Dyslexia Advocacy for Parents, Part 1: Gathering Data and Documenting Concerns

The episode launches a new advocacy-focused mini series focused what parents can do when schools say a child’s reading and spelling are “fine" even when a parent knows it's not. Michelle explains why the process is frustrating, how parents can move it forward without waiting on the school, and why school staff may share incomplete or distorted policy information.

This episode emphasizes gathering data: finding out what tiered supports (RTI/MTSS tiers 1–3) are in place, what decisions and district procedures guide movement between tiers, and why a child should not remain in tier 3 without next steps such as considering an IEP. The host urges parents to document concerns and conversations in writing, request cited policies, ask clarifying questions about discrepancies, and scrutinize screeners and reading levels for what they actually measure. A free parent dyslexia screener is also mentioned, and the next episode will cover the referral meeting.

Want more information like what you heard in this podcast? The Dyslexia Advocacy Toolkit with eBook can be found HERE.

00:00 Welcome and Series Intro

00:59 Why Advocacy Matters

02:39 Schools and Policy Myths

04:42 Start With Tiered Supports

10:31 When an IEP Applies

14:43 Document Everything in Writing

21:35 Staying Calm and Being Heard

24:53 Screeners and Reading Data

29:00 Reading Levels and Skill Proof

32:13 Wrap Up and Next Steps

In part five of a series on choosing dyslexia interventions, Michelle reviews differences between meaning-first (to avoid), letters-first programs (e.g., Orton-Gillingham, Barton, Wilson), and sounds-first instruction, then focuses on teaching high-frequency/sight words. Letters-first approaches often have students memorize “red” or irregular word letter strings by repeating letter names, while sounds-first instruction maps sounds to letters and incorporates sounds, letters, and meaning for every word. She describes a comparison across three second-grade classrooms in which students were taught the same 10 words: the sounds-first system produced higher accuracy and “smarter errors” than Orton-Gillingham methods, with skills that generalized beyond the target words. She argues that sounds-first structured literacy feels more natural and reduces frustration.

00:00 Series Recap Setup

00:25 Letters First vs Sounds First

01:36 Sight Words Memorization

02:47 Sounds First Mapping

03:34 Classroom Comparison Study

07:20 Why Smarter Errors Matter

10:00 Progress Stories Evidence

12:14 Choosing Support Options

12:33 Programs Offered Overview

14:56 VIP Advocacy Membership

17:42 Final Wrap Up

In part four of a series on choosing effective dyslexia interventions, Michelle reviews three approaches (meaning-first/whole literacy, which they advise avoiding, and two structured literacy approaches: letters-first/Orton-Gillingham “print to speech” and sounds-first “speech to print”).

She emphasizes that doing a single sound-awareness lesson before moving to letters is not the same as a true sounds-first approach, which should integrate sounds throughout instruction and quickly connect sound awareness to letters.

The episode focuses on what children say while writing: letters-first programs often have children say letter names, which encourages memorizing letter strings and limits sound-letter integration, while sounds-first instruction has children say each sound as they write the matching letter to strengthen sound-letter connections and pattern recognition.

A story about a student (“Jay”) shows how letter-name studying led to poor spelling and an inability to read studied words until the approach shifted to sounds.

00:00 Dyslexia Intervention Overview

00:57 Three Reading Approaches

01:39 Sounds First Clarified

03:33 Series Recap to Part Four

04:35 Bouncy vs Stretchy Speech

06:16 Letters First Pitfalls

09:18 Sounds First While Writing

10:38 Jay’s Spelling Test Story

13:22 Study Smarter With Sounds

15:08 Wrap Up and Part Five Tease