by Peter W.D. Wright & Pamela Wright
Wrightslaw.com
In O.R. v. Clark County Schools, a federal judge determined that the school district violated the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Section 504 of the Rehabiliation Act, and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and ordered Clark County School District to reimburse the parents $456,990.60.
O.R. is a child with dyslexia and other learning disabilities. Fifteen to twenty percent of all school children have dyslexia. Dyslexia is the most common cause of reading, writing and spelling difficulties. [What is Dyslexia?]
Although dyslexia makes learning to read more difficult, children with dyslexia can learn to read if they have the right instruction. Parents of children with dyslexia who seek the "right instruction" in public school programs are often stunned when they encounter major obstacles to their reasonable requests that the school teach their children to read.
Few parents know that many teachers, including special education teachers, were not trained to teach children, including children with dyslexia, to read. Few parents are aware that many programs used by public schools to teach children to read are not effective or research-based.
This case is noteworthy in several respects. The Court held that:..
