SAISD 504/Dyslexia Newsletter

Section 504 is a provision of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 that prohibits discrimination based upon disability. SECTION 504 is a civil rights statute that requires the needs of students with disabilities to be met as adequately as the needs of the non-disabled are met.

For more information from the Texas Education Agency, please click on this link. 504 Guide

If your child needs extra help or accommodations at school, you might be able get help through a Section 504 plan. A Section 504 plan helps your child get accommodations (changes in how content is taught, supported, or tested) that will help them participate in the classroom or other school activities. Children might receive 504 services for many reasons. A few examples of 504 accommodations include: getting extra time on a test; sitting at the front of the class to reduce distractions; having a handrail or ramp installed in the school; having a test read to them; and classroom changes to manage food allergies.

Researchers haven’t yet pinpointed exactly what causes dyslexia. But they do know that genes and brain differences play a role. Here are some of the possible causes of dyslexia:

Genes and heredity: Dyslexia often runs in families. About 40 percent of siblings of people with dyslexia also struggle with reading. As many as 49 percent of parents of kids with dyslexia have it, too. Scientists have also found genes linked to problems with reading and processing language.

Brain anatomy and activity: Brain imaging studies have shown brain differences between people with and without dyslexia. These differences happen in areas of the brain involved with key reading skills. Those skills are knowing how sounds are represented in words, and recognizing what written words look like.

From Understanding Dyslexia: Myth vs. Facts- Breaking down the truth about Dyslexia

Lola Álvarez was diagnosed with dyslexia when she was a young girl in Mexico. She faced stigma and decided to keep her dyslexia a secret for years—even from her own husband.

But when her youngest son was diagnosed with dyslexia, Lola had a transformation. Learn how and when she finally told her husband about her reading challenges. And find out how she became an advocate for her son and for all kids who learn and think differently.

From understood.org

Multisensory instruction is a way of teaching that engages more than one sense at a time. Using sight, hearing, movement, and touch gives kids more than one way to connect with what they are learning. If kids learn something using more than one sense, the information is more likely to stick. The result is better memory of the skill. All students benefit from multisensory instruction, especially those who struggle with reading. This article on understood.org shares several multisensory techniques that can be used by teachers to help students in the classroom.

8 multisensory techniques for teaching reading-

https://www.understood.org/en/articles/8-multisensory-techniques-for-teaching-reading

What is Multisensory Instruction?

https://www.understood.org/articles/multisensory-instruction-what-you-need-to-know