Faq

Families

Do you think you may have dyslexia? Please click here to take a brief 10 question self-assessment tool. Click here for additional self-assessment tools specific to preschoolers, school-age children, and adults.
To find a potential resources in your area click here to search from a list of providers. Local branches of the International Dyslexia Association can also provide assistance. Click here to find one near you.
Click here to read our fact sheet “Evaluating Educational Professionals.” It will help you know what to ask and how to find and evaluate an educational professional independent of the school. This is especially important if you feel that your child is not receiving adequate instructional services from a qualified teacher within the school.
IDA has partners all over the world, who are ready to assist you. To find a partner in your country, click here!
Structured Literacy is an approach to reading instruction that is beneficial for both general education students at risk for reading difficulties due to a variety of factors (e.g. low socioeconomic status, status as an English learner) and for students with disabilities. For more information see our fact sheet “Structured Literacy” and “Structured Literacy: An Introductory Guide.”
IDA fact sheets are convenient, professionally reviewed materials designed to improve understanding and support advocacy initiatives. Fact sheets are frequently used to enrich and supplement IEP meetings, school board discussions, and district policy initiatives. Click on topics of interest here to view and download fact sheets.
Click here to view an up-to-date map of all state and federal legislation and regulations for every state. Click on any state on this map to find a detailed legislative history and current status its dyslexia law.
We encourage you and your family to share your story to inspire others. Click here to read some of the stories shared by others. The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) also highlights the artwork from of students with dyslexia and other related learning disabilities throughout the year at IDA’s home office and in various IDA publications. If you are interested in having your art featured on the next cover of Perspectives on Language and Literacy, complete this form and send it to Emily, Efranklin@DyslexiaIDA.org. To view the Youth Art Gallery, click here.

Professionals

IDA fact sheets are convenient, professionally reviewed materials designed to improve understanding and support advocacy initiatives. Fact sheets are frequently used to enrich and supplement IEP meetings, school board discussions, and district policy initiatives. Click on topics of interest here to view and download fact sheets.
The International Dyslexia Association’s (IDA) Program Review and Accreditation initiative is unique to other accrediting models in that it is promotes the systematic evaluation and refinement of educator preparation programs against IDA’s research-based Knowledge and Practice Standards (KPS) for Teachers of Reading. When an educator preparation program displays the IDA Accredited Program seal and advertises itself as an IDA Accredited Program, the public is assured that program completers have engaged a rigorous, standards-based preparation program designed to promote candidate mastery of the principles and practices of Structured Literacy. For more information, click here for the Program Review and Accreditation Handbook.
When an educator preparation program displays the IDA Accredited Program seal and advertises itself as an IDA Accredited Program, the public is assured that program completers have engaged a rigorous, standards-based preparation program designed to promote candidate mastery of the principles and practices of Structured Literacy. For select programs awarded Accredited ProgramPLUS recognition, the public is assured that program graduates have engaged intensive supervised practicum experiences that were sufficiently designed and staffed to promote applied mastery of the principles and practices of Structured Literacy™ in the service of preventing reading failure and remediating off-track readers with profiles characteristic of/identifications of dyslexia.
To learn more about IDA’s Knowledge and Practice Standards (KPS) for Teachers of Reading click here.
The KPS defines the knowledge and skills that all teachers of reading should possess to teach all students to read proficiently. These guidelines explicitly set forth the knowledge and skills to advance students’ reading and writing profiles from a Structured Literacy approach in classroom, remedial, and clinical settings.
The Knowledge and Practice Examination for Effective Reading Instruction (KPEERI), formerly the Certification Examination for Effective Reading Instruction (CEERI), measures an educator’s knowledge of the principles and practices of Structured Literacy. Click here for more information.
For people seeking individual certification, they can take the Knowledge and Practice Examination for Effective Reading Instruction (KPEERI). To find out more information click here.
A good place to start is to click here to subscribe to our eblasts and the Examiner, IDA’s free,quarterly e-letter. These publications will keep you abreast of happenings at the International Dyslexia Association and on top of dyslexia and literacy-related news in the field and around the world. To learn more about Examiner click here!

