Dyslexia: reading help, school support, and free books

What dyslexia is

The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) describes dyslexia as a specific learning disability that makes reading words and spelling harder: less accurate, slower, or both. It runs along a range from mild to severe, and the difficulties stick around even with instruction that works well for other kids.

That last part matters. A child with dyslexia isn’t lazy and isn’t simply behind; they need targeted teaching. The IDA also says identification and targeted instruction are important at any age, so a teen who is still struggling hasn’t missed their window.

What Tennessee’s screening looks at: the building blocks of reading.

• Hearing and playing with the sounds in spoken words: rhyming, blending, pulling words apart
• Knowing letter names and the sounds letters make
• Sounding out written words (decoding)
• Spelling (encoding)
• Quickly naming familiar things like letters, colors, or objects (rapid naming)

Struggling in several of these areas is a reason to ask questions, not a diagnosis on its own.

What Tennessee schools have to do

Tennessee’s “Say Dyslexia” law, passed in 2016, requires every school district to screen all students for characteristics of dyslexia through its Response to Instruction and Intervention (RTI²) process. School teams use the results to decide who needs dyslexia-specific intervention.

If your child shows characteristics of dyslexia and needs intervention, you should get a letter. According to the parent sheet from the Tennessee Department of Education and STEP, the school then takes on added obligations:

• Extra small-group intervention, using methods that are effective for building foundational reading skills
• Regular review of your child’s progress data, and changes to the intervention when it isn’t working
• Progress updates sent home about every 4.5 weeks
• Considering accommodations and assistive technology
• Referring for evaluations when they’re needed

Under Tennessee’s rules, a student identified with characteristics of dyslexia gets an Individualized Learning Plan for Dyslexia (ILP-D) that lays out their dyslexia-specific intervention. Ask for a copy.

Support can come through RTI², a Section 504 plan, special education, or a mix. Because the school’s intervention is based on its own screening, you don’t need an outside diagnosis to get it started.

Reading help that works

Tennessee’s Dyslexia Resource Guide spells out what dyslexia-specific intervention has to look like. It should be:

• Explicit: skills are explained, directly taught, and modeled by the teacher.
• Systematic and cumulative: concepts come in a logical order, from simple to more complex.
• Multisensory: it links listening, speaking, reading, and writing, with movement and hands-on learning.
• Language-based: it covers sounds, letters, word parts, word meanings, and how sentences are built.
• Matched to your child: it targets the specific skills their assessments flagged.

You’ll often hear this kind of teaching called structured literacy. When you talk to a school or a tutor, ask what program they use, how it lines up with that list, and how they’ll track progress.

Be wary of vision-based fixes. A joint statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics and eye-care organizations says vision problems are not the cause of dyslexia, and that eye exercises, behavioral vision therapy, and tinted lenses or filters are not supported by the evidence. Vision problems can still get in the way of learning, so an eye exam is worth doing. It just won’t treat dyslexia.

IEPs, 504 plans, and accommodations

If intervention alone isn’t enough, two kinds of plans can add more:

• An IEP (special education) adds specialized instruction and services, with goals the team tracks.
• A 504 plan adds accommodations, so your child can show what they know without reading being the barrier.

The IDA’s list of accommodations for students with dyslexia includes text-to-speech and speech-to-text software, extended time, and answering out loud or recording answers instead of writing them. One honest note from that same list: extra time alone rarely helps. It works when a student has strategies or tools to use during that time.

If you ask for a special education evaluation, written consent is what starts Tennessee’s 60-day clock, not the date you put the request in writing. Our IEP and 504 guide has those timelines, a request letter you can copy, and what to bring to the meeting.

Hi-lo books

Hi-lo means high interest, low reading level: books about things older kids and teens actually care about, with grown-up topics and covers, written at an easier reading level. A teen reading around a 2nd-grade level shouldn’t have to settle for books written for little kids.

A few publishers to search for:

• Orca Soundings (Orca Book Publishers): short, fast-paced novels written for teens ages 13 and up, at reading levels from about grade 2.0 to 4.5. Orca’s Orca Currents series does the same for middle schoolers reading below grade level.
• Saddleback Educational Publishing: hi-lo fiction and nonfiction for teens, matched to what they’re interested in at a reading level that’s accessible. You can browse by Lexile level.
• High Noon Books: hi-lo books, plus phonics-based “decodable” books written for older readers who are still learning to read.

What to say at the library: “We’re looking for hi-lo books for a teen reading around a 2nd-grade level.” Swap in your reader’s age and level, and a librarian can pull some for you. If you know what they love, like sports, horror, or true stories, say that too.

Free books

• Linebaugh Public Library, 105 W Vine St, Murfreesboro (615-893-4131), part of the Rutherford County Library System. Ask a librarian to pull hi-lo books for your reader. The script is just above.
• The Libby app: free ebooks and audiobooks with your library card. You can switch any Libby ebook to the OpenDyslexic font (more on that below).
• Bookshare: free for U.S. students with a qualifying print disability, and dyslexia qualifies. Bookshare can read books aloud with karaoke-style highlighting, so your reader follows along with their eyes while they listen.
• Learning Ally: human-read audiobooks, including textbooks. Ask whether your child’s school already has a membership before you pay for one.

Bookshare and Learning Ally need a professional to confirm the print disability. Our accessible books guide covers who can sign that form and how to reuse the paperwork for the next service.

Dyslexia fonts

OpenDyslexic is a free font, created by Abbie Gonzalez and shared under an open license, designed, in its creator’s words, “against some common symptoms of dyslexia.” Some readers find it more comfortable.

To try it in Libby: open an ebook, tap the middle of the screen, tap the reading settings icon, and choose OpenDyslexic under “Book Design.”

What the research says: a study in the Annals of Dyslexia found that OpenDyslexic did not improve reading speed or accuracy for students with dyslexia, and none of the students said they preferred it. Researchers who studied a similar font, Dyslexie, saw no harm in a child reading in a font they like, as long as it doesn’t shift focus away from interventions that are proven to work.

So if your reader likes it, let them use it. Just don’t let a font stand in for reading instruction.

Reading at home

From the Tennessee Department of Education and STEP’s tips for parents, plus one of ours:

• Read to and with your child, and listen to audiobooks together.
• Praise the effort, never criticize the reading or spelling, and celebrate progress. Improvement takes time.
• Make a comfortable spot for reading and an organized space for schoolwork.
• Work with the school to find simple, easy-to-use tools for reading and writing.
• Let them choose the topic. A hi-lo book about something they already love is an easier yes than one they dread.

Questions to ask the school

• What did my child’s dyslexia screening show, and which skills were flagged?
• What dyslexia-specific intervention will they get, how often, and who teaches it?
• Can I have a copy of my child’s Individualized Learning Plan for Dyslexia (ILP-D)?
• How will you measure progress, and when will I get updates?
• What accommodations or assistive technology, like text-to-speech or audiobooks, can they use now?
• At what point would you refer for a special education evaluation, and can I request one in writing today?
• Does the school have a Bookshare or Learning Ally membership my child can use?