not want to help,these children will have to support themselves on day and a family what is wrong with alabama????the teachers arent trained to deal with this and they think the children are just lazy and forget on purpose,thats a shame on their part,no two children learn alike,my grand son tries so hard,we work at homework for hours everynight,he forgot to give one teacher his homework which was a 100 point grand and he gave it to her a day late,she gave him a zero,he recieved nothing for all the hard work he had done,he has to work ten times harder just to get a passing grade,I help him and I know how hard we work and its not easy for either of us,I know he sees me as the bad guy because he has to study so long....i just dont want to see him give up and he is beginnig to because the teachers make it so ruff for him when he is doing his best,why can't they see that?He is in the fifth grade now at a blount county school.....How can you make these people understand,are there any speakes any where that may be allowed to go to the school to teach the teachers...please help us.....
Posted by: debra McDonald | Thursday, February 25, 2010 at 08:52 AM
Our story is pretty much like everyone else. I paid out of my pocket 2000.00 when my son was in 2nd grade for him to be tested for dyslexia. He is 70% both sides. I am not really sure what that means other than "he loses translation from head to hand. If he could "talk" everything he would have no problems. Mt. Olive Elem. pushed him thru to get rid of ME. Bragg Middle School was great. Ms Green one of the IEP teachers was wonderful. Well now we are at Gardendale High School and going down hill quickly. They are to "good" for special ed. there. 09-10 school yr the school decided there was no need for inclusion classes. The case worker was fresh out of college and had no clue. the special ed supervisor was afraid he might have to do some work and therefore my son was left to figure it out. I have heard lazy, not trying, you name we have heard it. Now he feels like he is just STUPID. I tell he they are not him. He now has been made fun of (bullied)by other kids. He report this to the office (following protocal) and no help there. They kept on til my son got into a fight. Well the school and jefferson county board thinks he should go to alternative school for 15 days. "He has an anger problem." I refused and withdrew him and started homeschooling. NOT WORKING for us. I am no teacher and I try but can not explain for him to understand. I have asked for the board to reconsider and no response. Shock right. Trying to find a school, program something that can help him that is low cost. My husband laid off work due to economy and my work cut back my hours. I would perfer he finish high school instead of getting a GED and going to work at whatever he can find. This is suppose to be the land of the free and oppernunity. This is only for people with money or no "Learning Disabilities". Any suggestions on what to do next? Thought about getting attorney but no money for retainer and what would he do? HELP US PLEASS
Posted by: Kita McCarty | Wednesday, August 04, 2010 at 11:07 AM
Hi,
My daughter Katie is 8, in the second grade and struggling so with her reading. I have known from the begining of her 1st grade year that things were not quite right in her understanding of letters and spelling. Phonics is also something she struggles with. Her teachers in Tuscaloosa were concerned but not helpful at all. I kept asking what and where could I go to find her help. She repeated the 1st grade because of her reading difficulties. We have moved from Tuscaloosa to Athens Al and she is attending a new school. I had a phone conferance with her teacher yeaterday and we discussed our concerns. I told her that I had just found out that my father-in-law was dislexic and wondered if Katie could be also. She said she was so glad that I brought it up first. She told me to contact the Scottish Rite Foundation to gain information on testing. I called them today and Katie has an appointment for testing in Jan. I'm really concerned and worried about what to expect. I know that her teacher suggested to have her tested but can I rely on her school to give her the help she needs if she has dyslexia. What do I need to do to prepare myself and Katie for what may come?
Thanks
Posted by: Donna Killen | Tuesday, September 28, 2010 at 09:45 PM