The road to progress is paved with incremental steps forward. This is true of many things, including dyslexia and the United States Government. That’s why our dyslexia learning center near Long Branch NJ looks back fondly on a moment in U.S. legislative history, when the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee discussed dyslexia in a hearing.
The Highlights of the Hearing
This bipartisan committee began in 1869 and covers a range of issues, including equal opportunity employment, biomedical research and development, and “measures relating to education, labor, health, and public welfare.” Dyslexia fits the bill, but received very little attention or recognition from the government until recently. At a major hearing in May of 2016 titled “Understanding Dyslexia: The Intersection of Scientific Research & Education,” Chairman Senator Bill Cassidy discussed the challenges of parenting a child with dyslexia from a perspective of empathy and understanding: the Senator’s daughter has this struggle.
The discussion highlighted, among other things, the importance of specialized instruction, something that we’re confident will benefit the students of Long Branch NJ as well. It was agreed upon that the resources necessary to educate, or even diagnose, a student with this reading difficulty can be a struggle to obtain. Many don’t understand the scale and scope of dyslexia and the way it impacts so many people, but the Senators set out to use a fact-based approach to explain it and hopefully clear the path towards further recognition and accommodations made in the workplace and the classroom.
Moving Forward
Sally Shaywitz, a doctor and professor from the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity present at the hearing, testified that a recent drop in literacy rates could be at least partially explained by an increase in dyslexia. As a result, it must take prominence in the next reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), as it is not currently a focus (though it is a condition that IDEA is designed to accommodate).
We’re thrilled that dyslexia is getting the attention it needs from the United States Congress and hope that suggestions from qualified experts move forward for the good of students all over the country. If your child is having difficulty with reading, have them evaluated for dyslexia. Contact us to schedule a testing date and we’ll be happy to help.