Dyslexia
Texas Education Agency and Related Resources
This site provides information and resources that can help families understand their child’s disability, their rights, and responsibilities. 
This is a library of special education resources and learning opportunities although many of the topics may be equally important and helpful for families.
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Partners Resource Network can help you understand your child's disability. Partners Resource Network (PRN) is a non-profit agency that operates the Texas statewide network of Parent Training and Information (PTI) Centers serving parents of children and youth with disabilities ages of 0-26 as well as youth self-advocates ages 14-26.
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StandUpLD is a non-profit support network for parents and educators seeking resources to support and inspire children with learning differences.
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Parent and Professional Organizations
Parents,
Many of the professional groups have organizations for families and often welcome families into their professional side.
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The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) serves our community, particularly those with dyslexia, primarily through conferences, by providing speakers, and through a special scholarship fund.
includes a glossary, reading recommendations for parents and children by age, information for transitioning to college (adulthood), ideas for supporting your child, and basic information.
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quality training courses for the professional
preparation of multisensory structured
language education specialists.
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The Academic Language Therapist Association (ALTA) provides resources for educators including certification, professional development, and a branch here in Texas.
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Neuhaus Family Support site offers links to YouTube videos, informations
about family support events (virtual and in-person), You Can Help Your Child
downloadable booklet, and many other resources.
Neuhaus also provides training for parents and professionals.
The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity (YCDC) is the preeminent source of cutting-edge research, informed advocacy and trustworthy resources to help those with dyslexia reach their full potential. The Center’s tools and resources are used widely by parents, educators and those with dyslexia to advocate for greater recognition and support for dyslexic children and adults.
What is Dyslexia?
Understood provides support for families, professionals, and individuals to help learn about and advocate for those with learning and thinking differences. The link goes to their What is Dyslexia page. Spend some time exploring this site.
In Texas, The Dyslexia Handbook, currently the 2024 Update (link for English; link for Manual Sobre Dislexia), guides everything related to dyslexia in Texas schools. The Handbook defines dyslexia and related disorders in the following way:
“Dyslexia” means a disorder of constitutional origin manifested by a difficulty in learning to read, write, or spell, despite conventional instruction, adequate intelligence, and sociocultural opportunity. “Related disorders” include disorders similar to or related to dyslexia, such as developmental auditory imperception, dysphasia, specific developmental dyslexia, developmental dysgraphia, and developmental spelling disability.
The International Dyslexia Association defines dyslexia in the following way:
Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.”
The Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity is another site worth spending some time exploring. From their description of dyslexia:
"Dyslexic children and adults struggle to read fluently, spell words correctly and learn a second language, among other challenges. But these difficulties have no connection to their overall intelligence. In fact, dyslexia is an unexpected difficulty in reading in an individual who has the intelligence to be a much better reader. While people with dyslexia are slow readers, they often, paradoxically, are very fast and creative thinkers with strong reasoning abilities.
"Dyslexia can’t be 'cured' – it is lifelong. But with the right supports, dyslexic individuals can become highly successful students and adults."
I Think My Child Might
Have you noticed any of these challenges?
If you have concerns that your child is struggling with language skills, it is usually best to begin by scheduling a conference with your child's teacher. Share what you notice at home. The teacher will share observations and information about how your child is doing in school. Work together to decide if there is a reason to worry and what steps to take to ensure your child has an effective, encouraging, and enjoyable learning experience.
If dyslexia is a concern, there are specific steps to follow. If your child is diagnosed with dyslexia, there will be a meeting with you to discuss how to best meet your child's learning needs related to dyslexia.
What to consider:
Understood has a video and information about the signs of dyslexia at different ages. The fact sheet is included below.
The Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity has similar information and adds common strengths. There is a video of Dr. Sally Shaywitz, a leading researcher in the area of dyslexia, discussing signs of dyslexia in young children and the importance of early identification.
In the Texas Dyslexia Handbook 2024, go to pages 9 and 10 to review risk factors at different ages.
Public schools in Texas must follow specific steps in the process of determining if a child has dyslexia and deciding, with the parents, how to best help the child at school. The place to begin is with the teacher.
