As I was chatting with my daughter the other day she mentioned that she was registering for her senior classes at Murray State University. What? How had the last 16 years passed by so quickly? Courtney was in Kindergarten when I took the assistive technology job with PATINS as a Coordinator. I was new to the field and Courtney became my test subject.  I was convinced that this Kindergarten student who told me endless stories non-stop could become a great writer with a little help from Co:Writer. I did not realize that although word prediction was a powerful tool, the student had to have enough tools to guide the story rather than letting the word prediction change the focus of the story. She would begin in writing about a bat, but when she typed ba and it predicted ball her story would take a new direction. It was a great lesson that I needed to learn and she would help me learn many more lessons over the years. I am happy to report that she is a great writer and although she never used word prediction, she was cognizant of this tool as well as many others. She now uses both low-tech (a wonderful proof-reader and my best friend, Donna) and high-tech (Grammarly).

Spelling words became a real challenge for Courtney in 2nd grade. Fortunately for her, I had just attended Universal Design for Learning(UDL) training at the Center for Applied Special Technology(CAST) in Boston, MA. UDL taught me that students need multiple means of representation, meaning that teachers should present information and content in different ways. Teachers should also provide multiple means of action and expression which means differentiating the ways students can express what they know. Lastly, teachers should provide multiple means of engagement meaning teachers should stimulate interest and motivation for learning. I could only address the first concept, and address it we did!

Courtney would write the words the required amount of times as the teacher required, but that was never enough for her to learn the words. We would write them out with magnets on the refrigerator, we would write them out with markers and tape them all over the house. We would make flashcards and quiz on them, we would sing and dance them out, and she would give me the words and make me spell them so she could hear them. I cannot tell you the number of hours that were spent in learning to spell those words. When she had her last spelling test, I can't remember what grade it was, but it was many years later, I wanted to celebrate. I'm sure her teachers never had any idea how many hours we spent and unfortunately none of her teachers ever applied any of the UDL principles I had learned. I'm not sure all those hours were productive, Courtney is still not a good speller but with spell-check and speech to text, she doesn't have to be.

I also learned to be very proficient with Quizlet and Flashcards apps as well as paper flashcards as Courtney entered Jr. High School. She would enter her terms in Quizlet and it would create instant flashcards for her to study on her new iPod Touch! Back then you had to use Flashcard apps that synced with Quizlet since Quizlet did not have their own app at the time. Quizlet was also great because you could use the website and it would create various games in which the terms would be used. You could also search and find flashcards that others had already made so you didn't have to enter them; you could just download their flashcards and tweak them to meet your needs. It was also great because you could create a practice test in any format you would like, multiple choice, true/false, or fill in the blank.

She also used paper flashcards quite a bit. Back then she began using the paper flashcards for the times when she could not use her iPod. Now she is in college and I would have thought she would have used all electronic flashcards, but she doesn't. It seems she is still teaching me lessons. She says it helps her to write the terms out. It also forces her to really think about the term and the answer, she says it is too easy on the iPad or iPhone to just sort of flip through the cards without really thinking about the terms and the definition.

In high school Courtney's school did not allow any mobile devices of any kind, no phones, no tablets, and no netbooks! This was hard for a child of a technology parent who had every device possible at her fingertips. In a casual conversation with a teacher at her high school, Courtney mentioned using electronic flashcards on her iPhone. The unnamed teacher actually allowed her and anyone else in the class to use their phones to study in her classroom. As far as I remember she never got into any trouble for this action, but I remember being flabbergasted that such an allowance might cause trouble for this teacher.

Courtney signed up for the peer tutoring class in the severe/moderate classroom in high school to no one's surprise after being immersed in the special education/assistive technology world for so many years. She was outstanding as a peer tutor and cared very deeply for her fellow students. She won a college scholarship after being nominated by the staff for her fantastic work in their classroom.

Courtney taught me many lessons and became a great teacher and it is no wonder that as I write this today she is at Murray State University studying to become a Speech-Language Pathologist. I am so proud of her and I can't wait for the many lessons that she will teach me in the years to come. Thank you Courtney for all the lessons, students from all over Indiana have benefited because of you!

If you have students who are struggling, please don't hesitate to contact me, I am always excited to learn new lessons!

Last summer, Indiana House Bill 1108 also known as the “Dyslexia Bill”, moved through the House and the Senate then was passed into law by a simple majority. As it was introduced, the bill was worded with directives that were specific and strong. Then amendments were filed and it seemed to me that the explicit language had been removed, so by final passage the bill sounded vague and watered down. I have had conversations with some of you, in this vein, and now I would like to modify that view and explain how my position has evolved.

In Section I, dyslexia is generally defined. The definition is not all-inclusive, but it is solid.

