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Dyslexia Task Force Hears Oklahoma Lacks State-Specific Resources for Educators

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An Oklahoma task force working on a dyslexia resource handbook for families and educators stumbled across a big problem.

Tami Martin is the parent of a child with dyslexia. She asked State Department of Education Special Education Services Director Todd Loftin how they address the disorder.

"Currently, right now, we don’t have state-specific resources on dyslexia," Loftin said.

"So, there’s nothing state-specific. So, it’s basically district to district to figure out how to deal with dyslexia," Martin said.

"Yeah."

While their work is just beginning, experts on the task force said it would help if all teachers got ongoing training about dyslexia, especially with large numbers of emergency-certified teachers who lack formal training and teachers certified before dyslexia was widely recognized.

Dr. Julie Collins said she didn’t learn much about dyslexia getting her teaching degree in the 1980s and bets many teachers trained in that era are in the same boat.

"Because if they don’t know any more than, ‘We’re going to go in and teach them the assessments,’ they get this figure, they get these numbers … they turn in all the assessments, and then they think, ‘Well, I don’t have to do this again until January,’ and they put it away," Collins said. "So, if they don’t understand what that phonemic awareness screening is telling them, then they don’t know what else to do."

As the task force performs its work, the State Department of Education has called for funding for regional resource centers that could help. Loftin said recent grants are helping establish such centers with a focus on mental health, but more dollars could expand their capabilities.

"And kind of have these kind of mini-regions that we could push out autism awareness training and dyslexia awareness training from this location in the state where — so districts like — you know, no one goes to the panhandle. It’s far," Loftin said.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.