Support NJ Students with Dyslexia
ACTION ALERTS for NJ Families: Visit our NJ Legislation page for pressing action alerts where you can participate and make a difference. It only takes a few minutes to make a phone call or send an email. Click here for our latest action alert today!
WHAT CAN I DO RIGHT THIS MINUTE?
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- Familiarize yourself with the NJ dyslexia laws
- Learn about current bills focused on dyslexia
- Assembly Bill A1292 – Click to find the bills
- Send a letter and/or email to your local NJ legislators sharing your personal story and asking for their support
- Click to find your local legislators
- Click to find tips for writing your family story
- Make an appointment to meet with your local legislators
- Download and use DD-NJ’s helpful literature packet
- Encourage your US Representative to join the Bipartisan Congressional Dyslexia Caucus
- Click to find your representative
- Contact Your U.S. Congressional Representative and urge him to Support House Resolution on Dyslexia, #456 (click here to see copy of resolution)
- Click to find your representative
- Host a DD-NJ community roundtable discussion in your NJ county
- Share this information with 3 others and ask that they get involved in this movement also!
WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?
- Join the NJ Branch of The International Dyslexia Association.
- Get involved at your local level:
- Inquire about your school district’s state mandated “Special Education Parent Advisory Group” and join. If they don’t have one yet, start your own. Technical assistance is available for free through the Statewide Parent Advocacy Network’s START Project.
- Get involved in your local PTA and help plan literacy events and/or fundraisers.
- Go to school board meetings and consider becoming a school board member.
- Join a variety of district committees, talk to other parents at local events, and discuss dyslexia with educators. Become a resource for others!
- Get educated about dyslexia
- Read literature about dyslexia. Books, such as Overcoming Dyslexia by Dr.
Sally Shaywitz, have been crucial for many parents in understanding our children’s
needs. Check out our Resources page for more good books and websites. - Check out IDA and NJ IDA websites and literature.
- Take a parent training course in reading intervention so that you can help your
child at home. - Familiarize yourself with the NJ Administrative Code on Special Education.
- Take a parent advocacy course through a group such as SPAN to understand your child’s rights.
- Get second opinions through private testing by a university, learning center, educational consultant, speech pathologist, developmental pediatrician, occupational therapist, physical therapist and/or other specialists.
- Speak to advocates, educators in private practice, and special education attorneys.
- Attend seminars, get on mailing lists, and network with others from support groups and LD organizations in your area.
- Read literature about dyslexia. Books, such as Overcoming Dyslexia by Dr.
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Things have been changing since the six-part Sold a Story series of audio documentaries was released. In the second bonus episode, we tell you about some of the changes and what we think about them. Find all 6 + the 2 bonus episodes of the series here: ![]()
features.apmreports.org/sold-a-story/
Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong
features.apmreports.org
There's an idea about how children learn to read that's held sway in schools for more than a generation — even though it was proven wrong by cognitive scientists decades ago. Teaching methods based ...
Remember that time, F&P said they stood by their disproven theories of reading? Now they think districts should have to pay a second time for “greater clarity on the appropriate use of strategies?” Parents, teachers, don’t let your distsricts be $old a $tory! ![]()
finance.yahoo.com/news/heinemann-begins-release-second-edition-182700504.html?.tsrc=fin-srch
Heinemann Begins Release of Second Edition of Fountas & Pinnell Classroom
finance.yahoo.com
Heinemann today announced the second edition of two of the most popular components of Fountas & Pinnell Classroom (FPC): Fountas & Pinnell Classroom™ Shared Reading K-3, available in August, and Fou...
"Nearly 40 percent of the people who wrote or called us are teachers.... After teachers, the largest group we heard from is parents.... More than a third of responders asked for more reporting. Some asked for a similar investigation into math."![]()
![]()
www.apmreports.org/story/2023/05/11/sold-a-story-messages-from-listeners?fbclid=IwAR1c5YoBunOz_PJ...
'This is my kid; this is my story': Messages from listeners
www.apmreports.org
Emails and voice messages poured in from people who listened to Sold a Story.
Tuesday 5/9 6-8:00 PM ET -- Join The Reading League for the first interactive Virtual Lecture Series webinar to watch a conversation between Dr. Joseph Torgesen and his former Director of Research at the Florida Center for Reading Research, Dr. Yaacov Petscher as they highlight some of the reasons that findings from scientific research on reading should be taken seriously by educators to help them make their practice more effective. All info and registration here:![]()
info.thereadingleague.org/virtual-lecture-seriesmay2023?utm_source=social&utm_medium=videos&utm_c...
Virtual Lecture Series - May 2023
info.thereadingleague.org
Join us for Virtual Lecture Series, our free professional learning webinars. Build a deeper understanding of the science of reading’s evolution.
"Dyscalculia and dyslexia often share underlying problems with attention, visual and working memory, and studies estimate a third to 75 percent of students with dyscalculia also have dyslexia, dysgraphia, or attention deficits."![]()
www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/dyscalculia-and-dyslexia-reading-disabilities-offer-insights-for...
Dyscalculia and Dyslexia: Reading Disabilities Offer Insights for Math Support
www.edweek.org
Many students with math disabilities also have dyslexia. New research into the overlap reveals clues that could shape better math interventions.
Some districts are learning that they were sold a story with so-called "balanced literacy," which teaches kids to guess at words using pictures and context (based on a disproven theory of reading), rather than explicitly teaching letters, sounds, and decoding, @CNN Athena Jones profiles Panther Valley Elementary School and changes they have made to improve reading skills. What's in your district? ![]()
www.cnn.com/videos/us/2023/04/24/education-schools-reading-programs-literacy-jones-pkg-cnntm-cpro...
School changes reading program after realizing students 'weren't actually learning to read' | CNN
www.cnn.com
CNN national correspondent Athena Jones reports on the US Department of Education study stating that just one in three fourth graders was at or above reading proficiency, and how it is forcing element...
PAGE ONE of The New York Times Sunday paper -- a wide-ranging article on reading and instruction! What started as a dyslexia issue is now also a civil rights issue.: "The movement has drawn support across economic, racial and political lines. Its champions include parents of children with dyslexia; civil rights activists with the N.A.A.C.P.; lawmakers from both sides of the aisle; and everyday teachers and principals." What's in your district? ![]()
![]()
www.nytimes.com/2023/04/16/us/science-of-reading-literacy-parents.html?unlocked_article_code=rDKR...
‘Kids Can’t Read’: The Revolt That Is Taking On the Education Establishment
www.nytimes.com
Fed up parents, civil rights activists, newly awakened educators and lawmakers are crusading for “the science of reading.” Can they get results?
Tuesday, April 18, 2023 7 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. ET: The Windward School hosts "Exploring Whole Child Approaches to the Identification and Support of Children with Dyslexia" with Yaacov Petscher, PhD, who will discuss the ways in which adversity impacts learning, and the integration of learning across social, emotional, and academic factors.![]()
Register here: ![]()
www.thewindwardschool.org/the-windward-institute/courses-workshops-lectures/lectures/windward-sch...
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