Dr. Shaywitz and the ADA

DYSLEXIA AND THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES
AMENDMENT ACT:
A Q&A WITH DR. SALLY SHAYWITZ

 

 

In this article Dr Shaywitz discusses the fact that the ADA has loop holes through which people with Dyslexia fall. It is interesting because the article was written in 2008 and in 2009 the ADA was amended, to include one of the clauses Dr. Shaywitz had campaigned  for. Dr. Shaywitz maintained that individuals with dyslexia required and should be granted time extensions on qualifying tests such as the SAT, GMAT. LSAT, and MCAT. 

In the past dyslexic individuals were not considered to be disabled - they got good grades and had average or above average IQs.  The general consensus was those persons did not need accommodations and were not covered under the ADA. Dr. Shaywitz states her position very well: 

Essentially, dyslexia robs a person of time; receiving additional time returns it.  The additional time acts as a bridge allowing the dyslexic person to access his higher-level strengths. 

The article underscores Dr. Shaywitz's point with scientific research, both in the laboratory and in case studies.

The article was thought provoking.  I work with Special Education students every day.  I see the need for a number of different disabilities to have extra time to complete assignments.  I agree that many times the granting of extra time does not level the playing field, but for some children it does.  These children also, like dyslexic children, do not appear disabled.  But processing deficits are real and do impact the child's ability to respond appropriately in a required time frame to both oral and written questions.  It is standard practice in most classrooms today to give children "think" time.  I honestly feel that good teachers recognize this and instinctively use it when necessary.

Dyslexia

This article was fascinating. I did not have a good understanding of what dyslexia actually is until reading this.  Dyslexic children have great difficulty   processing and recalling  the correct phonetic parts of words.  Many children have trouble learning to read.  A dyslexic child stands out because s/he should not be having trouble.  The dyslexic child has a normal or above IQ, is motivated to learn, and has had good reading instruction but still cannot read.
Dr. Shaywitz and her colleagues have conducted a number of long term studies, individual case studies, and used MRI imaging  to study the brain of dyslexic individuals.  They have concluded that the basis of difficulty lies in phonological processing, not in letter and word reversals. Dyslexia is a localized problem, involving the sounds, not the meaning, of spoken words.  Children  have difficulty attaching appropriate meaning to the graphemes.  The sounds, phonemes, in words are less distinct to them. 
This article was written in 1996.  A more recent article was just as disturbing.  The Connecticut Longitudinal Study found that 1 in 5 kindergarten children in the group studied was dyslexic.  At the same time only 5% of the children were served in Special Education. 
After reading these two articles it seems plain that public education is not adequately serving these children.  Dyslexia is not something that goes away or that children will outgrow.  We must do a better job of  identifying and helping these children early.