Have you ever been told that you might have a learning disability and need to be tested? According to Exceptional Child Education Procedures 2020, Jefferson County Public Schools, most schools in Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) will test you for autism, deaf-blindness, developmental delay, emotional-behavior disability, and many more, but the most common forms of learning disabilities–dyslexia. Schools need to understand and acknowledge dyslexia as a learning disability regardless of students’ demographics and ability to pay. Doing so promotes educational equity. When they do not, students from marginalized backgrounds may experience long-term losses in their educational experience, and students like me can suffer lifelong consequences.

The Mayo Clinic defines dyslexia as “a learning disorder that involves difficulty reading due to problems identifying speech sounds and learning how they relate to letters and words (decoding). Also called reading disability, dyslexia affects areas of the brain that process language.”

While most kids learn to read in by kindergarten, I didn’t learn to read until second grade!

While most kids learn to read in by kindergarten, I didn’t learn to read until second grade! I fooled everyone because I would memorize material ahead of time so that when I did have to read, I did it well. I am an 8th grader now and am heading to high school. Today I still struggle with reading on the spot, sounding out words, and getting things mixed up. My younger brother is a better reader than I am in a lot of ways, which has always made me feel really stupid because a ten-year-old should not be better at reading than a fourteen-year-old.

When I began looking into reasons why I was struggling with reading so much, I realized that I was showing signs of dyslexia, and thought I would ask my school for help in the matter of testing for it. My counselor told me that I had to pay for testing outside of school because my school system did not recognize dyslexia as a real learning disability. I was shocked by this answer because it is estimated that between 14.5 and 43.5 million children and adults have dyslexia just here in the United States!

Dyslexia is the most common cause of reading, writing and spelling difficulties, and it affects males and females nearly equally. According to the International Dyslexia Association, ethnic backgrounds and socio-economic backgrounds are also affected nearly equally. They are also genetic and passed from parent to child. Research also shows that while nearly 20 percent of the world population has dyslexia, remarkably, people with the learning disability tend to have higher IQ’s and be more creative.

Two things stand out to me. The first is that there are a lot of us students out here struggling with this problem. And second, all students, no matter their demographic background, are affected by dyslexia equally until we enter the school system.

This is the most common learning disability in the world, and this may be why school systems are choosing not to financially cover testing for it anymore.

This is the most common learning disability in the world, and this may be why school systems are choosing not to financially cover testing for it anymore.

The financial burden is really high. The problem with this is students from marginalized backgrounds suffer more than the students who have resources or access to get private testing.

The Mayo Clinic lists the following as consequences of undiagnosed dyslexia:

• Trouble learning. Because reading is a skill basic to most other school subjects, a child with dyslexia is at a disadvantage in most classes and may have trouble keeping up with peers.
• Social problems. Left untreated, dyslexia may lead to low self-esteem, behavior problems, anxiety, aggression, and withdrawal from friends, parents and teachers.
• Problems as adults. The inability to read and comprehend can prevent a child from reaching his or her potential as the child grows up. This can have long-term educational, social and economic consequences.”

This means that students who already are disadvantaged within the educational system can become more marginalized without being diagnosed and given the resources needed to become successful. This can affect generations of families in many ways. If a parent with the disability was unable to complete their education or advance in their job then passes the disability to their child and is unable to advocate for them, the entire family becomes even more marginalized. The saddest part of this to me is that these students, with their higher IQs and creativity, could have otherwise been very successful.

While policymakers may be trying to save money by not investing in support for dyslexic students, they are creating a bigger financial problem by allowing generations of families to earn low wages, be less educated, even suffer medically from things like physically hard jobs, lower nutrition and other socio-economic stress. I believe we can do better. We need to pressure our representatives to fund dyslexia testing in schools to ensure equal resources for all students so students like me can all be free to become our best selves.

Eva Sautter is a part of the Kentucky Student Voice Team and Young Authors Greenhouse’s Education Justice Writing Cohort. She is an 8th grader at Western Middle School in Louisville, Kentucky.

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