This dream has been in the hearts of many parents for years!

January 2013 Decoding Dyslexia of Alabama was established to voice the concerns of parents on the limited access to educational interventions for #dyslexia in Alabama and to work towards legislation. October 2014 Roundtable Solutions committed to our goals. November 2014 ALIDA came on board and most recently Alabama Game Changers along with Alabama Scottish Rite Foundation.

We have collaborated with these organizations, parents, and individuals creating the proposed legislation regarding the items presented below. Legislators, education officials, executive branch representatives have been contacted. Below are the talking points, a summary of the proposed legislation and a link of the full text of the proposed legislation.

ALABAMA’S DYSLEXIA BILL OF RIGHTS: THE THREE “Rs”
Recognizing + Reaching = Reading.

Children with dyslexia are often invisible in Alabama classrooms as they fail to learn to read like other children. Alabama’s children with dyslexia have a right to be recognized, to be reached, and to be taught to read!

Alabama’s Need For Dyslexia Legislation

• Dyslexia impacts between 10% and 20% of children in Alabama schools.
  • Only identified after years of failure and frustration in schools
  • Can be identified as early as kindergarten
  • Early identification will result in success in school and in life for many children with dyslexia
• Individuals with dyslexia are usually very intelligent, but without early identification and intervention, they are…
  • Much more likely to drop out of high school
  • Much more likely to be unemployed or underemployed
  • Much more likely to be disconnected from society
  • May be more likely to be incarcerated.
    • More than half of all inmates in the United States are illiterate
• Early identification and appropriate dyslexia-specific early intervention provided through general education in Alabama schools will…
  • Reduce the negative academic and social impacts of dyslexia
  • Equip individuals with dyslexia to be literate, productive Alabama citizens realizing their full potential contributing to the economic well-being of Alabama.

This Dyslexia Law will:

• Provide a legal definition for dyslexia in Alabama
• Equip Alabama teachers to meet the needs of students with dyslexia
• Provide for early identification and intervention for students with dyslexia in Alabama schools.

Full text of the proposed legislation: AL_Dyslexia_Bill_of_Rights_

Ramona Rice
Decoding Dyslexia Alabama State Founder
Ramona@DecodingDyslexiaALA.com

One person can make a difference and everyone should try.
~John F. Kennedy