Dyslexia Program Awareness

The Dyslexia Program Awareness overview provides information for educators and parents about dyslexia in the State of Texas. This information was provided by the Region 10 Education Service Center.

Region 10 Dyslexia Connects Website

What is Dyslexia?

The current definition from the International Dyslexia Association states: 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.

Questions for Determining Dyslexia

• Do the data show the following characteristics of dyslexia?
  • Difficulty with accurate and/or fluent word reading
  • Poor spelling skills
  • Poor decoding ability
• Do these difficulties (typically) result from a deficit in the phonological component of language?
• Are these difficulties unexpected for the student’s age in relation to the student’s other cognitive abilities and provision of effective classroom instruction?

Common Risk Factors of Dyslexia

Preschool – 3rd Grade

• Failure to understand that words are made up of parts or individual sounds
• Difficulty learning the letter names and their corresponding sounds
• Difficulty reading single words in isolation
• Difficulty reading fluently
• Difficulty spelling phonetically

Fourth Grade – High School

• History of reading and spelling difficulties
• Difficulty reading aloud
• Avoids reading for pleasure
• Difficulty learning a foreign language

Postsecondary

• Difficulty with spoken vocabulary
• Difficulty completing the reading demands for multiple course requirements

IDEA/ 504 / RTL

IDEA: Ensures that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education. Provides individual supplemental educational services and supports in addition to what is provided to students in the general curriculum to ensure that the child has access to and benefits from the general curriculum.

Section 504: Provides equal opportunity eligible students with disabilities when compared to their non-disabled peers. Provides support and interventions through general education.

Response to Intervention (RTI): A multistep or tiered approach to providing services and interventions at increasing levels of intensity to students who struggle with learning.

School District/ Charter School Requirements

Texas Education Code §38.003: Students enrolling in public schools shall be screened or tested for dyslexia at appropriate times. The board of trustees of each school district or charter school shall provide for the treatment (i.e., instruction) of any student determined to have dyslexia.

Texas Administrative Code §74.28:
A school district or charter school shall purchase or develop its own reading program for students with dyslexia, as long as the program is characterized by the descriptors found in The State Dyslexia Handbook ~ Revised 2018.

Who Delivers Instruction?

A certified teacher who has been trained in dyslexia and related disorders and the curriculum of instruction.

Possible Accommodations to be Determined by Committee

• Copies of notes (e.g., teacher- or peerprovided)
• Note-taking assistance
• Additional time on class assignments and tests
• Reduced/shortened assignments (e.g., chunking assignments into manageable units, fewer items given on a classroom test or homework assignment without eliminating concepts, or student planner to assist with assignments)
• Alternative test location that provides a quiet environment and reduces distractions
• Priority seating assignment
• Oral reading of directions or written material
• Adaptive learning tools and features in software programs
• Electronic dictionaries
• Word banks
• Audiobooks
• Text to speech
• Speech to text
• Electronic spellers
• Formula charts

Additional Resources

• Talking Books Program
• International Dyslexia Association
• Academic Language Therapy Association
• Bookshare
• Learning Ally
• The Dyslexia Handbook, 2018 Update

Contacts for More Information

Texas Dyslexia Helpline
800-232-3030
Statewide Dyslexia Program

Nancy Disterlic
Region 10 ESC Dyslexia Consultant
972-348-1454
nancy.disterlic@region10.org