Dyslexia is not correlated with intelligence, says Richard Wagner, associate director of the Florida Center for Reading Research and a professor of psychology at Florida State University.
“If you’re reading at a level at which you do everything else, it’s probably not dyslexia,” Wagner says.
“If you’re reading below the level at which you do other things, it’s more likely to be dyslexia.”
Link to main story: How schools are disrupting dyslexia
Some dyslexic students meet the criteria for a specific learning disability for special education.
But other students who don’t meet the special education criteria still may need extra help.
For older students who continue to struggle, targeted instruction using structured literacy can be done through 12th grade, says Kathy Futterman, an education specialist with Mt. Diablo USD near Oakland, California, and a member of the working group that wrote California’s dyslexia guidelines.
“It’s never too late to remediate or help a student with dyslexia,” says Futterman.
Eleanor Chute is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
