Marble Falls teachers hosting dyslexia awareness meeting
The meeting is 6 p.m. in the school cafeteria, 8200 RR 1431.
“This program is to increase the awareness of dyslexia and share the characteristics of it with people,” said Amy Jacobs, Marble Falls Independent School District director of secondary education. “We want to provide information on testing and diagnosis of dyslexia.”
The Texas Education Code defines dyslexia as “a disorder of constitutional origin manifested by a difficulty in learning to read, write or spell, despite conventional instruction, adequate intelligence and sociocultural opportunity.”
“They’re also going to discuss related conditions,” Jacobs said.
She said one of the keys to helping students with dyslexia is identifying them as early as possible.
Once identified as dyslexic or even with a reading and/or writing problem, the district can get them the help they need, she said.
District literary specialist Tracey Powell said the district is testing more students, but if a parent still has a concern about his or her child, then the parent should contact the school or district.
“If you even think (your child) might have it or has trouble with reading or writing, you should start seeking help,” she said. “They don’t need to be labeled dyslexic, but if we can start helping them by the first or second grade it really will make a difference.”
Jacobs added that dyslexia isn’t simply “black and white.”
“There are several different levels. And there are several different ways to identify a student who may be dyslexic,” she said. “Early intervention is the key to helping them.”
Once a student is identified as dyslexic, Jacobs said the district puts him or her in with specially trained teachers who work with dyslexic students.
While many students are identified at the lower levels, Jacobs said the district has dyslexic specialists at each campus including the middle school and high school.
The dyslexia awareness meeting will provide parents, teachers and community members resources on the condition as well as describe the services MFISD provides, Jacobs said.
“It’s open to everybody,” she said. “The more information we can get out to people about dyslexia, the sooner we can test and identify students who have it and provide them the services they need. We do it for students from elementary through high school.”
For more information on the meeting, contact Jacobs at (830) 683-4357.
daniel@thepicayune.com