Category: You Asked

You Asked! Question 5

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Q5: What are Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM) / Accessible Educational Materials (AEM) and how can they benefit a dyslexic student?

A:  Some students with disabilities are unable to use traditional print materials to obtain information and access their curriculum and may need specialized formats such as large print, audio recordings or digital text. These specialized formats are called accessible educational materials or AEM. If a student needs AEM, they must be provided to the student in a “timely manner”, which in California means at the same time as his or her peers. The laws outlining a student’s right to receive AEM include Title II of the ADA, Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act and in several sections of the IDEA 2004 including Section 300.324(a)(2) and Section 300.172.  In other words, if a student with a disability cannot access print in the same way as his peers (i.e. due to dyslexia a student is unable to read fluently at grade level), the school must determine if AEM is needed and provide them in the specialized formats that are accessible to the student in a timely manner.

A helpful article on “The Right of Students with Disabilities Who Need Accessible Instructional Materials to Receive These Materials in a Timely Manner: A Brief for Families and Educators” from the National Center on Accessible Educational Materials website can be downloaded HERE.

“The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires a district to provide accessible instructional materials to students who need them for participation and achievement. While SBE-adopted materials are available in accessible formats from the CDE, a district utilizing non-adopted materials will need to obtain digital files and have them converted to accessible formats…” (Source: CDE website http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/rl/im/implementofimsnotadopt.asp).

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You Asked! Question 6

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Q6:  How is ADHD different from Dyslexia? I am concerned that my student has dyslexia but am being told by the school psychologist that it is just “inattention” issues that are preventing my student from being able to read at grade-level?

A:  According to the International Dyslexia Association, Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability characterized by difficulties with accurate and fluent word recognition, spelling and reading decoding. People with dyslexia have problems discriminating sounds within a word or phonemes, a key factor in their reading and spelling difficulties.

Dyslexic children and children with ADHD have some similar characteristics. Dyslexic children, like children with ADHD, may have difficulty paying attention because reading is so demanding that it causes them to fatigue easily, limiting the ability to sustain concentration. People with dyslexia and those with ADHD both have difficulty with reading. The dyslexic person’s reading is typically dysfluent, with major problems with accuracy, misreading both large and small words. The person with ADHD may also be a dysfluent reader, but his or her reading is not characterized by misreading words. The ADHD reader may skip over punctuation, leave off endings, and lose his or her place. The disfluency of both the ADHD person and the dyslexic reader may negatively impact comprehension. Both may avoid reading and derive little pleasure from it. Both the person with dyslexia and the person with ADHD typically have trouble with writing. The typical dyslexic writer has significant problems with spelling, grammar, proofreading, and organization. The ADHD writer often has difficulty with organization and proofreading. Both the dyslexic writer and the ADHD writer may have handwriting difficulties.

Individuals with dyslexia and ADHD may be underachieving in school even though they are often bright and motivated. The goal for them, as it is for all children, is to meet their potential. It is critical that children with these disorders be carefully evaluated because treatment for one disorder is different from the other. Inaccurate diagnosis can lead to inappropriate intervention and a delay in timely, effective intervention (Source: The International Dyslexia Association).

To download the complete Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) and Dyslexia Fact Sheet by the International Dyslexia Association click HERE.

 

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