Dyslexia Parent Workshop 10/4/16

Parking Lot Comments and Questions

Listed below are all of the comments and questions attendees posed who attended the workshop on 10/4/16. These comments and questions help our Dyslexia Task Force shape future workshops for parents. The items below will be addressed throughout the different topics planned for future workshops. Because our plan is dynamic and will likely change over time, we simply do not have answers for all of the questions at the present time. The items in red below represent those answers that we are able to answer at the time of the 10/4/16 workshop.

Identification and Diagnosis

  • Dyslexia is a medical diagnosis.
  • Identification: Who/What is identifying dyslexic students?
  • Will the district be diagnosing students with dyslexia? School psychologists do not “evaluate” for dyslexia, per se, but the integrated assessments help determine educational eligibility. Dyslexia is not recognized as an educational eligibility category in Kentucky, but may fall under the category of specific learning disability.
  • Will you specifically diagnose dyslexia or just specific learning disability—reading?The district’s role regarding special education is to determine whether or not a student meets a category of eligibility.
  • When will diagnostic evaluation be available?
  • Will you accept outside diagnosis?A diagnosis from an outside provider may be considered by the district and must be from a qualified evaluator.
  • Are only kids with outside diagnosis being targeted?
  • Why does my child need to be re-evaluated every 3 years knowing dyslexia is neurobiological? If a student has an identified disability and meets the criteria for special education, the regulations require districts to reevaluate the student at least every three years.
  • School psychologists are not certified to diagnose dyslexia by state limits to their area of expertise. What is your plan to hire certified clinicians?
  • Since dyslexia is an educational diagnosis within the school system, why can’t school psychologist diagnose dyslexia within the educational evaluation? Dyslexia is not one of the 13 categories of educational eligibility. Within special education, the diagnosis of dyslexia may or may not fall under the category of specific learning disability.
  • Will you employ clinicians that are trained and certified to diagnose dyslexia?
  • Will dyslexia still fall under the 504 plan? It may. Each student must be looked at individually. Therefore, some students may require a 504 plan, some may require an IEP through special education, and some may receive services through the school’s response to intervention program. There was talk last year that it was not and the child needed a written note from their doctor. RE: Written expression
  • POC’s/telephone, NR/emails—power point available—Is dyslexia training mandatory for teachers? No, it is not; however, Oldham County Schools believes that teachers should be trained, which is one of the outcomes of the Dyslexia Action Plan. District testing measures to discover dyslexia.
  • What assessment will you use? Outside of current district assessment.
  • How long would identification take?
  • Will the fact that dyslexia affects other areas also be identified by district? Math. Perhaps in the future, but at the present time the task force will focus on Dyslexia.
  • Will assessments begin once all research is complete?
  • What is the name of the diagnostic assessment used to identify specifically for dyslexia? According to the International Dyslexia Association, the only true test of whether a person has dyslexia is a MRI. Clinicians evaluating for dyslexia look for a pattern that show deficits with decoding or single word reading and/or poor reading fluency and poor spelling; therefore, there is no single “test” for dyslexia, but a battery of assessments that show these patterns.
  • How are other medical diagnosis “accepted” from medical/clinical field, but not dyslexia? Dyslexia may be “accepted” as long as the diagnosis is from a qualified evaluator.
  • What early screener do you plan to use to fulfil HB69? Early intervention is best. The state task force is currently looking at this very issue. Currently, Oldham County does not use a screener.
  • What screening tools will be used?
  • What training have the teachers received to identify dyslexic students?

Training

  • Will teachers be taught Orton-Gillingham programs?
  • When will all teachers be trained?
  • What treatment will be used? RTI, Reading Recovery—will these be used first?
  • Please consider training for Gen Ed Teachers. Idea for future. Group dyslexic kids in a classroom.
  • How are you establishing a school expert?
  • Planning to provide Reg Ed Teachers training just not Special Ed?
  • Most Gen Ed Teachers are unaware of what dyslexia looks like. What is your plan for PD for Gen Ed Teachers?
  • What current training have school psychologists received regarding dyslexia?
  • I disagree with teachers being knowledgeable? RE: dyslexia—since when? Buckner Elementary nor OCMS seem uneducated in this—at least since last year.

Instruction

  • Dyslexia treatment should be researched based, not developed as they go. Will they get the one-on-one instruction that research supports?
  • What OG based programs will the district use to provide reading services to dyslexic students?
  • Will you have a certified tutor employed by the district that has training with an Orton-Gillingham program, specifically Barton Reading and Spelling System?
  • How will the “Dyslexia Expert” in each school be selected? What extra training will this person receive to be deemed “expert”?
  • What is the program called that XXX used?
  • My child’s teachers were not knowledgeable. Quite the opposite! Please make the “path” of how to move past the teacher explicit.
  • What district resources do you currently have for dyslexic students?
  • What instruction currently are you providing for children with dyslexia?
  • How does the District Action Plan reach out and include Regular Ed Teachers since that is where many students spend time?

Miscellaneous

  • Schools need reminders to communicate this info to parents. (Workshop dates)
  • What district and schools were visited to establish plan?
  • What school districts that you researched were successful in meeting the needs of dyslexic students?
  • Why do we use DRA to evaluate progress in dyslexic kids?
  • What will be the requirements to meet “special ed” instruction? 504 vs. IEP
  • Do you acknowledge that dyslexia, if treated correctly, does not need to end with IEP’s and special ed?
  • Many parents present would be considered experts in dyslexia—please use them. The district is in the infancy stage. Use resources already available.