Dyslexia and the School

Dyslexia and the School by Dr. Kelli Sandman-Hurley - DyslexiaTrainingInstitute.org

At the risk of being a Debbie Downer, I wanted to share with you some facts about special education that you should know to prevent any unnecessary delays or frustration. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was enacted to protect children from being denied an education because of their disability. What many people seem to overlook is the fact that this legislation was not set up to provide special education services to everyone with a disability, because not every disability interferes with learning. So, it is not as easy as, Michael has dyslexia, therefore he is entitled to special education services. It doesn’t work that way. Continue reading

Dyslexia: When the IEP is a Dictatorship

Dyslexia - When the IEP is a Dictatorship by Dr. Kelli Sandman-Hurley of the Dyslexia Training Institute

Today the school psychologist walked into the room where we were having our IEP meeting, saw me sitting at the table, let out an audible sigh and turned around and walked out. I am not kidding, this really happened. Of course, we have a history and that history includes him not wanting to hear anything anyone has to say about scores, eligibility, goals or dyslexia. He is the fast-talking wordsmith (used car salesman?) in an IEP meeting. He is the kind of guy that talks in circles so most parents, who don’t have support at IEP meetings, are given very little opportunity to question his decisions because he won’t allow it. He is unable to think flexibly and does not like it when there is someone in the room who knows more than he does – he is the expert, no wait, he is the dictator.

Continue reading

Misspelled Word(s) of the Day – Day 4 – Every and Family

Misspelled Word(s) of the Day - Day 4 - Every and Family

Reminder: The purpose of Misspelled Word of the Day is not to try to make everyone a perfect speller, the purpose is to learn from misspellings and then teach the student the misspelled word of the day while instilling an understanding of written language in general. The intention is not to teach students to spell every word in the English language, of which there are more than one million, the intention is to teach the student to think about words differently and learn to question, and understand word structure.

Continue reading

AB1369: Dear Fellow Californians

AB 1369 - Dear Fellow Californians

Dear parents, students and anyone who works with students with dyslexia in California,

The news of AB1369 has hit social media and the response has been a bit disconcerting, to say the least. Yes, I hear you when you say you are disappointed that AB1369 was pared down and we did not get everything we wanted. What you are not hearing is that AB1369 is not done, it is just beginning and in order to make it happen the way you want it to, we need your help, not your negative comments. Continue reading