A2E Special Ed Consulting

They say you’re “difficult” because it’s easier than admitting the truth:
you’re the only one in the room holding the full weight of your child’s reality.

“Difficult” is the word they reach for when a parent won’t nod along.
When you ask the questions they hoped you wouldn’t.
When you refuse to accept the version of your child that fits neatly into their paperwork.

“Difficult” is what they call you when you won’t shrink.
When you won’t be soothed, silenced, or managed.
When you won’t let them turn your child’s struggle into your fault.

Because the moment you stop being quiet, the moment you stop being grateful for scraps, the moment you stop absorbing the system’s failings as your own…
you become inconvenient.

And inconvenient parents get labelled “difficult”.

But here’s the truth they never say out loud:

You’re not difficult.
You’re determined.
You’re informed.
You’re exhausted.
You’re done being dismissed.

And every time they try to make you the problem, it’s because they don’t want to look at the real one.

-

Let’s stop pretending this is a funding issue.

State and districts sign legal assurances every year that they are implementing IEPs as written, delivering specially designed instruction, and providing FAPE.

That’s how they get the money.

So when you hear, “we don’t have funding for that,” what they’re really saying is we’re not doing what we already said we would do. The funding doesn’t come after compliance.
It comes because they certified compliance.

This isn’t a budget problem.
It’s an accountability problem.

Why Does Fluent Reading Matter? – National Center on Improving Literacy Fluency with text is the ability to read words, phrases, sentences, and stories accurately, with enough speed, and expression.

Grief. Tiredness. Anger. Fear.

They can live beside love.

Having these feelings doesn’t take away from love.

It simply means the journey is real.

It is okay to feel it all. 💙

Educator expertise should meet mandatory standards. Too many dyslexic children have experienced a loss of well-being and reduced life outcomes.

This collective shrug of indifference about literacy and learning differences should end. Accountability standards matter.

1. https://www.edhat.com/news/op-ed-three-years-into-new-literacy-program-sbusd-still-neglects-and-disdains-students-desperate-for-help/

2. www.stateofdyslexia.org/

3. https://learningally.org/resource/the-hidden-costs-of-dyslexia

4. https://www.thereadingleague.org/chapter/

5. https://dyslexiaida.org/why-is-special-education-a-failure/

6. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/adults-room-why-literacy-reform-often-fails-what-we-must-lagrande-hbejc

7. https://www.edhat.com/news/op-ed-three-years-into-new-literacy-program-sbusd-still-neglects-and-disdains-students-desperate-for-help/

8. https://www.centerfordyslexia.ucla.edu/corporate-3-landing/about/

9. https://www.readingrockets.org/reading-101

10. https://www.decodingdyslexia.net/

11. https://coxcampus.org/

12. https://www.thereadingleague.org/compass/educator-preparation-programs/

13. https://www.madebydyslexia.org/teachers/

14. https://www.coursera.org/learn/dyslexia

15. https://www.landmarkschool.org/landing-pages/reading

16. https://solar.blogs.latrobe.edu.au/

17. https://dyslexiaida.org/teachers/

18. https://dyslexiaida.org/dyslexia-in-the-classroom/

19.https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/moats.pdf

20. https://www.kansasregents.gov/about/kansas-blueprint-for-literacy/blueprint-overview

21.https://texasldcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Reid_Lyon_Testimony_to_Senate.pdf

Cheri Rae is a Santa Barbara-based author and advocate who founded The Dyslexia Project to support students with learning differences, specifically dyslexia. She authored DyslexiaLand: A Field Guide for Parents of Children with Dyslexia, providing strategies for navigating school systems. She emphasizes using structured, multisensory, and explicit teaching methods.

Cheri Rae uses incredible and creative art to raise awareness, including a collaborative photography project titled "1 in 5: The Face of Dyslexia".

See DyslexiaLand

Update: Since this article was written, a mandatory training is now required for all K-3 educators. Fabulous. What will happen to the older students who did not receive high quality literacy instruction? What help will be available to them ? Who will measure their literacy status ?

Longitudinal studies show that students who receive early reading intervention in Kindergarten and Grade 1 have much stronger long-term outcomes than those who receive support later.

It is never too late to help a struggling reader, but the earlier the support starts, the easier it is to close gaps and build strong reading skills. Early support leads to better progress and protects motivation and confidence.

This is why early screening and early action matter so much.

Dysteachia is the gap between the instruction students receive and the instruction they actually need, especially for those with learning differences like dyslexia, often stemming from inadequate teacher training in the "Science of Reading" rather than a student's inherent inability to learn.

It highlights how poor teaching methods, like telling kids to guess words from pictures instead of sounding them out, can create reading failure, making the system the problem, not just the child. Addressing dysteachia means implementing structured literacy methods based on reading science to better meet diverse student needs.

In essence, the statement argues that the vast number of struggling readers points to a crisis in curriculum and teaching, demanding a societal response to fix foundational literacy for all children, not just those identified with dyslexia.

https://lifelongliteracy.com/dysteachia-a-preventable-disorder/

https://home.edweb.net/science-of-reading-struggling-readers/

https://www.lexialearning.com/blog/the-science-of-reading-the-answer-to-helping-struggling-readers

https://schoolwisepress.com/half-of-lagging-readers-suffer-from-dyslexia-and-the-other-half-from-dysteachia/

https://soprislearning.wordpress.com/2012/04/17/diagnosing-dysteachia/

https://www.dyslexics.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Dyslexia-or-Dysteachia.pdf

https://www.dyslexia-consulting.com/half-a-million-kiwis-suffer-from-dysteachia-but-the-government-doesnt-care/

https://transformativeprincipal.org/s13/627/transcript

The Strong Readers website from the Mississippi Department of Education offers free, grade based reading activities and family friendly guidance for supporting reading at home. While FCRR focuses on structured practice of taught skills, Strong Readers helps families understand what those skills are and how to support them across phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
Why it matters: When families understand both what to practice and why it matters, reading support at home becomes more effective and more manageable.
Explore the resources here: https://strongreadersms.com/