Decoding Dyslexia North Carolina is happy to announce that Governor McCrory has proclaimed October as Dyslexia Awareness Month in North Carolina. We would like you to join us in helping spread awareness about the learning disability, dyslexia in your school and community. “15-20% of the population, or about 1 in every 5 students, struggles to acquire basic reading skills. Dyslexia is the most common cause of reading, writing, and spelling difficulties,” according to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Decoding Dyslexia North Carolina is a grassroots movement driven by individuals and parents in North Carolina who have children or know someone who struggles with dyslexia. We are advocating for a universal definition and understanding of dyslexia in the state education code, mandatory teacher training on dyslexia, its warning signs and appropriate intervention strategies, mandatory early screening tests for dyslexia, mandatory dyslexia remediation programs and access to appropriate assistive technologies in the public school setting for students with dyslexia.
Signs of dyslexia:
- Difficulty learning (and remembering) the names of letters in the alphabet
- Mispronounces familiar words; persistent “baby talk”
- Doesn’t recognize rhyming patterns like cat, bat, rat
- Complains about how hard reading is, or “disappearing” when it is time to read
- A history of reading problems in parents or siblings.
- Does not associate letters with sounds, such as the letter b with the “b” sound.
- Avoids reading aloud
- Can’t Spell; have messy handwriting
- Curiosity, great imagination
- Ability to figure things out
- Ability to get big picture ideas
- Eager embrace of new ideas
- A larger vocabulary for the age group
- Excellent comprehension of stories read or told to him
- Excellent thinking skills: conceptualization, reasoning, imagination, abstraction
For a complete list of signs please visit The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity.
Definition of dyslexia: “a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.”
-International Dyslexia Association
To learn more about dyslexia and what you can do to spread awareness please visit Decoding Dyslexia North Carolina.
More Resources:
Dyslexia Awareness Month Flyer
Dyslexia Awareness Brochure
International Dyslexia Association
International Dyslexia Association-North Carolina Branch
Dyslexic Advantage
Dyslexia Guidance Letter from U.S. Department of Education