Dyslexia
The Texas Education Code (TEC) §38.003 defines dyslexia and related disorders in the following way:
“Dyslexia” means a disorder of constitutional origin manifested by a difficulty in learning to read, write, or spell, despite conventional instruction, adequate intelligence, and sociocultural opportunity.
“Related disorders” include disorders similar to or related to dyslexia, such as developmental auditory imperception, dysphasia, specific developmental dyslexia, developmental dysgraphia, and developmental spelling disability.
In Ferris ISD, elementary and secondary students who are identified with dyslexia and are determined to need specialized instruction will receive services through the Take Flight Program. Take Flight is a Comprehensive Intervention for Students with Dyslexia through a two-year curriculum written by the staff of the Center for Dyslexia at Scottish Rite Hospital. Take Flight builds on the success of the three previous dyslexia intervention programs developed by the staff of Scottish Rite Hospital: Alphabetic Phonics, Dyslexia Training Program and TSRH Literacy Program.
Take Flight was designed for use by Certified Academic Language Therapists for children with dyslexia ages 7 and older. The two-year program is taught five days per week for 45 minutes per day during intervention time. It is intended for one-on-one or small group instruction with no more than six students per class.
FISD Students identified with dyslexia may also receive classroom and testing accommodations to provide the student with dyslexia effective and equitable access to grade-level or course instruction in the general education classroom. Accommodations are determined by the ARD or Section 504 committee based on the impact of dyslexia on the individual student.
Senate Bill (SB) 2075 requires school districts to notify the parents or guardians of students determined to be dyslexic, or to be at risk for dyslexia or other reading difficulties, that you have access to the Talking Book Program (TBP) maintained by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. The TBP provides students with reading disabilities the ability to borrow audiobooks free of charge, and includes over 100,000 titles, hundreds of which are in Spanish.
The guidelines and procedures adopted are designed to correlate to the identification and instruction of students with dyslexia and related disorders adopted by the State Board of Education in 1992, mandated by the state of Texas and presented in The Dyslexia Handbook: Procedures Concerning Dyslexia and Related Disorders, updated in 2021.
Dyslexia support services are provided on all district campuses K-12. A request for a dyslexia evaluation may be made at any time.