SAN FRANCISCO – This summer, California joined 40 other states, signing a bill into law that mandates students in kindergarten through second grade be screened for dyslexia.
It’s been a long time coming for advocates, who have been fighting for these screenings for close to a decade.
KPIX spoke with one family who said if their son would have had a screening when he first entered school, his experience would have been much different.
“It was really confusing and it was really difficult because he was angry and he was anxious,” said Jennifer Salma.
Ten years ago, when her son Rhys was entering kindergarten, she quickly noticed that something was off.
“There was always a little bit of yes, well we’re, I know his reading is but we’re making sure he’s on track, we don’t see anything, any issues that are there,” said Jennifer.
Despite what teachers were telling her, Salma said she knew Rhys was really struggling. It eventually got so bad that by the time Rhys was in third grade, he started refusing to go to school.
“He would start Monday happy to go to school. He would walk to school with his brother. By Wednesday, I would find him maybe, I would have to go upstairs to pull him out, he’d be under the bed,” she recalled.
Rhys said he remembers that time vividly. He felt confused and angry because he didn’t know why he was struggling, and he could tell the adults around him didn’t know either.
“When you’re just expected to know how to be able to do, you know the things that you can’t, and no one understands what’s happening, you, your parents, your teachers, anyone. It’s just hard,” said Rhys.
Jennifer said at that point her family knew something had to be done, so they paid for a private screening.
The results of that screening showed Rhys was dyslexic.
Jennifer said she was happy to finally have an answer to what was going on. But because the diagnosis came so late, she said Rhys was so far behind in learning that she had no choice but to pull him out of public school and put him in a special private school just for students with dyslexia.
“And that was really hard because we had a great community school. He loved his friends. He could walk to school,” said Jennifer.
Rhys spent two years at the specialized school before transferring back to public school.
It’s something Jennifer believes may not have had to happen if only Rhys would have been screened right when he entered kindergarten.
“If it had been done when he was much younger he would have been able to capture a lot more and learn much more quickly,” she said.
That’s why for years after Jennifer, along with many other parents of dyslexic children, fought to try and get the state to mandate dyslexia screenings for all students entering grade school.
This summer, she finally won.
California became the 41st state to mandate dyslexia screenings for students in grades K through 2nd.
“Yeah it’s thrilling. It’s really, really exciting,” Jennifer said.
Rhys is now entering his sophomore year of high school and doing better than ever. He loves math and science and finally has the tools he needs to thrive in the classroom.
“I feel great. I finally have figured out how I learn, how to advocate for myself in front of my teachers,” Rhys said.
Jennifer told me she’s never been more proud of Rhys.
It took a lot for their family to get to this point, that’s why she is so happy other families will have a resource she didn’t.
A resource that she hopes will help families avoid the stress hers endured but more importantly a resource that will help every child like Rhys thrive from the very start.
“He’s an amazing young man. I’m very proud of him and you know he’s been through a lot but he’s coming on to the other side,” said Salma.
Advocates say these screenings are really just the first step. They also want more resources in the classroom for dyslexic students and more education for teachers on how to best support these students.
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