Advocate Robin Beauchemin Offered Her Testimony during CT’s Special Education Listening Tour
“Nine years in our public school system… That is how long it took to figure out that my son has dyslexia. For context, until he had an outside evaluation that diagnosed his dyslexia, he never had anything more than a 504.”
The Connecticut General Assembly Special Education Committee recently held a Special Education Listening Tour at four locations throughout the state. RTRA Special Education Advocate Robin Beauchemin prepared the following testimony to share in front of the committee:
Hello, my name is Robin Beauchemin. I live in Southington, CT.
· Kindergarten
· 1st grade
· 2nd grade
· 3rd grade
· 4th grade
· 5th grade
· 6th grade
· 7th grade
· 8th grade
9 years in our public school system… That is how long it took to figure out that my son has dyslexia. For context, until he had an outside evaluation that diagnosed his dyslexia, he never had anything more than a 504. During this time, I could not work because my son was refusing to go to school. Because every single day that he showed up, he felt inadequate. The school trauma is so embedded in his brain that now, as a senior in high school, he is on homebound tutoring. And as I watch all the fun activities the Senior’s in high school are enjoying, I am watching my son sit home, missing out. He is about to graduate, feeling let down by our public school. And feeling like he could not do what all his peers could do…. learn to read. It all started because I sent my 5-year-old son to school with the expectation that they would return him as a proficient reader.
This is just one story of many. It is estimated that 1 in 5 children are dyslexic. Ct is REALLY missing the mark.
If I could pick two things that I thought are the most important things to discuss…. #1 is Senate Bill 873, to establish an education ombudsman. This is a phenomenal idea. As part of our dyslexia journey, I took some advocacy courses. The number of phone calls I get from parents that do not have the means to hire an advocate is disturbing. And what happens to those children? And why is it that parents must spend their savings, after paying taxes, just to get their child a free and appropriate public education?
The second one, and I would like to give Diane Willcutts credit for this, is the requirement that all K-3 teachers, Special Education teachers, and reading specialists take a course on structured literacy that includes a supervised practicum. Ideally, this would be Orton Gillingham. This could help identify our struggling readers earlier. And it would give our struggling readers the appropriate instruction from the start. During the most crucial time in their school career. K-3 is about learning to read; 4th grade and beyond is about reading to learn. Let’s make the goal that these kids go into 4th grade reading proficiently. If we could do that, and do it right, the need for outplacement would decrease.
Robin Beauchemin is a non-attorney special education advocate serving clients throughout the state of Connecticut.