Decoding Dyslexia Ontario signs Black Literacy Matters statement

Decoding Dyslexia Ontario stands with our partner DD Groups and supportive families in support of the following statement and pledge because #Blackliteracymatters:

“Decoding Dyslexia’s Official Position on Black Literacy Matters (BLM)

Disclaimer: We subscribe to the statement-Black Lives Matter Too and have no affiliation with the organization.

Literacy is a human right and dyslexia is often a reason why many children and adults struggle to read and spell. Dyslexia has largely remained misunderstood and under-identified in the public-school setting. Legislation, awareness, and advocacy are occurring nationally on this important topic to help increase dyslexia awareness. Decoding Dyslexia was created to take on this urgent right to read as one of the civil & human rights issues of our time. We have made important steps forward but admittedly have come short of addressing the literacy needs of Black and brown students whose dyslexia and learning disabilities are disproportionately unidentified or misidentified as being attention issues or emotional disturbances. This means their literacy needs are being overlooked, or they are left with little to no access to services or appropriate structured literacy approaches that address dyslexia with fidelity. Often times, false narratives like a lack of parental involvement, care or concern, and false blame that perpetuates that Black and brown children are not being read to as much as their white counterparts are suggested as the sources of their reading issues and they are labeled secondary dyslexics. These false narratives further separate the educational inequities that Black and brown children experience within the current education system. Decoding Dyslexia has fallen short in imagery, advocacy, support and partnerships, although dyslexia crosses all racial boundaries and does not discriminate. Our imaging and movement for the most part has unconsciously portrayed dyslexia as a white literacy issue, and that could not be further from the truth.

Call to Action Items

– Review/revise grassroots policy statement to include diversity-focuses
– State or Province-wide recruitment efforts to involve Black/brown families
– Be intentional in having Black/brown representation in campaigns and a part of our leadership and committees
– Create minority safe spaces for dyslexia support
– Identify educational/organizational partnerships with minority-focused initiatives
– Include disaggregated data in statistical outputs
– Form an accountability structure to ensure consciousness remains
– Seek out opportunities for implicit bias awareness for organizational development

Our Pledge

Decoding Dyslexia disavows racism, hatred, discrimination, police brutality, systematic, institutional and implicit biases. Decoding Dyslexia pledges to diligently work to learn, listen and become aware of the effects of racism, biases, disparities in resources and programs and its impacts on Black and brown students who are dyslexic. We pledge to become conscious and intentional of our messaging, campaigns, imagery, advocacy, support and partnerships to ensure that Black and brown students and families are represented. We pledge to genuinely support, raise awareness and hold accountable the systems that overlook their needs and advocate on behalf of Black and brown students who not only have to overcome the effects of dyslexia but racism, educator bias, educational and systemic bias, access to services and information. We stand in accountability of the growth and changes we need to take, and we understand and stand in solidarity that Black lives matter, too.

Respectfully,

Decoding Dyslexia Alaska
Decoding Dyslexia Arizona
Decoding Dyslexia Arkansas
Decoding Dyslexia Colorado
Decoding Dyslexia Delaware
Decoding Dyslexia Florida
Decoding Dyslexia Georgia
Decoding Dyslexia Iowa
Decoding Dyslexia Illinois
Decoding Dyslexia Kentucky
Decoding Dyslexia Louisiana
Decoding Dyslexia Maryland
Decoding Dyslexia Massachusetts
Decoding Dyslexia Military
Decoding Dyslexia Minnesota
Decoding Dyslexia Missouri
Decoding Dyslexia Nebraska
Decoding Dyslexia New Hampshire
Decoding Dyslexia New York
Decoding Dyslexia North Dakota
Decoding Dyslexia Ohio
Decoding Dyslexia Oklahoma
Decoding Dyslexia Ontario, Canada
Decoding Dyslexia Oregon
Decoding Dyslexia Rhode Island
Decoding Dyslexia South Carolina
Decoding Dyslexia Texas
Decoding Dyslexia Utah
Decoding Dyslexia Vermont
Decoding Dyslexia Virginia
Decoding Dyslexia Washington
Decoding Dyslexia Washington, DC
Decoding Dyslexia West Virginia
Decoding Dyslexia Wyoming

Families/Advocates of Dyslexic Children in NJ
Edward and Delaney Bray
The Brittain Family
Mark Brugger
The Evoy Family
Andrew Kavulich
The Lewer/Lynam Family
The Marsh Family

WY Lit (Wyoming)”