Helping a child with dyslexia succeed at school requires a combination of the right instructional approach, formal accommodations, assistive technology, and consistent communication between you and the school. Dyslexia affects roughly one in five students, and while schools have improved their understanding of it, parents still play a critical role in making sure their child gets effective support. Here’s how to make that happen across every front that matters.
Request a Formal Evaluation
If your child hasn’t been formally evaluated for a learning disability, that’s the first step. You can request an evaluation in writing from your child’s school at any time, and the school is required to respond. A formal evaluation determines whether your child qualifies for specialized support under federal law, and it gives everyone involved a clear picture of how dyslexia specifically affects your child’s reading, writing, and spelling.
Don’t wait for the school to suggest it. Teachers may notice struggles but hesitate to recommend testing. A written request (email counts) starts a clock: the school typically has 60 days to complete the evaluation, though timelines vary. If the school denies your request, they must explain why in writing, and you can pursue an independent evaluation.
Understand IEPs and 504 Plans
Two federal frameworks provide school-based support for students with dyslexia, and they work differently.
An IEP (Individualized Education Program) falls under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. It’s a formal document that spells out specially designed instruction tailored to your child. An IEP includes measurable annual goals, present levels of performance, details about every service the school will provide (including who delivers it, how many minutes per week, and where), accommodations, modifications to what the student is expected to learn, and any assistive technology. The school tracks your child’s progress against those goals throughout the year.
A 504 plan falls under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, a civil rights law. It removes barriers so your child can learn alongside peers in general education, but it does not include specially designed instruction. A 504 plan generally covers accommodations (like extra time on tests or audiobook access) and names the person responsible for carrying it out. It doesn’t require written goals or formal progress tracking.
Because IEPs have stricter eligibility requirements, a child who doesn’t qualify for an IEP may still qualify for a 504 plan. If your child needs direct reading intervention from a specialist, push for an IEP. If your child mainly needs environmental adjustments to access the regular curriculum, a 504 plan may be sufficient.
Ask for Structured Literacy Instruction
The single most important academic intervention for a child with dyslexia is structured literacy, an instructional approach that explicitly and systematically teaches the building blocks of reading: phonemic awareness (hearing individual sounds in words), letter-sound correspondences, syllable patterns, morphology (how word parts like prefixes and suffixes carry meaning), syntax, and semantics. Lessons build cumulatively, with each skill layered onto the last.
Many structured literacy programs also use multisensory techniques, meaning students see, hear, say, and physically trace or manipulate letters and words at the same time. This approach has decades of research behind it and is far more effective for students with dyslexia than the implicit, context-based reading strategies still used in some classrooms.
When talking with your child’s school, ask specifically what reading intervention program they use. Programs widely adopted in schools include Fundations (a multisensory structured literacy program for grades K through 3), UFLI Foundations (focused on phonological awareness and phonics for K through 2), and Reading Horizons Discovery (phonics-based, K through 3). For core classroom instruction, programs like CKLA from Amplify and Open Court from McGraw Hill align with structured literacy principles. If your school’s intervention program doesn’t explicitly teach phonics in a systematic, cumulative way, that’s worth raising in your next meeting.
Push for Specific Accommodations
Accommodations change how your child accesses learning without changing what they’re expected to learn. The right accommodations can dramatically reduce the daily friction a child with dyslexia faces. Common accommodations to discuss with the school include:
- Extended time on tests and assignments, so your child isn’t penalized for slower reading speed
- Text-to-speech technology, which reads written text aloud and can be as essential for a student with dyslexia as a screen reader is for someone with a visual impairment
- Audiobooks or recorded versions of textbooks, so your child can access grade-level content without decoding barriers
- Speech-to-text software for written assignments, letting your child demonstrate knowledge without the mechanics of spelling and handwriting getting in the way
- Preferential seating near the teacher or away from distractions
- Reduced copying tasks, such as providing printed notes instead of requiring board copying
- Alternative testing formats, like oral exams or having test questions read aloud
Most students already have access to tablets or laptops at school, and many assistive technology tools are built into everyday devices. Apple, Google, and Microsoft products all include free text-to-speech and dictation features. The key is making sure your child is allowed and encouraged to use them, and that this is written into their IEP or 504 plan so it isn’t left to individual teacher discretion.
Prepare for School Meetings
IEP and 504 meetings are where decisions get made, and preparation gives you leverage. Before any meeting, review the most current plan document and check whether the present levels of performance section is complete and reflects what you’re seeing at home. If the plan describes your child as “making progress” but they’re still struggling to read grade-level material, that’s a gap worth raising.
Come with specific questions. Useful ones include: Where will the intervention happen, and with whom? Will it be one-on-one or in a small group? How often will progress be measured, and what benchmarks will the team use to decide if the program is working? What happens if the current approach isn’t producing results after a set period? These questions push the team to commit to concrete details rather than vague assurances.
Bring a list of concerns you want documented in the plan. Anything you say verbally in a meeting can be forgotten; anything written into the IEP becomes a legal obligation. You’re also entitled to bring someone with you for support, whether that’s a spouse, an advocate, or a friend who can take notes while you talk.
Protect Your Child’s Self-Esteem
Dyslexia doesn’t just affect reading. It affects how a child feels about themselves in a school environment built around reading. Students with dyslexia experience higher rates of anxiety and stress, and years of struggling with tasks that seem easy for classmates can erode confidence in ways that outlast the reading difficulty itself.
One of the most effective things you can do is help your child understand what dyslexia actually is. Kids who can name their challenge and understand that it’s about how their brain processes written language, not about intelligence, handle frustration better. The International Dyslexia Association recommends teaching children to anticipate situations that will be hard (a timed reading test, being called on to read aloud) and giving them specific strategies to manage those moments. This isn’t about lowering expectations. It’s about removing the shame and replacing it with problem-solving skills.
At school, work with teachers to create a safe environment for practicing new reading skills. That means your child shouldn’t be put on the spot to read aloud in front of the class unless they volunteer. It means errors during intervention sessions should be treated as normal parts of learning, not failures. Ask the school how they handle these situations and whether the intervention specialist is trained in the emotional dimensions of dyslexia, not just the instructional ones.
Monitor Progress and Adjust
An IEP is reviewed at least once a year, but you don’t have to wait that long. You can request a meeting to review your child’s progress at any time. If the data shows the current intervention isn’t working after a reasonable period (typically 6 to 12 weeks of consistent instruction), the team should discuss changing the approach, increasing the frequency of sessions, or trying a different program.
Ask for copies of progress monitoring data between meetings. Good intervention programs assess students regularly, often every two to four weeks, using brief standardized measures. If the school can’t show you data, that’s a sign the program may not be structured enough to be effective. You want to see trend lines, not just report card grades.
Keep your own records at home. Save every email, every evaluation report, every progress note, and every plan document. If you ever need to escalate a disagreement with the school, having a clear paper trail of what was promised and what was delivered makes an enormous difference.