My son has dyslexia and is in 3rd grade and not moving up in reading level despite having an IEP. I am getting worried he does not have the right support, and I’m not sure where to start. Hoping you might have some guidance?

Dr. Pierson’s Response:

I’m sorry that your son continues to struggle. And, it’s difficult for me to say “where to start” without knowing his profile and what has transpired relative to intervention. His progress can be related to a number of things.

First of all, we know that intervention for dyslexia (and other language-based learning disorders) should be as intensive as possible. Dr. Sally Shaywitz in her seminal book Overcoming Dyslexia states that it takes between 300-500 hours of intervention. I find this to be true in my private clinical practice https://3-li.org/

Has he been getting intensive intervention?

The other question is whether he is getting the right intervention. We know that, early on, students with dyslexia need structured literacy intervention. https://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/dyslexics/living-with-dyslexia/structured-literacy-setting-the-stage-for-student-literacy-success/

We need to ascertain that he has indeed been receiving a systematic, explicit intervention program.

I’m hoping that his school is using a curriculum in the classroom that is based in the science of reading. This podcast by Emily Hanford https://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/latest/sold-story-how-teaching-kids-read-went-so-wrong/ is excellent at helping parents (and teachers and policy makers) understand what has happened in the US education system in the past that has not been helpful to students with dyslexia or reading challenges. Students with dyslexia should not be provided with instruction or intervention that encourages reading through use of multiple cues (i.e., “three-cueing system” or “balanced literacy”); these approaches are detrimental to students with profiles of dyslexia and should not be provided to them. They should be encouraged not to guess words that are unfamiliar but to instead use their skills and strategies to sound them out.

https://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/latest/new-study-questions-benefit-popular-reading-intervention/

https://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/latest/mississippi-teaches-us-something-about-reading/

I assess, diagnose, and treat students with dyslexia of all ages at my private clinical practice. https://3-li.org/

I do know that students progress at different rates, and some kiddos can have more severe profiles than others. I find that some students progress can be somewhat intractable (i.e., slower to change), but that said, we do see students make progress, and you should see it, too.