By Norma Francullo, Esq.
October is Dyslexia Awareness Month and it is important that we share our knowledge with others not just in October but throughout the year. I am a special education attorney, but my greatest role is being a mom. I have two children who are dyslexic. When they were in elementary school and I was trying to learn all I could about dyslexia and how best to advocate for them, the greatest words of advice I ever got was from a book entitled, “Parenting a Struggling Reader”, by Susan Hall and Louisa Moats:
“Develop a language of persuasion rather than a language of positional battle”
Everyone at the table has a voice and all members of the IEP Team must be “child” focused. Everyone’s opinions must be heard. You will not always agree, but you should try to work in a collaborative manner in an effort to develop an appropriate program for your child.
Over the years, I have attended conferences, webinars, read countless books and articles on the topic of dyslexia, attended legal seminars and seminars on topics centered around reading remediation. I put together a binder I brought with me to IEP meetings or meetings with my children’s teachers, with materials that were useful not only for me but useful to the team in determining programming and placement.
For your meetings with the school district, here are some resources you may want to have with you. This list is not exhaustive:
1. New Jersey Dyslexia Handbook
2. Reading level reference chart
3. Words Correct Per Minute Chart
4. Scope and Sequence Chart
5. Dyslexia Assessment Battery test options
6. Information on each of the dyslexia assessment options
7. Information on dyslexia screeners
8. Information on structured literacy intervention programs
9. Assistive Technology options
10. Articles on Dyslexia that you find helpful and informative
11. Articles on the topic of decoding, encoding, vocabulary, reading comprehension and fluency.
Use the NJ Dyslexia Handbook’s live links that are embedded in the handbook to get you started in putting together your binder! There are also helpful parent groups like Decoding Dyslexia-NJ (www.decodingdyslexianj.org ) where you can get wonderful support from parents who are experiencing what you are going through. And as you go through this journey, always remember to share what you have learned with another person. It is so important that we look to make systemic changes as every child deserves to learn to read.