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