NSES staff promotes dyslexia awareness
By Lynsi Musselman
Nancy Smith Elementary School staff and students are acknowledging Dyslexia Awareness Month by wearing red each Thursday in October.
In addition, facts about dyslexia are being shared during morning announcements on Thursday mornings.
October is National Dyslexia Awareness Month and focuses to bring more attention and support to people with one of the most prevalent language-based learning disabilities.
Local Masonic Lodge #482 and Albany Independent School have worked together for over a decade to support and help local students who struggle with speech and language disabilities through Texas Scottish Rite Children’s Take Flight program.
AISD dyslexia coordinator Kristie Smith said that dyslexia students in Albany receive comprehensive intervention utilizing the Take Flight program.
The program is a two to three year comprehensive, upgraded, structured, and sequential curriculum that utilizes multi-sensory techniques for basic instruction in reading, writing, and spelling.
Smith explained that all kindergarten and first grade students at Nancy Smith Elementary School are screened for dyslexia as required by TEA.
All seventh graders whose performance on the grade six statewide reading assessment did not meet the passing standard are screened through the Texas Middle School Fluency Assessment.
“Further evaluation of dyslexia is performed if screening, other quantitative data and qualitative data deem it necessary,” Smith explained. “Parents or teachers may request testing of their child at any time by contacting the school.”
Parents can find the AISD dyslexia handbook website www.albanyisd.net.
“Albany is extremely fortunate that the school spent the money and supported the Scottish Rite Take Flight program to provide the best for their students,” said Lavelle Vinson, retired AISD teacher and dyslexia coordinator.
Vinson reported since the beginning of the program at AISD in 2011, Scottish Rite has required evaluations of instructors by coming to the classroom in person or by video.
“The Take Flight program goes above what is required of a school district, and it would not have happened without the support of AISD administrators or the help of the Masons in Albany,” Vinson added.
Masonic Lodge #482 member John Tate said not only has the Lodge supported the training of AISD teachers in the program at Scottish Rite but several students have been sent to Scottish Rite from Albany for more intervention through the Masons.
“Anyone who goes to Scottish Rite does not pay a dime,” Tate said. “All costs are covered by Scottish Rite hospital.”
Tate explained that the Lodge affiliated with Scottish Rite puts in a referral for a student and then sponsors them once they get in.
A branch of Freemasonry, Scottish Rite is a fraternal charitable organization dating back to the fourteenth century.
Dyslexia Facts
According to the International Dyslexia Association, many individuals are undiagnosed or receive little to no intervention.
Recent studies reveal that the whole spectrum of reading disabilities is strongly determined by genetic predispositions.
For some individuals who remain undiagnosed, dyslexia is a hidden disability that can result in underemployment, difficulty navigating academic environments, difficulty on the job, and reduced self-confidence.
The first consensus definition of dyslexia was formulated in 1968 by a the World Federation of Neurology’s Research Group on Developmental Dyslexia and World Illiteracy, who met at Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas.