Services at Randolph Elementary
“While the components of instruction for students with dyslexia include good teaching principles for all teachers, the explicitness and intensity of the instruction, fidelity to program descriptors, grouping formats, and training and skill of the teachers are wholly different from core classroom instruction and must be considered when making individual placement decisions.” (Texas Dyslexia Handbook, 2024, page 38)
After a child is diagnosed with dyslexia, a committee, including the parents, meets to discuss the individual child’s needs. Accommodations may be needed in the classroom. Often the decision is that the child will participate in one of the dyslexia classes during the day.
At the elementary level, we have faculty who are trained to implement several different dyslexia programs including -
- Scottish Rite Build for kindergarten and first grade and Take Flight for second through fifth grade
- SPIRE Foundational (Sound Sensible) for kindergarten and first grade and SPIRE for second through fifth grade.
- Reading by Design, developed by the Texas Education Agency, for all grade levels
Dyslexia support is also available at the secondary campus.
Each of these programs follows the Orton-Gillingham approach and meets recommended criteria:
- Multi-sensory
- Evidence-based
- Explicit
- Systematic
- Comprehensive
- Structured
- Sequential and Cumulative
- Synthetic and Analytic
- Diagnostic
What Should I Tell My Child?
On the first day of attending the dyslexia class, students often wonder why they are in the class. Parents may not have said anything to their child. Parents may not know what to say. From experience, if a child knows there is an explanation for why they struggle with reading, and knows that all the testing indicated they have a healthy, smart brain, they feel relief. Knowing that they can learn to read with specialized instruction helps them to begin to understand their learning needs. Students begin to advocate for themselves. A transformation to self-confidence begins.
When you speak with your child, help them understand that having dyslexia is something they were born with and that they will always have dyslexia. Assure them that they have a wonderful, healthy, intelligent brain. All the testing proves that. Everyone’s brain works differently. With dyslexia, their brain struggles with learning to read. Scientists have been studying dyslexia for a very long time. They have figured out how to teach people with dyslexia how to read.
In the book, Overcoming Dyslexia, Dr. Shawitz discusses “protecting and nourishing your child’s soul” by
Nurturing self-esteem
Developing self-awareness
Teaching self-advocacy
These videos have comforted, reassured, informed, and inspired students in the past. Considering sharing these with your child.
While the challenges of dyslexia may seem overwhelming,
there are many gifts.
What are your child's interests? Strengths? Find someone who shares their interests who has dyslexia.
Examples:
The Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity provides many more role models from a variety of professions.
Encourage reading at home, but make reading a fun activity, not a chore. Read to your child. Read with your child. Listen while your child reads to you. An older child could read to a younger sibling. Audio books are available from many sources. Look under the Reading Resources link.
Suggested Reading for Kids from Ohio State University Family Engagement Center
Links to GoodReads provided.
Links to GoodReads provided.
• A Walk in the Rain With a Brain by Hallowell
• The Alphabet War by Robb
• Doctor Dyslexia Dude, graphic novel by Robinson
• It’s Called Dyslexia by Moore-Mallinos & Roca
• I Wish I Could Fly Like a Bird by Denison
• Ben and Emma’s Big Hit by Newsom
• If You’re So Smart, How Come You Can’t Spell Mississippi? by Esham, Gordon & Gordon
• Thank You, Mr. Falker by Polacco
• Magnificent Meg: A Read-Aloud Book to Encourage Children With Dyslexia by Wells
• The Don’t-Give-Up Kid and Learning Disabilities by Gehret & DePauw
• All Kinds of Minds: A Young Student’s Book About Learning Disabilities and Disorders by Levine
• Hank Zipzer Series by Winkler
• Hacking the Code: The The Ziggety Zaggety Road of a Dyslexic Kid by Meijering
• What Do You Mean I Have a Learning Disability? by Dwyer
• Trouble With School: A Family Story About Disabilities by Dunn & Dunn
• My Name Is Brain Brian by Betancourt
• The Boy Who Hated to Write by Richards & Richards
• The Hoopstar by White and Johnson
• Many Ways to Learn: Young People’s Guide to Learning Disabilities by Stern & Ben-Ami
• Me and Einstein: Breaking Through the Reading Barrier by Blue
• The School Survival Guide for Kids with LD by Fisher & Cummings
• Two-Minute Drill: Mike Lupica’s Comeback Kids by Mike Lupica
• Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series by Rick Riordan
• Josh: A Boy With Dyslexia by Janover
• How Dyslexic Benny Became a Star by Griffith
• Dyslexia is My Superpower (Most of the Time) by Rooke
• The Worst Speller in Junior High by Janover
• Looking for Heroes: One Boy, One Year, 100 Letters 2nd Edition by Colvin
• Fish in a Tree by Mullaly
• Adam Zigzag by Barrie
• It’s All in Your Head: A Guide to Understanding Your Brain and Boosting Your Brain Power by Barrett
Social and Emotional
Read Monty's Poem published by Dyslexia Scotland.
