Identical U.S. House and Senate legislation is drawing bipartisan support for attempts to modernize identifications for children with reading challenges, although some disability rights advocacy groups and education organizations caution the move could put struggling readers further behind.
Specifically, the 21st Century Dyslexia Act proposes that IDEA definition of a “child with a disability” adds dyslexia as a 14th category of disabilities that qualifies a student for special education services.
Currently, dyslexia is named as one of several disorders under the specific learning disabilities category.
The bills in Congress — S 3010 and HR 5769 — define dyslexia as an “unexpected difficulty in reading for an individual who has the intelligence to be a much better reader, most commonly caused by a difficulty in the phonological processing (the appreciation of the individual sounds of spoken language), which affects the ability of an individual to speak, read, and spell.”
The U.S. Education Department does not collect data specifically on the number of students with dyslexia. According to the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity, dyslexia affects 20% of the population and represents 80% to 90% of all those with learning disabilities. It is the most common neurocognitive disorder, according to the center.
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