Dyslexia is a more common learning disability than most people think.Many notable public figures such as Steven Spielberg, Whoopi Goldberg, and Tim Tebow have dyslexia. The unfortunate disorder affects the way the mind interprets written and spoken language.  More than just transposing letters, some characteristics of dyslexic children include having difficulty telling time and having excellent long-term memory but having trouble remembering sequence of events. Dyslexia is a lifelong condition, but people with dyslexia can learning coping mechanisms.

Dyslexia affects an estimated ten to twenty percent of children in Alabama. In Alabama children with dyslexia often go unnoticed or unserviced. This is unfortunate because children with dyslexia are more likely to drop out of high school, face unemployment, and are incarcerated.

On Thursday, October 8^th, 2015 the Alabama school board passed amendments to the state administrative code, which now defines dyslexia as a learning challenge. The objective of these amendments is to get dyslexic children the help they need. Schools throughout the state will have dyslexic screenings. They will also give assistance so dyslexic students are not punished for having a learning challenge. The whole goal is to help these wonderful students so they may learn and thrive so they may continue to live as we do. Many of loving people have decided to reach out and help these individuals.

Rebecca Summers, a teacher here at Bob Jones, decided for herself to help them. She stated, “I think the key to this amendment is to identify dyslexia as early as kindergarten or first grade, so we can get these students the help they need. We use to identify dyslexic children as having a reading disability, and we use a variety of strategies to help them depending on these severity of their dyslexia. For so long, problems these kids face went unnoticed and the kids fell behind. Then we can’t them the help they need.”

Hopefully, the new legislature will improve conditions within the classroom, and teachers can help students learn how to succeed in spite of their dyslexia.