TREND Fall 2016 | Page 20

students are profoundly affected. Many students even have above average IQs but still struggle significantly and are known as Twice Exceptional, or “2E.” (Signs of Dyslexia The United States Senate recently estimated that it significantly impacts over 8.5 million children across our country, yet most schools, teachers and parents do not even realize the signs. There is a fantastic quote that I love: “Dyslexia. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to find any other disability affecting so many millions of children in the United States today, on which so much research has been done, so many thousands of articles written and yet which so very little information concerning has reached the average teacher or physician to say nothing of parents and the public. These children are as handicapped by the ignorance surrounding their problem as they are by the problem itself.” The shocking part to me is that it was written in 1963. Over 50 years ago and so little has changed. I am so proud that Tennessee has joined the growing list of states tackling dyslexia. Our new Say Dyslexia Law requires schools to screen all students for dyslexia and to provide students with characteristics of dyslexia to get much-needed Structured Literacy interventions within the general education setting through the Tiers of RTI. I am proud of this investment in our children and look forward to working with the state of Tennessee to keep improving our schools so that all students can learn to read! #SayDyslexia 5 Tips for Parents Negotiating IEPs 1. Don’t be One Dimensional If you are that parent that always and only talks about one topic, teachers and administrators will begin to avoid you. They will see you coming and know that you are going to harass them about something they did wrong with your child again. If communication ends - it is terrible for your child. You must, at all costs, keep communication flowing. I advise parents to do this is by only talking about a child’s issues periodically in causal encounters. For example, if you run into the teacher in the hall - DO NOT accost her with “I saw my child’s grade on