Dyslexia Data

In 2015 the Indiana General Assembly passed House Enrolled Act (HEA) 1108. This law put in place an official definition for dyslexia in Indiana. This definition is based on the International Dyslexia Association’s definition of dyslexia.

House Enrolled Act 1108 defines dyslexia as: A specific learning disability that:

(1) is neurological in origin and characterized by: difficulties with accurate or fluent word recognition and poor spelling and decoding abilities; (2) typically results 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; (3) may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede the growth of vocabulary and background knowledge; and (4) may require the provision of special education services after an eligibility determination is made in accordance with Article 7.

A universal dyslexia screening is administered for students in K-2nd grade covering the following content areas:

• Phonological and phonemic awareness
• Sound symbol recognition
• Alphabet knowledge
• Decoding skills
• Rapid naming skills
• Encoding skills

Indiana Code 20-35.5-5-2 requires all public and charter school corporations to report on their website (by July 15 of each year) the following information related to dyslexia: