I went to a school teacher training and my years of suspicions were confirmed. The professor said that 80% of dyslexia can be prevented if kids receive the proper instruction from the get-go. That is, if they are taught the science of reading way, with structured literacy, and explicit instruction in phonemic awareness and phonics.
It could have saved me a tremendous amount of heartache, tears, anxiety, worry, social issues for my child, and hundreds of visits to teachers, school meetings, doctors, and tutors. So much mental and financial burden might have been avoided for our family. It made me sick to think about this. But I’m putting it out here so that future families can avoid having to go through this. Keep in mind, there are severely dyslexic children that this does not apply to, but 80% is a high number of children that can learn this way, and never feel the shame of not being able to read and feel stupid, carrying these fears and anxiety through a lifetime. I see this in my school, where 2 of the 3 kindergarten teachers teach the science of reading way, and the one that doesn’t is where a noticeable increase of children suffer and struggle with reading. If children who struggle with reading do not receive this early instruction and/or intervention, by third grade chances are they will never catch up to their peers no matter how much intervention is given. So to all you Warrior Parents… please seek out and advocate for this type of reading instruction at your schools. Things are changing, but not fast enough.