• Start with your student’s teacher and/or building literacy specialists about your concerns and what you are noticing with your student’s learning.
• Classroom teachers can provide you with information related to what your student can do, where they are developing, and next steps for instructional supports.
• As part of a school's problem solving process, classroom teachers will collaborate with specialists in the building to address your questions about your student’s needs.
• Recognizing signs, symptoms and characteristics is the responsibility of all educators as well as implementing instructional supports to address these characteristics. Therefore, a diagnosis is not required to begin supporting a student’s needs.

Reading Trouble: Conversation starters to use with your students teacher 

This can be very nerve-wracking but also exciting.  Your student is neurodiverse, and this can lead to wonderful things!  It can also be really validating for a student who has struggled with learning- there is a path to a solution. One of the first steps is to review some resources for your student, and understand the diagnosis.  As appropriate, you can also talk to your student about the diagnosis.  

Not all students identified with dyslexia will require intensive services such as an IEP through special education. However, classroom supports and accommodations are often necessary for the student to fully benefit from classroom and supplemental instruction.

CDE Dyslexia Fact Sheet

No, you do not need a diagnosis to receive support in District 11.

A great first step is to educate yourself about dyslexia.  Some resources are shared below, which can be a great starting place.  Also sharing with your student can be a way to help them understand about dyslexia.  The resources below have age specific resources for students to help them understand and learn more about their uniqueness.  You can also read with your student daily and work side by side with your student’s teacher to determine the best way to help your student at home.

Professional Learning:

• Grade level specific
• Staff training
• CDE modules

Many literacy specialists and special education teachers have training in:

• Orton-Gillingham
• Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Curriculum
• 95% Group programs
• SIPPS Curriculum
• LETRS- Science of Reading

D11 has a group of staff trained in:

• Take Flight- intensive therapy for dyslexia

Assistive Technology supports:

• ReadWrite Google
• Chrome Extensions/Apps

Instruction for those who struggle with reading, including those with dyslexia should take into account:

• Like all students, individuals with dyslexia require evidence-based instruction in all five components of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension, as well as writing and spelling. However, individuals with dyslexia require instruction with greater intensity and duration than typically developing readers and writers.
• Individuals with dyslexia require multi-sensory instruction that addresses core deficits in phonological processing as well as explicitly teaches the structure of the English language.
• Helpful classroom accommodations for those with dyslexia include: assistive technology (e.g. utilizing voice to print embedded tools), time extensions and audio books, just to name a few.
• Individuals with dyslexia need help understanding their personal learning strengths and challenges and how to advocate for support and accommodations to ensure optimal learning.
• Because instruction is a complex undertaking, teachers who provide instruction and remediation should be highly trained and supervised in the use of proven evidence-based instructional practices.

Dyslexia 101

Dyslexia Identification and Evaluation