|
 |
| |
Do Georgia Schools Recognize Dyslexia?
Dyslexia is the most common learning disability,
estimated to affect between 10 to 20% of students (depending on severity requirements for diagnosis). Yet
despite the rather high frequency of this learning disability, misinformation—and myths—abound. One
of the most frustrating pieces of information I routinely hear parents report is that school personnel tell them schools do
not recognize dyslexia as a learning disability. I have even spoken to school psychologists who claim that
it is not necessary to identify a child’s reading disability as ‘dyslexia,’ because the school can provide
the write intervention without knowing that it is dyslexia (a notion that I cannot professionally support, due in large part
to the many students with dyslexia I have seen that have not received the appropriate intervention from their school).
Thankfully, it appears that the Georgia Department of Education has recognized that it is, in fact, important to recognize
and acknowledge dyslexia where it exists. This month I would like to help parents know exactly where to
go, on the internet, to find the documentation they need that shows that the Georgia Department of Education does
expect schools to recognize dyslexia as one of the specific learning disabilities.
Begin by going to the Georgia Department of Education
website at www.doe.k12.ga.us. Click on the ‘About GaDOE’ link at the top of the page. Find
the ‘Standards, Instruction, and Assessment’ subheading, then click on the “Special Education Services and
Supports” link subsumed under the ‘Standards’ subheading. Using the
Search box menu, click on “specific learning disability.” You will then find a definition of
specific learning disability that reads “Specific
learning disability is defined as a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding
or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write,
spell or do mathematical calculations. The term includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain
injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia and developmental aphasia” (bolding added).
There is also a ‘dyslexia’ link on that page that further documents that dyslexia is in fact supposed to
be recognized by schools. “There has been much confusion concerning
the term, dyslexia. It has been brought to the Department’s attention by parents of students with disabilities that
some schools do not recognize the diagnosis of dyslexia. In the guidance contained in the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act (IDEA) of 2004, the term, dyslexia, is included in the definition of a specific learning disability. Please refer to 34
CFR §300.8(c)(10).”
Now, while I do not agree with everything stated on
the ‘dyslexia’ page (e.g., indicating that students only have dyslexia when they do not respond to interventions—if
the correct interventions are selected, students with dyslexia will respond and learn to read), it is clear that
the Georgia Department of Education expects all schools in Georgia to recognize dyslexia as one of the specific learning disabilities.
While it remains true that not all students with dyslexia will necessary qualify for special education services and
an Individual Education Plan (IEP), certainly a significant percentage of students with dyslexia will be expected to exhibit
impairments severe enough to warrant such services.
|
|
|
