"Dyslexia is not a learning disability"

If you live in the state of Ohio like I do, dyslexia is not currently acknowledged as a learning disability for children in elementary grades.  Can you believe it?  Those of us with dyslexic children and who work with dyslexic children know it is as real as a child with a fine motor issue.

There has been some lobbying efforts at the state level to get Dyslexia included in the list of acknowledged  learning disabilities for the past few years and now they're closer than ever.

Here is a link to the Ohio IDA's information on what they're doing to get the new Dyslexia law passed.

There is another organization called Wrights Law that gives advice on the legal side of getting services for your child.  They have a great page on dyslexia and what's needed for the child as well as additional information.

Wrights Law information on Dyslexia

Having a child with reading problems can be challenging.  Reading is one of the skills needed for people to be functioning members of our society.  If we can't read, our choices in life are very limited, and not giving a child the correct services needed to help him achieve his full potential should be criminal.  It falls on us as parents to be advocates for our children and push for correct services in schools or pay for it out of pocket like we are doing for our son.

Most teachers don't know what a dyslexic child needs or even how to identify the possibility of having a dyslexic child in their classroom.  Hopefully, at least in Ohio, this law will change that.  These children deserve the best they can get, and by acknowledging that dyslexia exists and is real and that these children require specific services, we'll have taken the first step in Ohio and will be on our way.