Helping Children With dyslexia
I receive many letters from parents every day seeking advice on how to help their children. Although it takes me large part of my day to answer these emails, I do the best I can, because behind every email is a child who needs support and fast. Parents only seek help when it is absolutely necessary and I hate a child to have to struggle for longer than is necessary. Hence my determination to assist others.

This week I received a letter from a parent asking about the Federals Disabilities Act. This is currently the only protection for a child with a diagnosed learning disability or dyslexia here in Australia. I am definitely not an expert on the Act or a legal professional, but as it has been explained to me by an National Disability Coordination Officer (NDCO), I will try to explain it to you. See my email reply below.

Dear Conscientious Parent,

Thanks for your email. The Federal Disabilities Act (Educational Standards Provisions 2005) states that a child with a diagnosed learning disability or dyslexia (This must be stated by a professional diagnostician on your child’s report) cannot be discriminated against during their education. Accommodations must be provided by the educational institution to ensure they are not being discriminated against as this is an offence. Most schools do not know this however, and neither do most parents. You can get a copy of the ACT on the DEEWR website. At present this is the only protection you have, until educational reform takes place and I am working hard to bring this about.

The best course of action however, is to work with your school and individual teachers as a team to ensure that suitable accommodations are provided for your child, but if you are constantly hitting brick walls you can bring up the Disabilities Act. It works in much the same way as for a child in a wheelchair who is not provided with a ramp to access the classroom, an accessible work desk or cannot access school toilet facilities etc. Just because your child struggles to learn to read, write, spell and remember etc, it does not mean they should be denied access to class tasks and age appropriate literature via ebooks, text readers, an in class reader or scribe and so on. Sometimes the best accommodation that can be provided is a personal reader, a separate room and more time for a test or for NAPLAN. Just so you are aware there is even a large text format of the NAPLAN test available now which can be provided as an accomodation. Allowing the use of inclusive technology to complete school tasks is also an appropriate accommodation in this day and age. Children with dyslexia are as intelligent as all other children, it is formal schooling methods that seem to hold them back. Accommodations need to be provided to overcome this.

Schools however are low on resources and teachers are stretched for time so this Disabilities Act can put them under enormous pressure. However unless we as parents stand up for our children’s rights, Australian Governments will never be made accountable for providing appropriate funding to ensure our children reach their full potential whilst at school. Ongoing research tells us that students need to leave school with their confidence in tact to assist them in achieving a successful and fulfilling future.

That’s kind of a basic explanation of how the Disabilities Act works. Some school are switched on to accommodating children with a diagnosed learning disability to achieve success at school, which then reflects the child’s true level of intelligence. It all depends on the headmaster and teachers. You need to research your schools well. In my book ‘Helping Children with Dyslexia’ there is a list of 39 questions to ask a school headmaster when you are choosing a school or considering a change to a new one. I wrote this list for school research purpose.

Thank you for your email. It is good that you wish to be well informed about your child’s rights. An educated parents working with and advising a school can make an enormous difference not only for their own child, but for many others.

Every year I provide the school with all the diagnostic reports my children have had done over the years and a two page summary of how my children like to learn, strengths weaknesses, fears, worries etc. Teachers are very appreciative of this information. I always stay in constant contact with all my children’s teachers via email and tell them all the extra work I am doing at home to help them. I am constantly advocating for my kids. I work as a team with the school. At present I am working towards them using a lap top or an Ipad during classes and exams in secondary school to accommodate for their slow reading and writing rates among other things. Of course they must be good typists to achieve this goal, so they are well motivated to complete their typing tutor exercises at home. You will find more ideas in my book and on the free website as to how to help children who struggle at school because of dyslexia.

I hope this helps you. Please write to the lobby website The Australian Dyslexia Trust for me and for all other Australian families affected by dyslexia. Every letter helps to encourage our politicians to bring about educational reform.

Kind regards

Liz Dunoon
Helping Children With dyslexia
www.AustralianDyslexiaTrust.com