Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Intro: What's worse: a tiger mom or a razorback mom?
As a mother of two very adorable dyslexics, naturally I am interested in whether Arkansas is going to plunge into the ocean of forward thinking and be counted among the first few states to step up and provide help for the twenty percent of its population that is currently slipping through its educational cracks with dyslexia.
That's right, as many as twenty percent of our population has dyslexia. That's twenty percent of kids in our schools. Dyslexics struggle with language: reading, writing, and/or spelling; although most of them have above average intelligence. Many of them, are never diagnosed which means many never receive help. Which mean year by year they slip a little further behind, in spite of their intelligence, as they are introduced to tens of thousands of new vocabulary words yearly. IF their impairments are profound enough they land in special education classes, which by the way, are not designed to remediate for dyslexia; they never progress. Whether in special ed or being bumped up to new grade levels every year our dyslexic children are not having their fundamental needs recognized or met. They lose confidence in their learning abilities. They despise learning. Many of them just give up.
In the past, Senator Joyce Elliott, has presented a bill (SB749) to provide screening and intervention for K-2 students in Arkansas public schools. It failed because of funding issues.
The bill is being revised and will be presented again this session. I am working with a local nonprofit to educate the Arkansas assembly about dyslexia, so that our lawmakers know how critical providing screenings and interventions for dyslexics is. We are reaching out to parents in the state and will educate them as well. In addition to training dyslexia tutors, we will reach out to parents and support them so that their voices can be heard.
My goal this semester: Writing to change Arkansas law: promoting this bill (SB033), correspond with and educate legislators, and enrich and strengthen the grassroots network of parents in this state.
The timing of my taking Writing for Change couldn't be more appropriate and opportune. I am so eager to learn all that I can, so that I am better able to take on this state.
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(Jordan King)
ReplyDeleteI admire your passion for the dyslexia cause! If you're going to encourage politicians to change current legislation, I would suggest possibly using Change.org - a great online petition tool. You can set it up so that every time a supporter signs, an email is sent to the petition's designated recipients (AKA the politicians you're trying to reach). I have done a petition through Change.org before, and it was easy and effective. I'll keep my eyes out for a victory blog post lol
Thanks for your advice, Jordan! I was wondering how you did that petition. I will definitely look into that and look forward to all of your ideas and advice. You seem to always be a step ahead as far as knowing where to go and what to do! That's so awesome and thanks for being so willing to point others in a direction that might open up new vistas for them.
ReplyDeleteWow! What a great subject matter for both your internship and your advocacy project. Just by writing this blog, you are spreading awareness about the struggles of dyslexia and the lack of assistance for those affected by it. I had no clue that special education courses in schools did so little for children with specific learning needs. I look forward to signing your petition! Keep up the wonderful work :)
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