The charity Dyslexia Sparks has linked up with Humberside Fire and Rescue to hold an awareness event at Bransholme Fire Station in Hull on Saturday.
Firefighter Sam Heslop said he had bell well supported by his employer, adding: “Your difference can be celebrated and something unique to you. When I joined the fire service it was reinforced that they don’t want people to think exactly the same.”
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Nearly every state in the U.S. passed some sort of dyslexia laws over the past decade. Most of these laws encourage or require schools to screen young children for reading difficulties, train teachers in evidence-based reading instruction and provide targeted support to students who show early signs of dyslexia.
Families of children with dyslexia, educators and dyslexia advocacy groups widely praised these laws. If schools could identify dyslexia early and respond with evidence-based instruction, reading outcomes would likely improve and fewer children would fall behind.
But what actually happened after these laws passed?
My colleagues and I examined nearly two decades of national student data to answer this question. The results tell a complicated story.
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NEW genetic analysis suggests dyslexia reflects vulnerability across broad brain networks rather than a single faulty gene, reshaping understanding of a condition affecting up to 20% of the global population.
To investigate the genetic basis of dyslexia, researchers systematically reviewed literature published over the past four decades and identified 175 candidate genes linked to reading difficulties. Using bioinformatic tools, the team examined evolutionary conservation, developmental gene expression, and functional networks. The analysis revealed that many dyslexia associated genes are highly conserved across species, indicating deep evolutionary roots. Importantly, developmental transcriptome data identified two distinct gene clusters separated by timing. One group is active early in fetal development and contributes to brain structure and wiring. The second group becomes active around 24 postconception weeks and supports synaptic signalling between neurons. Single cell analyses further showed cell type specific expression and protein interaction networks, suggesting coordinated biological pathways rather than isolated gene effects. These findings challenge the concept of reading specific genes and instead highlight dyslexia as a systems level condition.
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The same genes affect multiple brain functions, which is why dyslexia often appears alongside other learning differences.
A review of 40 years of genetic research suggests that dyslexia, a common learning disorder affecting reading ability, may not be caused by a single faulty gene but rather by vulnerabilities in broader brain networks. A psychology professor at the University of Houston presented this perspective, challenging long-held beliefs about the origins of dyslexia. The condition impacts up to 20% of the global population—approximately 780 million people—who experience persistent difficulties with reading throughout their lives.
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The report showed that special education enrollment has climbed in recent years, with more than 857,000 students statewide in special education in the 2024-25 school year. That number was 498,320 seven years ago, marking a 72% increase.
The number of Texas students with dyslexia continues to increase, from 149,943 students in 2023 to 212,167 in 2024. Over the past six years, the number of students enrolled in special education for dyslexia has risen by more than 636%.
Those increases coincide with a rise in the number of special education evaluations conducted statewide. Last school year, more than 178,000 initial evaluations took place in Texas, according to the TEA’s report. Recent state funding included money for those evaluations, giving schools an extra $1,000 for each evaluation to determine if a student had a disability.
Contributing to the jump, a 2023 state law defined dyslexia as a learning disability, meaning students with dyslexia were required to get individualized education programs and have access to special education services.
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