Then, Section 2:

If an education service center offers in-service training or other teacher training programs, the education service center may offer courses for teachers on dyslexia screening and appropriate interventions, including courses relating to a structured literacy approach that is systematic, explicit, multisensory, and phonetic.

I found it curious that the authors of the bill addressed service centers first. Why not go directly to the classroom? Well, the service centers are a very good path into the classroom. It states that the education service center may offer courses, so ask for them. Member schools administrators should contact your service centers and request trainings, on screening, classroom accommodations, and specialized instruction, for dyslexia.

Be sure to request courses that provide instruction that is systematic, explicit, multisensory, and phonetic. Because after over 40 years of documented, replicated, published research by the NIH, we know these elements are the backbone of effective reading instruction for those who struggle with learning to read by traditional methods.

Next, Section 3 provides:

A teacher preparation program shall include content within the curriculum that prepares teacher candidates to recognize that a student who is not progressing at a normal rate related to reading may need to be referred to the school's multidisciplinary team to determine the student's special learning needs, including learning needs related to dyslexia

This is a fundamental change. Looking back on the coursework for my teaching certification, the lack of attention given to dyslexia was striking. Now, new teachers will come in much better equipped to identify and serve students with dyslexia, as current service teachers will be leaning into their service centers for support, all to benefit the 1 in 5.

I didn’t like those phrases: “may need to be referred….” and “…related to dyslexia.” But there are other reasons for a student to fall behind in reading, like students who are English Language Learners. Or students who are experiencing family problems such as homelessness, or abuse. All need not be assigned a multidisciplinary team. Other supports may be more appropriate. Perhaps a student cannot decode words because she or he has an undetected vision impairment that could be corrected with glasses. Special education is not the solution to every problem and dyslexia is not every problem with reading. I knew that. Now I get it.

And now I see that my views were the limiting factors here. Indiana HB 1108 actually gives us much space wherein we can follow best practices for our students. 

For instance, the law does not stipulate that in order to provide interventions for dyslexia, that there must be a formal diagnosis of dyslexia. Evaluations can be quite expensive, and schools are not required at this time to pay for dyslexia screenings and diagnosis.

Let's back up a bit to review: a student with a disability is one who has been evaluated in accordance with 511 IAC Article 7, and has been determined eligible for special education and related services, by the Case Conference Committee (CCC). If the student is identified as such, this same CCC will determine which school-provided services will best meet the student’s educational needs. If the CCC agrees that the student presents a print disability, this must be indicated on the IEP. The NIMAS Regulations were added to the IDEA in 2004 for these students, specifically.

The NIMAS Regulations mandate that State and Local Education Agencies ensure that textbooks and related core instructional materials are provided to students with print disabilities in specialized formats in a timely manner. Also remember that a student with a print disability is defined as one who cannot access print in the normal manner (I don’t like that term “normal” but it is used in the NIMAS Regulations, so we reluctantly use it).

If a student has been determined to have a print disability, and is presenting 3 or more of the classic signs of dyslexia, that student is not accessing print in the normal manner, and the CCC may indicate the presence of a reading disability resulting from organic dysfunction on ICAM/NIMAS Form 4, and on the student’s IEP. In this category of print disability, dyslexia is the most frequently identified, and always has been. Once this determination is made and included in the IEP, the ICAM can begin to provide immediate assistance.

Typically, students with dyslexia prefer digital and audio formats, to print instructional materials. The ICAM is happy to offer two very special partnerships which we are able to share with Indiana schools.  

Learning Ally audio books are human voice recordings of more than 80,000 textbooks, popular fiction titles and classic literature. Previously known as Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, Learning Ally produces high quality audio books that help students increase word recognition, reading comprehension, fluency, and confidence. Important features include text highlighting, audio and speed adjustments, and most recently, a growing library of titles in a combination format, called Voicetext.

Read: OutLoud by Don Johnston, Inc.is a text-to-speech screen reader that provides elements essential for struggling readers: text highlighting, options in font and background color, reading speed adjustments, and a selection of digital reading voices. Don Johnston knows firsthand how frustrating school can be for students with dyslexia, so he and his team continue to design a range of tools to level the playing field for a range of abilities. The ICAM provides the basic software.

We now know that dyslexia presents in levels, or degrees: mild, moderate, severe, profound. Students with dyslexia in the mild to moderate range may find adequate support through one or both of these tools. A student who falls in the severe-profound ranges may need more specialized instruction to go with these tools, and there may come a time when one will need a formal evaluation/diagnosis of dyslexia. However Indiana HB 1108, the NIMAS Regulations of IDEA 2004, and the ICAM can help schools help students, now.

Let’s get started!