TYLER, Texas —
If you have a child in Kindergarten or First Grade, students who may have difficulty breaking words into smaller parts like “baseball” or “napkin” are likely to be screened for dyslexia before the end of the school year.
This is one of the three changes that went into effect for Overton ISD.
"We're having to look at it differently and we're having to think about it differently," Dyslexia Specialist, Kristi Dubos said.
That's not the only change implemented. If a student is referred for dyslexia, parents will have the choice to decide if their child will to be tested for special education services as well.
"TEA really is hoping that parents go through a special ed, special education evaluation. The reason they are doing that is to just see if the student has any other different learning difficulties that would be missed if it were only me looking at dyslexia identification," she says.
Lastly.. for students that struggle with forming letters, Dysgraphia, is considered as a direct disorder.
In the past, the dyslexia handbook would just say “unrelated disorders,” but now they are being more specific.
"A lot of times when I approach the parents and I'm telling them now, you know, explaining the process that you might want to consider a full special education evaluation along with dyslexia referral for some people that's a little bit scary. If there is anything going on, we do want to catch it, because we do want to do the best we can for your child,” she added.
Now, Dyslexia Specialists and Diagnosticians will be working close together to identify early on what students need to be successful in classrooms.