Our group is made up of parents of children who are dyslexic. We are not experts, nor are we a business or educational organization. We can only offer other parents the benefit of our collective experiences. We encourage parents to meet with their local policy-makers to tell the story of their child, and ask for policies and/or legislation to identify and support dyslexic children in our public schools.
We are advocating for Alabama to implement:
- Establish a universal definition and understanding of “dyslexia” in the state education code so that teachers and administrators can Identify, Educate and Support students with dyslexia.
- Require Alabama teacher certification and ongoing training on dyslexia and appropriate intervention strategies
- Require early screening to IDENTIFY students who struggle with reading and those at risk for learning disorders
- Require dyslexia remediation and intervention programs that are proven to EDUCATE children with dyslexia or other reading disabilities, and that can be accessed by both general and special education populations. These programs must include structured, explicit, systematic, cumulative instruction designed to promote understanding, memory, recall, and use of spoken and written language. They must also have multiple components that focus on areas of instruction such as phonological skills, phonics and word analysis, spelling, word recognition and oral reading fluency, grammar and syntax, text comprehension, writing, and study skills
- Ensure access to appropriate accommodations including “assistive technologies” in the public school setting to SUPPORT students with dyslexia