Tag Archives: advocacy

The Ten Best Things to Happen to the Dyslexia Community in 2013

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  1.  The Decoding Dyslexia movement grew to 44 states. http://www.decodingdyslexia.net/
  2. Dyslexia Empowerment Plan was published and we all loved it. Ben Foss became the new ‘it’ person for those with dyslexia. http://www.amazon.com/The-Dyslexia-Empowerment-Plan-Confidence/dp/0345541235
  3. TED-Ed allowed Dr. Kelli Sandman-Hurley  and a talented animator (Marc Christoforidis) to create a short video to promote awareness in a nutshell. It now has over 100,000 views. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zafiGBrFkRM
  4. Dislecksia was finally released in theaters and Harvey Hubbell continues to make personal appearances.  http://www.dislecksiathemovie.com/
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Dyslexia in 2013: The Year in Review and My Wish

Dyslexia in 2013: The Year in Review and My Wish

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Whew! I am tired. Wiped out. Pooped. Exhausted. Beat. Stick a fork in me done. I am not sure how many IEPs I attended in 2013 but it was enough to make me want to lie on the couch and eat Bon-Bons. But alas, that is not to be. And it’s not because I need to take care of my own family, they would love it if I spent a night on the couch without reading a case file and randomly exclaiming, “Oh my god! Are they serious?” And while I could rest back on my laurels and be satisfied with all the good services and accommodations many students with dyslexia now have, and I could reminisce about the middle school child that I saw advocate for himself in an IEP, or think about the parents that openly wept after getting what their student needed; but I would be remiss if I didn’t also notice the IEP meetings that went badly or were prolonged experiences due to misinformation about dyslexia. And I would be blind if I didn’t notice that parents are contacting us more than ever desperately seeking help. So I thought I would share with you what I learned in 2013 because we need to revisit where we have been before we can plan where to go.

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Our Brains Were Not Built For Reading: Why we confuse b, d, p, and q

Our Brains Were Not Built for Reading - Why we confuse b d p qDownload the PDF version of this article here.

Why do we confuse b, d, p and q anyway? Most of us know that this is a normal part of learning to read. Anyone who has watched a preschooler learn to read has seen him or her wonder out loud if that is a b or d they are trying to read. We have also seen this same preschooler become a first grader and figure it out after awhile when they just ‘get it.’ And then there are those who continue to mix up these letters past 2nd grade, when it becomes a red flag. The interesting, and often not answered very well, question is: why? Stanislaus Dehaene, the author of Reading in the Brain, does a great job of explaining in this in an chapter in Dyslexia Across Languages. I am going to do my best to paraphrase because I think it is important to understand how the brain has adapted to fit reading in to a space that was originally meant for other skills.
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