Webinar - Improving Literacy: Understanding Dyslexia and Reading Instruction

Upcoming IFLS webinar

Improving Literacy: 

Understanding Dyslexia and Reading Instruction

Tuesday, November 12

1-2:00 pm

According to recent data, only 37% of Wisconsin third-graders ranked as proficient or better at reading. There has been a lot of discussion nationally and statewide about the ways literacy instruction has been failing kids, especially dyslexic kids, and Wisconsin Act 20 was passed last summer to try to address this issue. Join two dyslexia tutors and former public school educators for a crash course about dyslexia and understanding some important things about the current landscape of reading and reading instruction. Understanding this background will help library workers who want to do more to support all emerging readers, especially those with dyslexia. Look for another webinar in January with some more specific and simple ideas of ways libraries can help kids and families.

Presenters: Orton Gillingham tutors and special education veterans Starla Dixen and Becky Glade

This webinar will be recorded. It provides one continuing education contact hour for public library director recertification.

Register

Children with Print Disabilities: Dyslexia Resource, brought to you by ALSC

Looking for tips, tricks, and resources to help better serve patrons with dyslexia?

The ALSC Blog has your back!  Find suggestions for dyslexia-friendly fonts, browser extension, and more!

Libby Offers Dyslexic Font Option and Other Print Ready Posters

Do you serve readers that could benefit from knowing about Libby's dyslexic font option? Overdrive marketing has a print ready poster you can use to raise awareness of and promote this option. Whether your library is open, offering curbside only, or promoting digital library offerings, readers of all ages in the community can benefit from easy to read fonts.

Dyslexic Font for Libby App poster (pdf)

For more print ready options for library and marketing outreach for audiobooks, graphic novels, teen materials, multilingual materials, and homeschooling, visit the OverDrive Resource Center.

Towards a Dyslexia Friendly Library

One step towards an inclusive, accessible library for everyone is working towards creating a dyslexia-friendly library space and collection. There are a few simple tweaks that anyone can take to benefit library users of all ages. Consider using OpenDyslexic or another good font for people with dyslexia for signage and instructions in any take and make kits you might be making. OpenDyslexic is a free typeface designed to improve readability. Other good fonts are Helvetica, Courier, Arial, Verdana, and Comic Sans. Italics actually decrease readability and should be avoided if possible. To read more on font readability, try this 2013 research paper called Good Fonts for People with Dyslexia.

 

Several years ago, Brianne Mintz wrote an article for Everyday Advocacy on Creating Dyslexic-Friendly Children's Libraries. Another useful document is the Dyslexia Resource Guide for Families from Read On Arizona, while created as a guide for families, it contains helpful information for those serving youth in libraries.