Annual - Governor's National Conference 2/2014 re: Dyslexia Appeal

Governors National Conference is coming in February. Thankfully, the Director I spoke to just had her son diagnosed with Dyslexia at a tender age of 6! Wow, pretty shocking I said and she further shared the incredible teacher in N. Kingstown was very familiar with Dyslexia and knew the signs so she red flagged him and he's in early intervention. This teacher walked side by side with her going to the school. That school district was supportive and actually used the WORD Decoding Dyslexia RI. She is handing this letter to him. YEAH!!

Via Email governor@governor.ri.gov and 
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January 23, 2014

Governor Lincoln D. Chafee
Office of the Governor
82 Smith Street
Providence, RI 02903

Dear Governor Chafee,

I am the founder of the RI Chapter for Decoding Dyslexia RI. We are the 34th State to join in the grassroots movement that has spread across the country. New Jersey has initiated and passed Bills in the General Assembly and the Senate. 

It is critical to our 1 in 5 children that have Dyslexia, that our Governor advocate and give them the education they deserve under NCLB and IDEA. We need to break the cycle of not recognizing the well-defined indicators early (or not at all), which usually then leads a child into years of waiting, failing and falling terribly behind. This is so unnecessary if a child is screened early when the brain still has the ability to change and rewire itself in the presence of good, evidenced-based instruction. I see it as negligence and incomprehensible when you look at facts like 77% of those incarcerated are completely illiterate and cannot even fill out a job application. 80-85% of those are Dyslexic. I think of this as a budgetary item for the State as well. 

Budget: we are paying approximately $110K to house juveniles and approximately $66K to house an inmate. When you factor in the approximately $6K to educate each child in public school, you clearly see we are not spending our money wisely with early interventions in place, which would enable dyslexic children the tools to be successful and not drop out of school and become lost. You should know, the largest sector in LD (Learning Disabled), are the Dyslexics. 

I’m sure you are aware that Congressional Rep. Julia Brownley and Rep. Bill Cassidy whom started the Bipartisan Congressional Dyslexia Caucus in 2012. Dyslexia robs individuals of their ability to read quickly, automatically and to retrieve spoken words easily but it does not dampen their creativity and ingenuity – skills important for America to prosper. A recent GAO report (GAO-12-40) found that many students with learning and other disabilities, including dyslexia, are not receiving accommodations, such as extended testing time, required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when they take high stakes examinations such as the SAT, GRE, LSAT, or US Medical Licensing Examinations and others. This is unacceptable, and by working together we can make sure that those with learning abilities are receiving their proper and legal accommodations, because many States are completely out of compliance.

As our Governor, you have shown dedication to the children and I ask you to take the first step forward in forming a Reading Disabilities Task Force, which is similar to New Jersey and several other States. 

Currently, Cranston and many other districts keep denying that our children have dyslexia. For instance, under the IDEA, Specific Learning Disability (SLD), is one of the classifications. Dyslexia is then listed as one of the conditions that SLD includes. Here is an excerpt from the IDEA law:

11. Specific Learning Disability…
…means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations. The term includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. The term does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities; of intellectual disability; of emotional disturbance; or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.

If you helped created a panel and were in support of under the above condition under SLD, that dyslexia would be included with the definition of dyslexia in its State Education Code, then a child, who was diagnosed as dyslexic (always from a private evaluation) should be given the type of interventions and accommodations that are proven to scientifically work with dyslexic children. Currently, parents like me need to seek legal counsel (I used RI Disability Law Center – Free and they only take certain cases – but chose my son’s). Or parents seek a professional advocate to make that kind of a case in order to get their child the education they deserve to be successful. The bottom line is, we need law to change the conversation that parents have had in the past with their districts.

I respectfully request that you give our Rhode Island students with dyslexia or other reading disabilities and opportunity to not only become successful readers but successful citizens. It is my hope that I can meet with you and further discuss how we can get this accomplished, together.

With sincerest thanks,
Suzanne
Suzanne E. Arena
Advocate/Activist/Dyslexic and Mother of a son with disabilities, Dyselxia, Dysgraphia, Dyscalculia & ADHD
DECODING DYSLEXIA RI, Chapter Founder
Cranston, RI