Skip to content
CapRadio

CapRadio

signal status listen live donate
listen live donate signal status
listen live donate signal status
  • News
    • topics
    • State Government
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • Race and Equity
    • Business
    • Arts and Lifestyle
    • Food and Sustainability
    • PolitiFact California
  • Music
    • genres
    • Classical
    • Jazz
    • Eclectic
    • Daily Playlist
  • Programs + Podcasts
    • news
    • Morning Edition
    • All Things Considered
    • Marketplace
    • Insight With Vicki Gonzalez
    • music
    • Acid Jazz
    • At the Opera
    • Classical Music
    • Connections
    • Excellence in Jazz
    • Hey, Listen!
    • K-ZAP on CapRadio
    • Mick Martin's Blues Party
    • Programs A-Z
    • Podcast Directory
  • Schedules
    • News
    • Music
    • ClassicalStream
    • JazzStream
    • Weekly Schedule
    • Daily Playlist
  • Community
    • Events Calendar
    • CapRadio Garden
    • CapRadio Reads
    • Ticket Giveaways
  • Support
    • Evergreen Gift
    • One-Time Gift
    • Corporate Support
    • Vehicle Donation
    • Stock Gift
    • Legacy Gift
    • Endowment Gift
    • Benefits
    • Member FAQ
    • e‑Newsletter
    • Drawing Winners
    • Thank You Gifts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Close Menu
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 
  • Health Care
  • State Government
  •  

Kids With Dyslexia To Get More Educational Support

  •  Katie Orr 
Thursday, November 19, 2015 | Sacramento, CA
Listen
/
Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or Flash plugin.
Katie Orr / Capital Public Radio

Ian Kennedy is taught by his mom Katrina Kennedy.

Katie Orr / Capital Public Radio

Ian Kennedy and his mom Katrina Kennedy sit at their dining table working on one of their daily lessons. She pulls out a list of words and a timer and Ian begins saying the words as fast as he can. Ian has dyslexia. The exercise is meant to help with his phonological processing. That’s his ability to pull apart the sounds within words and associate the sounds with letters. 

Ian is an outgoing 10-year-old who has visions of starting his own YouTube Channel and one day becoming a video game developer. But in first grade Katrina and her husband noticed Ian was becoming hesitant to read. In kindergarten he was reading basic words. But he was struggling with the more intense reading lessons that came in first grade. When they expressed concern, Katrina says they were told they should just wait to see how things developed. Ian eventually was diagnosed with dyslexia. Still, Katrina says the diagnosis didn’t make things any easier. Ian was falling behind, working through recess and acting out at home.

"About halfway through third grade, we as a family were really having a hard time managing the amount of homework," she says. "Nobody wanted to come home, nobody wanted to face it."

Ian and his parents decided Katrina would homeschool him. The change has brought a sense of calm and control back into their lives. But the family remains frustrated by what they saw as a lack of support from Ian’s school. Katrina says the accommodations the school made for Ian only added to his stress.

Now a new state law requires schools to consider phonological processing when evaluating a child for special education. Tobie Meyer is with Decoding Dyslexia California. She led the effort to pass the law after she ran into resistance while trying to get educational help for her son’s dyslexia. 

"The law is going to help future students to be identified or be found eligible for special education services more easily than they had been in the past," she says. 

The law will also create new guidelines to help teachers and parents identify dyslexia and provide services for students how have it.

Dr. Sally Shaywitz thinks the law is a step in the right direction. She co-directs the Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity. Shaywood says early intervention is critical to treating dyslexia. So is overcoming the idea that people who have dyslexia aren’t smart.

"Part of the definition of dyslexia is that it is an unexpected difficulty in readying,” she says. "Unexpected meaning it occurs in people who are quite intelligent."

Shaywitz welcomes a US Senate Resolution defining the disorder and calling on schools to recognize its educational impact. And a recent letter from the US Department of Education to state and local education agencies clarifies it’s OK to use the term dyslexia when discussing a child’s education. 

Ian Kennedy is reading better because of the exercises he does to recognize sounds within words. And he’s not ashamed of having dyslexia. 

"I’m proud of having dyslexia. I’m happy to have dyslexia. Even though it doesn’t help me sometimes, I love having it," he says. "I feel unique. I feel like a lot of people don’t know about it, but it’s there."

 

A previous version of this story incorrectly identified Dr. Sally Shaywitz as Dr. Sally Shaywood. We regret the error. 

 


Follow us for more stories like this

CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you.  As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.

Donate Today  

    Related Stories

  • Andrew Nixon / CapRadio

    Changes In The Dyslexia Discussion

    Thursday, November 19, 2015
    A new law directs the California Department of Education to develop a process to help students with dyslexia by the 2017-18 school year.

 educationhealthlegislationdyslexia

Katie Orr

Former Health Care Reporter

Katie Orr reported for Capital Public Radio News through December 2015.  Read Full Bio 

Sign up for ReCap and never miss the top stories

Delivered to your inbox every Friday.

 

Check out a sample ReCap newsletter.

Thanks for subscribing!

Thank you for signing up for the ReCap newsletter! We'll send you an email each Friday with the top stories from CapRadio.

Browse all newsletters

More Health Care Stories

Cynthia S. Goldsmith, Russell Regner/CDC via AP, File

Monkeypox case confirmed in Sacramento County

May 24, 2022

Janelle Salanga / CapRadio

A Sacramento County nonprofit is offering to pay $3,000 worth of bills if you test positive for COVID-19 at their clinic

May 24, 2022

Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

California debates opening supervised sites for people to use drugs

May 23, 2022

Most Viewed

Downtown Sacramento shooting: What we know and latest updates

A Sacramento County nonprofit is offering to pay $3,000 worth of bills if you test positive for COVID-19 at their clinic

Some living in 209 area code will need to switch to 350

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla will appear on California’s June primary ballot twice. Here’s why.

Top California Democrats in a stalemate over gas rebates

We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter

Most Viewed

Downtown Sacramento shooting: What we know and latest updates

A Sacramento County nonprofit is offering to pay $3,000 worth of bills if you test positive for COVID-19 at their clinic

Some living in 209 area code will need to switch to 350

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla will appear on California’s June primary ballot twice. Here’s why.

Top California Democrats in a stalemate over gas rebates

Back to Top

  • CapRadio

    7055 Folsom Boulevard
    Sacramento, CA 95826-2625

    • (916) 278-8900
    • Toll-free (877) 480-5900
    • Email Us
    • Submit a News Tip
  • Contact Us

  • About Us

    • Contact Us / Feedback
    • Coverage
    • Directions
    • Careers & Internships
    • Mission / Vision / Core Values
    • Press
    • Staff Directory
    • Board of Directors
  • Listening Options

    • Mobile App
    • On Air Schedules
    • Smart Speakers
    • Playlist
    • Podcasts
    • RSS
  • Connect With Us

    •  Facebook
    •  Twitter
    •  Instagram
    •  YouTube
  • Donate

  • Listen

  • Newsletters

CapRadio stations are licensed to California State University, Sacramento. © 2022, Capital Public Radio. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Website Feedback FCC Public Files: KXJZ KKTO KUOP KQNC KXPR KXSR KXJS. For assistance accessing our public files, please call 916-278-8900 or email us.