So you got the Dyslexia diagnosis. You’ve sat in the meeting, read the report, and maybe highlighted a few lines that either confirmed your gut—or completely surprised you.
Now you’re home with a mix of emotions, a bunch of recommendations, and a kid who’s still exactly who they were yesterday.
I’m not a specialist. I’m just a parent who’s been there. Here’s what helped us find our footing in those first few weeks after getting the results.
1. Start by getting informed—and build your team.
One of the best things you can do right away is read up on the diagnosis from trusted sources. Then start building your team. That might include a private tutor trained in programs that follow the Orton-Gillingham approach, an educational therapist, or even just one teacher who really gets it.
The point is: surround your child with people who understand how they learn and are invested in their success—not just the system’s benchmarks. Be choosy. You want allies who put your child’s needs first.
2. Your next step will likely be a 504 or IEP meeting—don’t go in alone.
After the diagnosis, the school’s resource team will usually schedule a meeting to decide whether your child qualifies for a 504 plan or an Individualized Education Program (IEP). These meetings are important—and often overwhelming. You’re learning new terminology, listening to professionals talk about your child, and trying to process it all in real time.
One of the best things you can do? Bring a professional advocate.
A professional advocate specializing in learning disabilities isn’t there to create conflict. They’re there so you can breathe. So you can listen. So you don’t have to carry the whole conversation while absorbing new information.
A good advocate will help you:
- Understand what’s being offered
- Review the goals being proposed
- Ask for changes if needed
- Clarify your rights
- Ensure that your concerns and what you want for your child are communicated during the meeting.
A good advocate will meet with you prior to the meeting to discuss what you are looking for, set reasonable expectations, explain what all of this means, and discuss your goals.
3. Get to know how your child experiences dyslexia.
Dyslexia can look different in every child—even among siblings. The best thing I did was slow down and really try to understand what it felt like for each one of my kids.
That’s easier with a talkative child. With a more reserved one, you may need to ask questions or give examples. Just don’t turn it into a press conference. I made that mistake—firing off questions like I was trying to solve it all in one sitting. It didn’t help. What did help was listening more and talking less.
The more they shared, the better I could advocate—and the easier it became to find workarounds that actually made sense for them.
4. Let your relationship with your child be the north star.
It’s easy to get pulled off course—especially when other parents start comparing reading levels, test scores, or how early their kid picked up chapter books. But that’s not the measure that matters.
If you’re getting help and supporting your child consistently, they’ll make progress. Reading will come. The scores will sort themselves out. And truthfully? Those scores are arbitrary. Don’t get caught up in them.
You’re raising an amazing child who’s teaching you to see things differently. Smile and congratulate the parent whose child excels at testing—that may be their whole world. Yours is probably a little more interesting.
Mine was taking apart and fixing the vacuum cleaner at age seven. I had other things to worry about.
In ten years, no one will remember what Sally Smith’s kid scored on a standardized test. What will matter is how connected you stayed to your own child—how well you knew them, how fiercely you championed their strengths, and how you showed up even when things felt slow or hard.
That’s the part that lasts.
5. Lead with strengths—at school and at home.
Most schools aren’t designed for dyslexic learners. And most teachers aren’t trained to teach them. That doesn’t mean they don’t care—it just means they may need a little help seeing what you see.
Meet with teachers early. Let them know what your child does well—not just subjects, but traits. Are they tenacious? Do they stick with it even when it’s hard? Are they great at comprehension, even if decoding is still catching up? Do they ask smart questions? Get nuance? Notice the parts of stories other kids miss? Do they like writing stories but need help writing them out?
And don’t be afraid to flip the question: “What strengths do you see in my child?” Not just grades—character, resilience, insight. That simple question can shift the tone of a conversation and remind everyone in the room this is about a whole person, not just a test score or classroom label.
I’d like to think most of the teachers who only saw problems have retired by now—but just in case you run into one, asking what your child does right can make an impact. And if it doesn’t… well, it might be time to call your advocate and schedule a meeting.
6. Use audiobooks—and never feel guilty about it.
Audiobooks are one of the most effective accommodations you can give a dyslexic learner. If your child reads along while listening, they’ll start to hear the correct pronunciation of sounds they may not be able to decode or process.
It reinforces language in a way that doesn’t exhaust them—because decoding takes enormous effort. Their brains are working overtime just to understand the words on the page, leaving little energy for everything else.
But comprehension? That’s often where they shine. When you pair audio with text, you give your child the opportunity to fully experience what they’re capable of understanding. They’ll notice nuance. They’ll follow complex plots. They’ll remember the meaning.
This should always be an available accommodation, and you shouldn’t have to fight for it. It’s not a shortcut. It’s a bridge.
Final Note: Don’t count them out.
Dyslexia isn’t a limit. It’s a difference. There are dyslexics who go on to become heart surgeons, entrepreneurs, governors, engineers, authors—and sometimes all of the above.
The challenge isn’t their brain. It’s the system.
Many dyslexics are right-brained thinkers with big-picture insights, creative solutions, and empathy, most people don’t learn until adulthood. But they need to know—early and often—that you see that in them.
Discover more from Tidbits & Whatnots
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.