The International Dyslexia Association has an article exploring the Social and Emotional Problems Related to Dyslexia. The linked site provides accessibility support. This is the introduction:
"Dyslexia can have significant effects on emotional well-being. Samuel T. Orton, M.D. was one of the first researchers to describe the emotional aspects of dyslexia. His research on preschoolers with dyslexia revealed that most were happy and well adjusted, yet emotional problems began to develop when early reading instruction was not effective.
"Over the years, students with dyslexia may develop increasing frustration if the reading skills of their classmates begin to surpass their own. Access to effective Structured Literacy teaching will help these students, but they may still experience social and emotional problems. Understanding these issues will assist parents and teachers in supporting students to develop a healthy sense of emotional well-being that will serve these students well as they continue their work to become skilled readers and spellers."
The New Jersey Coalition for Inclusive Education has an article, Understanding the Social-Emotional Effects of Dyslexia. The link includes access to auditory support. The article provides the following five tips for educators and families with elaboration:
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Listen to our students -
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Give a clear explanation of dyslexia and the possible challenges -
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Reward the effort, not just the product -
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Help students set goals -
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Celebrate the successes -
While the Scotland Helpline may not be of help to you, the Dyslexia Scotland site provides good information. The link goes to their Mental Health page with a recently released documentary, a webinar for parents, ideas to address exam anxiety, self-esteem and more. Following the Dyslexia Unwrapped link takes you to additional resources includingYoung Ambassadors, Create and Share, Just for Fun, and Useful Stuff all designed for kids. There is more to explore.
Additional Resources
Why the Dyslexic Brain is Misunderstood: how dyslexia is a differently organized brain.
What is Dyslexia: Kelli Sandman-Hurley
Made by Dyslexia has a series of very well made and informative videos.
Links are provided.
Geek Zone, Formerly FAQ
This information is connected to questions, comments and experiences as a teacher.
has a glossary of poetic terms with examples. This site has been a favorite site with secondary students. Go "the direct route" to see all that Bob compiled over the years.
is like a playground for loquacious lexophiles. Secondary students who fall in love with words like this site.
While the vocabulary portion is encouraged, once you click "Play Game", there are many other catagories such as Art, history, Food, Science, and Other Languages. For every correctly answered item, ten grains of rice is donated to the World Health Organization. Correct answers are provided when an incorrect response is given. That same query is recycled for review. Students enjoy watching the bowl of donated rice fill.
What are the biggest words? (The most enjoyed by classes.)
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is the fear of long words. Song Link
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is the longest English word found in a major dictionary. The word is a lung disease. Akash on Steve Harvey
Floccinaucinihilipilification is the act of considering something to be worthless.
Alphabet questions -
What is the oldest letter?
Guinness World Records notes that the letter "O" has not changed shape since about 1300 B.C. when used by the Phoenicians. The letter "O" may have evolved from Egyptian hieroglyphic of an eye. "O" was called "ayin" early Semitic writing. Eventually the Greeks and Romans changed "O" to the "O" we know today.
from Britannica What is the newest letter?
"J" is the youngest letter of the current alphabet. At first "J" was a decorative swoosh (think Nike) added to the letter "I". Often "J" was used interchangeably with "I". Sometime around 1524, Gian Giorgio Trissino argued that "J" should be its own letter with its own sound. Trissino is now known as "the Father of J".
Have there ever been more than 26 letters?
