Hand-out for parents to give teachers: Dyslexia DOES exist!

 When you meet with a teacher who you suspect does not understand dyslexia, or who even doubts that it is "real," it may be wise to go to the meeting with a one-page, plain-language explanation of dyslexia.  You may want to create your own, or you can look at one I prepared.  It appears below.

The hand-out includes a brief explanation of dyslexia, with links to pages from Mayo Clinic, NIH, Harvard, Yale, Johns Hopkins, etc., about dyslexia.  Hard to deny that something exists when all those respected institutions accept that it does!

WHAT SCIENCE AND MEDICINE TELL US ABOUT DYSLEXIA

Has someone told you that "dyslexia doesn't exist?" They are wrong. 

Dyslexia is a well-researched, neurobiological, language-based condition that is expressly recognized by federal law (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). 

Further, it is recognized by this nation's leading medical schools, physician groups, and children's medical clinics, including:

MAYO CLINIC
www.mayoclinic.com/health/dyslexia/DS00224

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH (federal government)
www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/dyslexia/dyslexia.htm

YALE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
opa.yale.edu/news/article.aspx?id=3143

HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL
harvardscience.harvard.edu/medicine-health/articles/slow-reading-dyslexia-tied-disorganized-brain-tracts (Harvard physicians working with the Harvard Graduate School of Education on the brain basis of dyslexia)

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY'S CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF LEARNING 
csl.georgetown.edu/dyslexia/what.shtml

NEMOURS BRIGHTSTART! DYSLEXIA INITIATIVE OF NEMOURS CHILDREN'S [MEDICAL] CLINIC
www.nemours.org/clinic/fl/jax/service/brightstart/faq/dyslexia.html

JOHNS HOPKINS HOSPITAL
www.hopkinshospital.org/health_info/Neurological%20Diseases/Reading/dyslexic_school.html

Scientists, using a sophisticated medical tool called "functional magnetic resonance imaging" (fMRI), have determined that the brain activation patterns of those with dyslexia differ from the patterns of those without dyslexia. They have found, however, that the use of science-based reading instruction actually creates new neural pathways in the brain, and causes the dyslexic brain to start functioning more like the neurotypical brain.

Dyslexia is not caused by any eye problem, and no eye-related "treatment" will improve it. To eliminate the myth that dyslexia is vision-related, the American Academy of Pediatrics joined with the American Academy of Ophthalmology(medical eye doctors) and American Academy for Pediatric Ophthalmology(medical eye doctors who specialize in children's eye issues) and JOINTLY issued a position paper, in which they state: 

"There is no known eye or visual cause for [dyslexia] and no known effective visual treatment."   

www.aapos.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=53

Even after Christopher Columbus sailed, there were those who still insisted that the world was flat. It may therefore take time before we eradicate the baseless belief that "dyslexia doesn't exist"!