Beaumont ISD promotes effective teaching approaches and intervention strategies that address dyslexia and related difficulties in learning to read and write. We believe that all students have a right to achieve their full potential and that individual learning abilities can be strengthened through explicit, systematic, multisensory instruction.

The primary difficulties of a student identified as having dyslexia occur in phonemic awareness and manipulation, single-word decoding, reading fluency, and spelling. Secondary consequences of dyslexia may include difficulties in reading comprehension and/or written expression. These difficulties are unexpected for the student’s age, educational level, or cognitive abilities.

The State of Texas defines dyslexia as follows:

(1) Dyslexia means a disorder of constitutional origin manifested by a difficulty in learning to read, write, or spell, despite conventional instruction, adequate intelligence, and sociocultural opportunity. [TEC §38.003]

The current definition from the International Dyslexia Association states:

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge (Adopted by the International Dyslexia Association Board of Directors, November 12, 2002).

Primary characteristics of dyslexia are as follows:

• Difficulty reading words in isolation

• Difficulty accurately decoding unfamiliar words

• Difficulty with oral reading (slow, inaccurate, or labored)

• Difficulty spelling

Beaumont ISD is dedicated to providing students with dyslexia with appropriate intervention and accommodation as defined in the state's Dyslexia Handbook.