Your Child’s School Says They’re ‘Proficient’ in Reading. The Reading Guru’s Free Test Offers a Reality Check.

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The Reading Guru, a leading provider of online Orton-Gillingham reading tutoring, today announced the launch of its free Dyslexia Screening Test, a tool designed to help parents independently check whether their child may be showing signs of dyslexia or other reading difficulties – no matter what their school or state says.

The screening test, available at readingguru.com/dyslexia-test, takes just 5 to 10 minutes to complete and is administered by a parent at home. It combines two research-informed components: a nonsense-word decoding check, which measures a child’s ability to sound out unfamiliar letter combinations using phonics rules, and a real-word reading check based on the San Diego Quick Assessment, a widely used tool for estimating reading level by grade.

The launch comes as a growing body of research raises questions about whether state reading tests are giving parents an accurate picture. A recent analysis by FutureEd, an independent education policy think tank, found that in three-quarters of states, proficiency rates on state reading assessments were inflated by at least 15 percentage points versus the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the federal benchmark often called “the Nation’s Report Card.”

See it HERE

Free Screen-Reading Technologies for People with Visual Impairments and Dyslexia

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As part of the Ministry of Social Policy’s nationwide initiative to ensure digital accessibility, we invite you to review informational materials about available free screen-access technologies (screen readers).

These technologies enable people with visual impairments or dyslexia to fully and freely use computers, study, work, and independently access government services and online services.

Find a list of these tools HERE

Shared neurodevelopmental spectrum could link ADHD, autism and dyslexia to later outcomes

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A paper published in Molecular Psychiatry, led by researchers from Queen Mary University of London and Royal Holloway, University of London, challenges the way we think about neurodevelopmental conditions.

The study suggests it would be better for experts to focus on a broad constellation of traits (a “neurodevelopmental spectrum”) to identify potential challenges and support children and young people, rather than looking at individual conditions like autism, ADHD and dyslexia in isolation.

Read more HERE

Reading interventionist among first graduates of UWA’s new dyslexia therapy degree program

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When the University of West Alabama launched its master’s degree in dyslexia therapy in fall 2024, Rachel Walters saw an opportunity to gain the specialized training she wished had been available when her brother struggled with dyslexia as a child. Walters saw firsthand how few resources Alabama offered students with learning differences.

Now a reading interventionist at Briarwood Christian School in Birmingham, Walters works with students with language delays, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and other reoccurring diagnoses, including dyslexia. Prior to enrolling in UWA’s program, she relied primarily on intervention strategies.

See more about it HERE