How to Help Teachers Understand the Invisible Impacts of Dyslexia
Learning disabilities like dyslexia, which affects as many as 1 in 5 people, don’t always look the same, and often, the many adverse impacts go completely unnoticed in busy classrooms. A student may seem to be trying to “fly under the radar” when they’re really terrified of being called on to read aloud. They may keep good grades for several reasons, including compensation strategies they’ve built to work around challenges that are nonetheless still taking a toll. They may spend extra time at home finishing classwork they didn’t have time to complete, or get tutoring if their family can afford it. Both can keep kids afloat and prevent them from falling too far behind. But the disability doesn’t go away, and neither do its effects on learning and accessing the material.
A student with all As and Bs can still be struggling. On timed tests, for instance, the stress and anxiety can be severe as they rush to finish. In their hurry, they may read lengthy questions and multiple-choice answers without full comprehension, missing questions they actually know because a few misread or skipped words changed the meaning. These struggles often go undetected in a classroom of 30 students with one teacher doing their best to help everyone. But undetected doesn’t mean nonexistent.
At the start of every school year, I do a few things to make sure all of my son’s teachers understand how his dyslexia affects him in the classroom. I want them to be aware so they can respond with understanding and empathy, and help my son advocate for himself, so he gets the support he needs to thrive, not just get by.
Explain the why, not just the what. In my beginning-of-year email, I don’t simply list accommodations. I use examples to explain why they’re so important. When teachers see that extended time is a necessary accommodation for my son to be able to be measured for what he knows, not how fast he reads, and completed notes protect his ability to listen and learn, they not only grow in their understanding of the invisible impacts of dyslexia but they also better understand why accommodations like these are meant to level the playing field, NOT provide a student with an advantage.
1. Dyslexia is lifelong. A student who has received intervention may have developed strong decoding skills but still be struggling read with ease and fluency. For many students with dyslexia, reading is still work, especially with the long, new vocabulary that shows up in every subject in middle and high school. That’s what makes the disability invisible: teachers see the result, not the effort behind it.
2. Extra time is about processing, not just finishing. Many students with dyslexia or ADHD need more time to take in new information, and reading is slow and deliberate. On a timed test, rushing can mean a skipped or misread word changes the meaning of a question they otherwise know how to answer. Extended time doesn’t give them an edge. It makes sure the test measures what they know, not how fast they read.
3. Give completed notes, not fill-in-the-blank note catchers. A note catcher sounds like a helpful middle ground, but for a student with dyslexia it’s a demanding juggling act. To fill in a blank, they have to listen, find their place on the page, spell the word, and write it, all while the teacher keeps talking. Fluent readers and writers do those things automatically. Students with dyslexia do them with great effort and intention. Students with dyslexia are also more likely to hit new vocabulary they have to decode or sound out, and every second spent doing that is a second they aren’t hearing the lesson. They may look like they’re participating while missing what’s being taught. Completed notes let our students be fully present, listen, absorb the new information, and use the notes to study later.