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Reframing Dyslexia DISTRICT PLANS NEW SUPPORTS Text by EMMA DONELLY-HIGGINS and KAYLA BRAND Photos by EMMA DONELLY-HIGGINS and ALLISON CHENG
“I
JUST GENERALLY THOUGHT I WAS STUPID .… I would take shorter spelling tests. We would get 15 questions and I would have five and I would get all of those wrong — literally all of them,” says Julia, a Palo Alto High School junior whose name, like others in this story, has been changed to protect her identity. Although Julia says she always knew she had dyslexia and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, she didn’t realize the severity of her learning disabilities until fourth grade when she qualified for an Individualized Education Program — a plan that can provide students with learning disabilities with educational interventions — with some help from her mom, who already had two other children with learning differences. “By the time I went into middle school, I was pretty close to being average [academically],” she says. “But then it started really affecting my math skills, and then I would be in special education math classes.” Although Palo Alto Unified School District has more funding and support for students with dyslexia than most, Julia says it has not always provided adequate resources to fully support her and other students. While she is incredibly grateful for her district-provided case manager, who helps her select things like classes and future colleges, she has not always felt so well resourced. “I had to go to speech impediment classes because they didn’t have anything for how bad my dyslexia was,” Julia says. “They didn’t have any programs designed for people who had as severe dyslexia as me as that young an age.” Improving horizons According to Yolanda Conaway, the Assistant Superintendent for Strategic Initiatives, the district has plans to improve the educational accommodations given to students like Julia. In November 2017, district educators, administrators, staff specialists and parent representatives formed the PAUSD Dyslexia Workgroup to review the
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