IDA members also have access to the following publications:
  • Perspectives on Language and Literacy (Perspectives):An official publication of the International Dyslexia Association, is published quarterly and features practical articles for educators and other professionals dedicated to the identification and intervention of dyslexia and other related learning differences. To learn more about Perspectives click here!
  • Annals of Dyslexia: IDA’s tri-annual research publication is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to the scientific study of dyslexia, theory-based practices on remediation, and intervention of dyslexia and related areas of written language disorders, including spelling, composing, and mathematics.Click here to learn more about becoming a member of IDA.

Researchers

“Structured Literacy approaches are often recommended for students with dyslexia and other poor decoders. These approaches are well supported by research evidence (e.g., Brady, 2011; Fletcher, Lyon, Fuchs, & Barnes, 2007; Foorman et al., 2016; National Reading Panel, 2000).” (See “Structured Literacy and Typical Literacy Practices: Understanding Differences to Create Instructional Opportunities” by Spear-Swerling, Louise in TEACHING Exceptional Children, v51 n3 p201-211 Jan-Feb 2019.)
  • Brady, S. (2011). Efficacy of phonics teaching for reading outcomes: Indications from post-NRP research. In S. Brady, D. Braze, & C. Fowler (Eds.), Explaining individual differences in reading: Theory and evidence (pp. 69–96). New York: Psychology Press
  • Fletcher, J. M., Lyon, G. R., Fuchs, L. S., & Barnes, M. A. (2007). Learning disabilities: From identification to intervention. New York: Guilford.
  • Foorman, B., Beyler, N., Borradaile, K., Coyne, M., Denton, C. A., Dimino, J., . . . Wissel, S. (2016). Foundational skills to support reading for understanding in kindergarten through 3rd grade (NCEE 2016-4008). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.
National Reading Panel. (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Washington, DC: National Institutes of Health.
All requests to reprint IDA copyrighted material (with the exception of Annals of Dyslexia), must be submitted using this form. Reprinting includes copying for distribution (e.g., coursework materials), republishing (e.g., book chapter), or posting electronically (e.g., e-newsletters and websites) any material from IDA publications. Permission to reprint copyrighted material from Annals of Dyslexia may be obtained from www.Springer.com
The IDA Standards for Teachers of Reading are broadly constructed to address the knowledge and skill base for teaching reading in preventive, intervention, and remedial settings, especially to students at risk for reading failure. Underlying the standards are assumptions about the nature, prevalence, manifestations, and treatments for reading and writing difficulties that are supported by research and by accepted diagnostic guidelines. These assumptions are as follows:
  • Reading skill is distributed on a continuum; students may experience mild, moderate, or severe problems with some or all of the essential sub skills of reading.Mild and moderate difficulties are most likely to be addressed through general education with supplemental small-group support.
    • Reading difficulty, especially when manifested early in reading development,involves inaccurate and/or slow recognition of printed words.
    • Dyslexia is the appropriate name for disorders of word recognition and spelling that originate from core problems in phonological and/or orthographic processing.Many, if not most, students with word-level reading and spelling problems will never receive an official diagnosis or be served through special education,but they will nonetheless be the responsibility of general education and intervention teachers.
    • A smaller subgroup of students demonstrates primary difficulties with language comprehension, in conjunction with inadequate word-recognition skills.
    • Some students experience a primary problem with the development of fluent, automatic reading, and the slow rate of their reading impairs their academic functioning.
    • Different kinds of reading and writing difficulties require different approaches to instruction. One program or approach will not meet the needs of all students.
    • Although early intervention is the most effective way to prevent and ameliorate learning problems,individuals with dyslexia and other reading difficulties can be helped at any age.
      Dyslexia and related learning
      difficulties often exist in individuals with aptitudes,talents,and abilities that enable them to be
      successful in many domains.
The International Dyslexia Association(IDA) is a non-profit, scientific, and educational organization that has been dedicated to the study and treatment of dyslexia for more than 70 years. IDA was first established to continue the pioneering work of Samuel T. Orton, M.D. That work continues today with IDA’s peer reviewed journal, Annals of Dyslexia,IDA’s research-to-practice publication, Perspectives on Language and Literacy, articles in other IDA publications, symposia at our annual conference, and the leadership of IDA’s Scientific Advisory Board. Researchers are also members of IDA and serve on the IDA board of directors and other volunteer leadership roles.