The Council for Exceptional Children estimates that multilinguals with disabilities make up approximately 14% of the multilingual population—more than 718,000 students. We know the number of multilingual students with disabilities in the U.S. grew by close to 30% between 2012 and 2020. Roughly 5 million students have been identified as English language learners or 10% of the school population. The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) has identified the percentage of students with disabilities that are multilinguals by state. It ranges from 26.37% in California to 8.58% in Florida and includes students from age 5 to age 21.
Despite these statistics, we know that multilingual students with dyslexia are currently both over and under-identified in public schools. Often, schools under-identify multilinguals with dyslexia because they think the issue is language-based, so they don’t evaluate the student. There are places where multilingual students are overrepresented because we think we’ve given them the right kind of intervention when we actually haven’t. So, the relationship between multilingual students and special education is complicated.
These kinds of contradictions often leave students stuck in the middle and they don’t receive proper identification for several years, by which time they’ve missed critical early literacy instruction. More than 400 languages are represented in public schools, but 75% of multilinguals speak Spanish at home. Federal data shows that approximately 15% of English learners have learning disabilities, and 80% of these disabilities identify as dyslexia.
Defining Dyslexia
The International Dyslexia Association offers this standard definition of dyslexia:
Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities.
These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction.
Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede the growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.
Most states don’t have guidance to help diagnose multilinguals with disabilities, although the US Department of Education issued a directive in 2016 to help schools distinguish between multilinguals who struggle with language and those who have learning disabilities. Multilinguals who are misidentified as having learning disabilities often have less opportunity to develop their language and higher-order thinking skills. In fact, research has shown that multilinguals with disabilities achieve better outcomes when they are exposed to two or more languages.
Even though dyslexia screening has not been mandated in all states, most have a screener which really must be used between kindergarten and second grade. By third grade, too much early literacy instruction has been missed, and multilinguals must start earlier to build their foundation skills and academic vocabulary through direct, explicit instruction.
Early Identification is Critical to Literacy Success
In a study1, researcher Sara Kangas, an applied linguist and assistant professor at Lehigh University’s College of Education, found that some educators didn’t prioritize language services for multilingual students because they had low expectations for the students. She asserted that dismissing the importance of bilingual language development for these students with special needs was rooted in a deficit mindset that did not value those who were not native English speakers.
It seems clear that there is a need for further work to train teachers to recognize the difference between students who are learning a language and students who have a learning disability. And appreciate that some students fit into both categories—working from a language other than English and requiring special education support.
Other barriers to inconsistent identification of multilingual students with learning disabilities include:
- Lack of multi-tiered early intervention strategies
- Poorly designed and implemented referral processes
- Lack of options other than referral to special education services
- Outdated and disproven methods of literacy instruction
The ramifications of inadequate identification include multilinguals:
- With disabilities who miss out on services
- Who are misidentified and receive special education services they don’t need
- Who end up in classrooms that don’t meet their needs
- Who miss out on educational opportunities because they’ve been misidentified
All states should mandate dyslexia screening for early identification as research shows that the sooner students can begin systematic, explicit, sequential literacy instruction, the sooner they can become proficient readers and writers.
Demystifying Dyslexia
Despite there being a lot of myths about dyslexia, multilingualism making dyslexia more complicated is not one of them, because multilinguals are learning two or more languages that have different sound systems.
Dyslexia is not:
- Caused by being multilingual
- A result of laziness
- A lack of motivation
- A socioeconomic advantage or disadvantage
- A visual problem
:
“Dyslexia is a phonological processing problem that is neurobiological and makes it difficult to decode words accurately and fluently, as well as making spelling very difficult. Dyslexia is highly genetic and occurs on a continuum from mild to severe. People with dyslexia have the ability to learn to read, they just need to be taught the way they learn, and they require accommodations to succeed via other learning modalities, such as the audio presentation of information,” explains Kelli-Sandman-Hurley, cofounder of the Dyslexia Training Institute, wrote
Screening and Assessment for Dyslexia
More than 1 in 10 native English speakers have dyslexia. There is wide agreement that genetic history is the leading cause. Although some schools may attribute reading and writing difficulties to the students learning English, there are primary characteristics to look for. Screening and assessments for dyslexia must include the evaluation of phonological awareness, decoding, fluent word recognition, and spelling. Observing how these skills impact reading comprehension, vocabulary, and background knowledge is also important.
When screening for dyslexia:
- Determine the number of years of high-quality native language instruction in reading and writing as well as instruction in English to determine if the problem is a lack of instruction.
- Consider whether the student has difficulty reading and writing in their heritage language. That might point to dyslexia. If the students have literacy skills in their native language but struggle with English, perhaps the issue is limited exposure to high-quality instruction in English.
- Review specific error patterns to ensure they are not overgeneralizations from a student’s native language to English.
- Test reading fluency and spelling as multilingual students with dyslexia may be able to decode well in Spanish and need further investigation.
- Gather family information because dyslexia is hereditary.
- Look for students with below-average phonemic awareness in their native language. They are likely to have difficulty learning a new language.
The International Dyslexia Association provides guidance on areas to examine for dyslexia. All of these attributes can serve as risk factors for multilingual students with dyslexia.
