Strengthening Ties Between Special Education and Reading Services

Originally published here on March 19, 2008.

I went to a week long workshop last year at the end of school. It was presented in our country by the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education and (if memory serves) we had reading specialists, kindergarten teachers, and elementary school special education teachers at the workshop. At the time it didn't occur to me that I might be watching an actual change in philosophy. But I've come to realize that the workshop was a turning point in the relationship between special education and reading...

A few months into this year I was sitting at the table where most of our teachers eat lunch. It was me, our school improvement facilitator (SIF - a math person), two reading specialists, a general education teacher, and a couple of other school staff. The reading specialists and the SIF had been to a meeting at the central office the previous day and one of them explained to me as we ate our lunches that now we were all married. In retrospect, I thought it was ironic that I wasn't invited to the meeting

I said something profound - like, "huh?"

One of the reading specialists said, "They told us yesterday that we should think of ourselves as married now to the special ed people at our school..."

"Mmmmm..." I offered. They laughed. Maybe giggled is a more accurate term. I have a very nice wife whom I'm extremely fond of. They all know her. So the metaphor had humor.

The truth is that special education and reading have worked more closely together this year than I recall in my short career. When I started teaching a few years ago, the two were in separate worlds. I realized quickly that we dealt with the same problems, but often didn't have a shared vocabulary to discuss those problems in. I've met many a reading person that doesn't have much understanding of disabilities and many a special education professional who was weak (to be polite) on reading issues. The chasm between the two has puzzled me.

So I was, well, positively tickled to hear Dr. Lynn Boyer (Executive Director, Office of Special Programs, Extended & Early Learning) express support for the Reading Research Symposium last week in Charleston. The Reading Research Symposium is searching for next year's funding (or was last week) and Dr. Boyer suggested that special education money might be used to ensure that the Symposium came off next year. I was sincerely thrilled.

My hope is that more special education people will be pulled into reading issues. And the truth is that funding the Symposium with special education funds might result in more special education people attending. Hopefully the day is not far away when reading people will be well versed in learning disability issues and special education professionals will have a much greater understanding of reading issues...