Most public schools in Massachusetts don’t screen for dyslexia, despite research suggesting early intervention is key to treating the learning disability that affects 1 in 5 children in the state.
That will change under a proposal signed Friday by Gov. Charlie Baker, which would require the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to come up with guidelines for screening of students with at least one indicator for dyslexia or another neurological learning disability.
Advocates, who have lobbied for years for early childhood screening, said praised the move as a step in the right direction.
“The reality is that every school should be screening for dyslexia,” said Nancy Duggan, executive director of the Massachusetts chapter of Decoding Dyslexia, a national advocacy group. “It’s a huge problem here and nationally, and we know that identifying kids them early means helping them before they fail.”
Duggan said many children go undiagnosed because dyslexia isn’t recognized as a disorder in Massachusetts and many other states.
Read the full article on the North Andover Eagle-Tribune website.