Learning Disabilities Association of West Virginia

05/29/2026

Schools have an affirmative legal obligation under the IDEA to identify, evaluate, and investigate suspected disabilities.

Parents should not be told to go buy private diagnoses before a school will act. That is not how Child Find works.

When schools see warning signs of disability, the obligation to evaluate belongs to the school district — not the parent’s wallet.

05/18/2026

05/18/2026

05/05/2026

i-Ready is back in the headlines, and this time it’s out of Michigan and California.

Both states reviewed it and said the same thing:
It does not meet the bar for a universal screener.

Worth noting: Georgia found the same thing. The difference? It was added back by our superintendent because it’s widely used.

Here are the problems:

1. Borderline blind spot
Misses the 30th–40th percentile; the kids were supposed to catch early.

2. Phonemic awareness problem
Clicking ≠ actually hearing and manipulating sounds.
👉 That’s how risk gets missed.

3. Adaptive = risky
It can skip key skills entirely.
👉 If it’s not measured, it’s not identified.

This behaves like a diagnostic, not a screener. I’m grateful to see states like Michigan and California hold the line unlike Georgia!

When it comes to screening, popular shouldn’t be the bar, effectiveness should be!

Read more: https://open.substack.com/pub/decodingmom/p/michigan-rejected-i-ready-as-a-k?r=46qttl&utm_medium=ios

04/29/2026

04/24/2026

BREAKING: 6TH Circuit Court of Appeals rules IN FAVOR of ; agrees they "have been denied a basic minimum education, and thus have been deprived of access to literacy.​" The Court supports that a basic education must be recognized as a fundamental right! for our brave clients and families across Michigan! Read the opinion here: https://bit.ly/2VycrHy

A huge thank you to our co-counsel Sidley Austin, LLP!

04/23/2026

Please read…👇💫

As we’re heading into exam season we need to normalise these things during exams for our dyslexic children. These things should be available to every single child taking an exam and we shouldn’t have to fight for these things as parents.

During exams let’s normalise:

✏️ Having a scribe.
📖 Having a reader.
☘️ Giving them a choice of when & where they happen.
📱 Dictating their answers.
🎧 Using alternative reading & writing methods.
⏰ Giving them extra time.
📝 No marks taken away for spelling.
🌿 Rest breaks.
📑 Modified & adapted exam papers.

What do you think? Would you add anything else to the list? Let me know in the comments.👇

Please ♥️ and share.

04/17/2026

Just 4% of schools screen all learners for dyslexia.

80% of dyslexics leave school unidentified.

But by helping teachers to understand what to look for, we can help many more dyslexic learners to be spotted, supported and empowered in the classroom.

If you're a teacher, or a parent, learn how to spot the signs of dyslexia using Kate's book Xtraordinary People: https://learning.dk.com/uk/books/9780241705124/xtraordinary-people

04/09/2026

02/27/2026

Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, has started checking literacy skills during pediatric visits for kids as young as 3.