Our son has Dyslexia and Dysgraphia. However, we don’t call
it that where I live. We refer to his learning disabilities as Learning
Disability: Communication. This label is completely deceiving. Our son has NO
problems communicating. He does however, have a lot of trouble reading and
writing. With writing it is beyond the physical act, however, it’s also part of
it. Simply learning how to maneuver on a keyboard won’t help him. He needs to
think about every sound, for letter in every word for every sentence. Imagine
the exhaustion after writing one sentence never mind a paragraph. Although our
son is now functionally literate, I doubt that he will ever read John Grisham
or Stephen King for pleasure. However, he might listen to them. Our son will
most likely remain a comic book fan for his entire life. He likes the story
lines (and trust me, there is nothing simplistic about Marvel’s
Multi-Universe), and he can read these independently. Our son’s comprehension
is pretty much through the roof. However, no one seems to want to take
advantage of this. So, when I see modifications on his IEP, it is usually around
reducing the amount of reading or writing our son is expected to produce. So,
if an average student in his grade is expected to write a page, he might be
expected to write a paragraph. Why can’t he dictate and still be expected to
produce a page? Why isn’t our son provided with audio books to listen to and
then he can dictate answers to comprehension questions into his computer? My
question is this: what are we trying to accomplish with modifications to the
curriculum? The IEP is supposed to establish multiple access points to the
curriculum. It is supposed to provide equity. I’m not sure that this is
happening. This year, more so than others, it’s just not sitting well with me.
