Dyslexia is a cognitive disorder that is often misunderstood, and even schools have a long way to go to understand it and make accommodations for students who have it, a master certified dyslexia tutor told a group of parents and educators on Sunday.
Anita Kuttenkuler spoke to about 20 educators and parents who attended a presentation on dyslexia sponsored by Decoding Dyslexia Missouri. The two-hour event was held at Missouri River Regional Library.
Dyslexia is a neurological learning disability in which people struggle with accurate and fluent word recognition. It it not related to intelligence, and affects between 10 and 20 percent of the population.
Warning signs can start in preschool, and include delayed speech, mixing up sounds/syllables in long words, chronic ear infections, confusion of left versus right and difficulty tying shoes.
Kuttenkuler, a retired teacher, now works as a private tutor for dyslexics. She said the dropout rate for dyslexics is "huge" and that schools are generally not good at dealing with students who have it.
Amy Knollmeyer, one of the attendees, is a dyslexic who also has two dyslexic children. "I'm trying to find ways to make it easier on my kids," she said after the event.
She said she already knew much of the information from the presentation, but learned of different services and accommodations available through the school system.
She said a dyslexia simulation done during the presentation - which included writing with the non-dominant hand - wasn't anything new to her. "That's how I live my life," she said.
Decoding Dyslexia Missouri is a movement driven by Missouri families concerned with the limited access to educational interventions for dyslexia and other language-based learning disabilities within schools.
The group supported a bill in the Missouri Legislature that would require dyslexia screenings in kindergarten.
The bill was approved, but then vetoed by Gov. Jay Nixon because of a different element of the bill.
The group plans to push the legislation again during the upcoming legislative session that starts in January.