- Student’s understanding and use of language in general
- Phoneme awareness
- Rapid naming, which can include letters, numbers, or pictures
- Word reading skills, including real words and pseudo-words
- Ability to rhyme
- Word reading fluency, including accuracy and rate
- Sentence reading fluency, including accuracy, prosody, and rate
- Paragraph reading fluency, including, accuracy, prosody, and rate
- Reading comprehension at the sentence and paragraph level
- Written language skills to include word-level spelling as well as writing composition (narrative and informational) at the sentence and paragraph levels.
Structured Literacy: Effective Instruction for Multilinguals with Dyslexia
Research indicates that multilingual students with some foundation in reading in their native language who are struggling to learn English should receive direct instruction that includes speech perception, phoneme awareness, and sound-symbol connections. Literacy in a student’s initial language is the key to helping them learn English, especially with dyslexia.
To help all students with dyslexia, including multilingual students, teachers must have a deep understanding of the science of reading and the extensive body of evidence-based research that supports teacher-led direct instruction. Structured Literacy is a classroom application of the science of reading, and explicitly teaches systematic word identification and decoding strategies.
Explicit instruction doesn’t assume that students will grasp essential literacy concepts on their own. It is teacher-led as it requires continuous teacher-student interaction. Systematic and cumulative instruction means the organization of the content follows a sequence from easiest to most difficult concepts and elements. Cumulative means that each new step is based on the previous step.
Another critical aspect of structured literacy is that teachers must differentiate instruction for each student. This is determined by continual assessments that are both formal and informal. The goal for students is to develop automaticity as that is what’s required for comprehension and written expression.
Students with learning disabilities greatly benefit from explicit, step-by-step instructions for every part of the literacy-acquisition process—especially reading comprehension. Explicit instruction means teachers are stating exactly what is expected, defining terms, modeling, giving examples, and including step-by-step directions on the board for students to follow.
Some best practices to apply Structured Literacy strategies for multilingual students with dyslexia include:
- Implement research-based professional learning and instruction.
- Empower educators with proven methodologies for positive outcomes.
- Train educators to identify students with dyslexia and other learning disabilities according to proven, fair, and unbiased methods.
- Provide teachers with high-quality learning materials based on the science of reading.
- Monitor student progress. Literacy specialists and teachers must be able to guide instruction with real-time data.
- Make systematic reviews of the process of identifying and responding to the needs of all students creating equitable outcomes for all students, including multilinguals with dyslexia.
Key Takeaways for Identifying Multilinguals with Dyslexia
Multilingual students are both over- and under-identified as dyslexic in public schools. The most common reason for this is likely a lack of training for educators on how to screen for dyslexia, and how to maximize instruction once the diagnosis is made. Here are some takeaways on this topic to keep in mind:
- The number of non-English speakers in US schools continues to increase.
- While some states require screeners for dyslexia, not all do, and early identification is critical for multilingual students to optimize their literacy opportunities.
- The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) has identified the percentage of students with disabilities that are multilinguals by state.
- Genetic history is the leading cause of dyslexia and has nothing to do with what the student’s primary language is.
- The International Dyslexia Association provides a lot of guidance for educators on how to identify dyslexia and the instructional strategies to apply.
- The science of reading and Structured Literacy, in particular, offers evidence-based instructional strategies that help all readers, including multilinguals with dyslexia, and opportunities to become excellent readers and writers.
- Provide teachers with high-quality professional development and instructional materials to help all students become proficient readers and writers.
Notes
1/ “That’s Where the Rubber Meets the Road’: The Intersection of Special Education and Bilingual Education” (Teachers College Records, Volume 119, Issue 7, 2017
References
Diagnosing Dyslexia https://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/professionals/learn-about-dyslexia/diagnosing-dyslexia
Don’t Underestimate, Shortchange ELLs with Disabilities, Researcher Argues https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/dont-underestimate-shortchange-ells-with-disabilities-researcher-argues/2018/03
Dyslexia and Bilingual Kids—What you need to know https://bilingualkidspot.com/2023/04/19/dyslexia-bilingual-kids/#:~:text=Yes!,%2Dsound%20correspondence%20based%20system
Dyslexia and the English Learner Dilemma https://www.languagemagazine.com/dyslexia-and-the-english-learner-dilemma/
English Language Learners https://exceptionalchildren.org/topics/english-language-learners
English Learners and Dyslexia https://dyslexiaida.org/english-learners-and-dyslexia/
Evaluating English-Learners for Special Education Is a Challenge. Here’s Help. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/evaluating-english-learners-for-special-education-is-a-challenge-heres-help/2019/06
OSEP Fast Facts: Students with Disabilities Who are English Learners (ELs) Served Under IDEA Part B https://sites.ed.gov/idea/osep-fast-facts-students-with-disabilities-english-learners
Reading by Design: Science and Systems Support All Readers—Especially Students with Dyslexia
Strategies to Identify and Support English Learners with Learning Disabilities. https://www.wested.org/resources/identify-support-english-learners-learning-disabilities-updated/
Structured Literacy Instruction: The Basics https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/about-reading/articles/structured-literacy-instruction-basics
Why are Some Bilingual People Dyslexic in English but Not Their Other Language https://neurosciencenews.com/bilingual-dyslexia-17144/
Why Emergent Bilinguals Are Both Over- and Under-Identified for Special Education. https://www.lexialearning.com/blog/why-emergent-bilinguals-are-both-over–and-under-identified-for-special-education
Raúl Escarpio, Ed.D, has worked in special education with multilingual students for more than 30 years and now serves as a National Literacy Consultant for Lexia.
