The Dyslexia Life

10/02/2026

Dyslexia Awareness Month is a good time to revisit a guidance letter many teams still overlook.

In October 2015, OSERS issued a Dear Colleague letter clarifying that nothing in IDEA prohibits the use of the terms dyslexia, dyscalculia, or dysgraphia in evaluations, eligibility determinations, or IEP documents. Dyslexia is expressly included in the definition of specific learning disability at 34 CFR 300.8(c)(10). Naming the disability supports appropriately targeted instruction, which matters under the Endrew F. standard of progress appropriate in light of the child's circumstances.

For military connected students who change schools every two to three years, precise documentation travels. Vague language gets reinterpreted at every new school.

https://hilaryreese.substack.com/p/october-is-dyslexia-awareness-month

and awareness only matters if it turns into action at the IEP table.

10/02/2026

October is officially Dyslexia Awareness Month! ❤️
All month long, we’re making space for important conversations about dyslexia on the Literacy in Color Podcast.
Comment PLAYLIST for the link to the current playlist, including last year’s episodes.
Each week in the month of October, a new episode will drop featuring voices from across the dyslexia community including educators, advocates, parents, and individuals with lived experience.
Be sure to share these episodes and join me in raising awareness all month (ehem.. all year) long. 📣❤️
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09/22/2026

Ten years ago, Mississippi ranked dead last in the country for reading — 51st, behind every state and Washington, D.C. Today, its 4th graders rank 9th in reading nationally.

Everyone calls it the "Mississippi Miracle." It wasn't luck. Mississippi committed to the Science of Reading — real, explicit phonics instruction, alongside vocabulary and comprehension — and paired it with accountability: kids had to demonstrate reading proficiency before moving from 3rd to 4th grade, and the state stepped in on districts that kept failing kids.

I bring this up because it's the same fight I have in IEP meetings every week. Structured literacy isn't an accommodation for a few kids — it's what the research says works for all kids, and it's what dyslexic learners need most. If your child's school is still relying on "balanced literacy" or three-cueing, this is the evidence you point to.

If you are looking for help, I sit in IEP meetings all ove the US and at DODEA worldwide, let's chat.

09/19/2026

Louisiana just flipped a core rule of special education law.

Starting August 1, the burden of proof in IDEA due process hearings moved from parents to school districts.

What that means: when a parent challenges a child's program or placement, the district now has to prove — by a preponderance of the evidence — that what it offered was appropriate. Parents don't have to prove failure anymore. The district has to prove it got it right.

The standards themselves haven't changed. FAPE, Child Find, LRE, Endrew F. — all still apply. What changed is who has to show up with the receipts.

And that's where this gets real. Districts now need to answer:

Did the IEP services actually happen?
Where's the progress-monitoring data?
Were evaluations sufficient?
Was the parent actually included in decision-making, not just informed after the fact?
Does the Prior Written Notice explain the district's reasoning?
Can they produce records proving the program worked?

For years, parents walked into hearings already carrying the burden of proving the system failed their kid. Louisiana just handed that weight to the district instead.

Need help, book a one hour strategy call? I'll help you review your current IEP and goals and see if your next step might be Due Process.

Louisiana school districts face a new special education compliance landscape where the governing legal standards remain familiar, but the evidentiary...

09/18/2026

"If your child attends a DoDEA school and you suspect dyslexia, here's the thing most parents don't know: DoDEA doesn't follow your state's dyslexia law — not Georgia's, not Texas's, not Alabama's. It runs on its own federal rulebook (DoD Manual 1342.12) and IDEA. Families PCS in expecting the same protections and get blindsided.

Two things to do starting today:
1) Give written notice, then record every IEP meeting — case law backs your right to do this.
2) Get the data — DIBELS, Aimsweb, Acadience scores, work samples — not just opinions.

I wrote up what DoDEA identifies, how to request an evaluation under Child Find, the 5 questions to ask your school, and the escalation path if things stall. Full post linked below.

What's the biggest DoDEA IEP surprise you've run into? Tell me in the comments. 👇

"

09/11/2026

Every September 11, we stop and remember. For military families, what that day started didn't end — it turned into two decades of deployments, PCS orders, and kids who grew up moving because a parent wore the uniform.

A new GAO report just confirmed something a lot of us already knew: DoDEA is still missing kids with dyslexia. Not because the kids aren't there — because the screening isn't catching them in time.

I broke down what the report actually found and what you can do right now if you're PCSing with a struggling reader (don't wait on DoDEA's fix). Link below.

09/10/2026

Georgia school districts are spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on legal battles to fight parents of disabled children over special education evaluations.

08/21/2026

We head into a busy Fall Season. Make sure you pay attention to the results of your K-2 grader's reading assessment using M-Class. This is the screener that flags signs of Dyslexia or SLD in K-2 graders under state law three times a year for anyone in Coronado CA

KEEP IN MIND- AT ANY POINT- YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO ASK FOR A COMPLETE EVALUATION FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION AS A DIRECT PARENT REFERRAL. THIS IS DIFFERENT THAN AN INSIDE OF THE SCHOOL SST REFERRAL.

I would put this request in writing via email to Niamh Foley, the Special Education Director for CUSD, your teacher, and the principal.

Remember these key facts on reading:

90% NINETY PERCENT OF CHILDREN WITH READING DIFFICULTIES WILL ACHIEVE GRADE LEVEL IN READING IF THEY RECEIVE HELP BY THE FIRST GRADE. (VELLUTINO ET AL)

80% EIGHTY PERCENT OF STUDENTS WHO ARE STRUGGLING TO READ AT THE END OF FIRST GRADE CONTINUE TO BE STRUGGLING READERS IN FOURTH GRADE. (SPARKS, PATTON, &MURDOCH 2014)

Feel free to dm if you need a letter, email, or any other resources.