Gleaned from multiple sources with diverse details -- Until 1835, the 27th letter of the letter was "&". Initially "&" was read as "et" (like "et tu Brute"), or "and". That became confusing -- saying "x, y, z, and". The end of the alphabet changed to "x, y, z and per se and". "And per se and" evolved into "ampersand". The ampersand was more of a symbol than a letter, and eventually transitioned to that status. The sample picture shows x, y, z, and, per se and.
There is an ongoing discussion among second graders and one of the teachers about the letter "x". The following is directly lifted from The Global Montessori Network:
How to Pronounce the Letter x Sound?
Since letter X does not have any sound of its own, it is pronounced with sound created by a combination of different letters. Let us learn different sounds produced by x.
- The most common pronunciation for the letter x is /ks/. If the x is at the end of the word, pronounce it as /ks/ such as fax, tax, etc.
- It also produces /ks/ sound, when x comes after a stressed vowel, as in extra, taxi, etc.
- When letter x comes before, a stressed vowel is pronounced as a voiced /gz/. For example, exactly, exemplar, example, etc.
- There are few least common words starting with the letter x, such as xenophobe and xylophone. In these words, the pronunciation of the letter x is /z/.
- The sound of x is produced as /g/ followed by /z/ in words like luxurious, luxury, etc.
- The sound of letter x produces /k/ sound followed by /sh/ in words such as complexion, etc, .
- The sound of x is produced as /e/ followed by /ks/ such as x-ray, x-mas tree, etc.
Please note that some foreign languages of English pronounce the letter x differently. For example, the French loanword faux is pronounced with a silent x.
The website has a diverse resource library.
Interesting clip about the beginnings of the alphabet.
E E E E E E E E Silent-e. Super-e. What's the deal with e?
E is a complicated letter especially when at the end of a word. One clear explanation for all the purposes of e is on this site The Role of "e" at the End of Words. There appears to be more fodder for the linguistic geek.
Witches who wash their wigs on windy winter Wednesdays are whacky.
This old school Sesame Street lightened a recent debate regarding how to pronounce "w" and "wh" in common speaking relative to how it is taught in our dyslexia classes. For those who wish to be enlightened, please refer to these videos -
There is a web resource that would be linked here, but there is a great deal of legalese involved. If curious, use these terms in your favorite search engine: New Yorker, Comma Queen, Mary Norris. Once you find the Comma Queen Video Series, you will enter English Teacher Geek Nirvana. (If she finds this website, she'll use all of her red ink.)
We Make Mistakes
One of the best days of teaching EVER involved a small group of fourth graders including one extremely nervous new student and a student who was preparing to move in a few weeks. New was obviously worried he would say or do something incorrectly. Moving noticed and assured him, "In this class we make mistakes. We all make mistakes. And we're kind of proud of that." Another reinforced, "When we make mistakes in this class, we get to learn." Moving added, " Teacher LOVES an opportunity. That's what a mistake is, an opportunity."
For Home and School
Under development To provide practical information to support learning at home and at school under the following catagories:
Reading Resources
Tech resources
Alphabetic principle
Phonemic Awareness and Phonics
"Heart" Words
Spelling
Vocabulary Development and Morphology
Fluency
Comprehension
Reading Resources
- American Printing House for the Blind, Louis Database contains information on more than 240,000 titles in accessible formats, including braille, large print, sound recordings, and electronic files. LEAs can use TIMA funds or IDEA part B funds to purchase materials from American Printing House for the Blind.
- Bookshare, an accessible online library with more than 900,000 titles, offers free memberships to schools and qualifying students through an award from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs.
- Learning Ally offers more than 80,000 human-narrated audiobooks that can be downloaded and accessed with various mainstream and assistive technology devices. Through a contract with TEA, Learning Ally offers free memberships to Texas K–12 public and charter schools with qualifying students.
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The Talking Book Program (TBP) provides free library services to qualifying Texans with visual, physical, or reading disabilities. TBP is part of the National Library Service to the Blind and Print Disabled, a program administered by the Library of Congress. The TBP collection consists of more than 100,000 titles, including hundreds of titles in Spanish, and some in French, German, Russian, and other languages.