Combating A Learning Disability: Frequent Dyslexia Screenings Proposed In Tennessee

A pending bill in Tennessee would mandate frequent dyslexia screenings for students from kindergarten to 2nd grade. If passed, the bill would also establish a dyslexia advisory council and would order the state department of education to provide training on proper dyslexia treatment.

Identifying Difficulties

According to Nashville Public Radio, the screenings, which will be done three times a year, won't necessarily diagnose the disorder in children. Instead, it would allow health personnel to identify a child's reading difficulties, which could eventually lead to dyslexia.

Tim Odegard, a cognitive psychologist in Middle Tennessee State University, believes Tennessee schools are prepared to treat dyslexic students via the Response To Intervention (RTI) program. In RTI, teachers immediately respond to a student's difficulties and offer support when needed.

"We know what to do with dyslexia," said Odegard. "If we are trying to implement something as lofty as a Response to Intervention framework across the entire state, wouldn't it make sense to start with what we know really well?"

Schools Have Progressed

The screenings would greatly help parents like Clarksville native, Lori Smith. Her daughter Ryann had shown signs of dyslexia when she was still in first grade. In wasn't until two years later when she was diagnosed with the disorder. Lori believes her daughter would have been reading at grade level by now had the screenings started a few years back.

"I noticed that she didn't seem to understand rhyming words. She saw the word 'hat' and didn't know the word 'cat' was going to sound like it," Lori told The Tennessean. "We were asking for help, trying to figure out what was wrong. We lost a full two years of intervention time because the schools didn't know how to identify and then screen for dyslexia."

Diagnosing dyslexia in children can be a lengthy process, especially without prior screenings. After diagnosis, dyslexic students aren't always admitted to the right intervention program. The bill, which has already passed through the House Education Administration and Planning Committee and the Senate Education Committee, seeks to abolish that status quo.