FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Refer 0-3 years old
Additionally, if a parent wishes to request consideration for an evaluation, a parent may call the Department of Special Education office or provide a written request for an evaluation. If the request is made in writing, the district is obligated to respond to the parent's request within 15 school days from the day the request is received.
Please call the Department of Special Education office at 210-945-4440.
Refer 5-21 years old (enrolled in school)
A parent may verbally request or provide a written letter to the campus Special Programs Facilitator (SPF) asking for consideration for a special education evaluation. If the request is made in writing, the campus is obligated to respond to the parent's request within 15 school days from the day the request is received.
The campus’ Provider of Dyslexia Instruction (PDI) can answer your questions about dyslexia and discuss your child’s concerns.
To find contact information for your campus' SPFs and PDIs, please see Campus Contacts.
School Teams will make data informed decisions for every student on an individual basis by reviewing all available data.
Examples of data to discuss that can help a team make decisions include:
Comparison with grade level peers and expectations
Universal screening and benchmarking data
Progress monitoring intervention data
Reading data in comparison with learning and achievement in other academic areas
Parent and teacher information and observation
That will vary based on the child. Contact your child’s school for specific programming information.
No; your child does not have to be in a certain grade level before a dyslexia evaluation can occur.
Yes. The assessment does not automatically create eligibility. The school determines eligibility based on a review of a variety of sources.
If a parent makes a written request for an initial evaluation for special education services to the director of special education services or an administrative employee of the school district or open enrollment charter school, the district or charter school must respond no later than 15 school days after receiving the request. At that time, the district or charter school must give the parent a prior written notice of whether it agrees to or refuses to evaluate the student, along with a copy of the Notice of Procedural Safeguards. If the school district or charter school agrees to evaluate the student, it must also give the parent the opportunity to give written consent for the evaluation.
Please note that a request for a special education evaluation may be made verbally and does not need to be in writing. Districts and charter schools must still comply with all federal prior written notice and procedural safeguard requirements and the requirements for identifying, locating, and evaluating children who are suspected of being a child with a disability and in need of special education. However, a verbal request does not require the district or charter school to respond within the 15-school-day timeline.
If the district or charter school decides to evaluate the student, it must complete the student’s initial evaluation and evaluation report no later than 45 school days from the day it receives a parent’s written consent to evaluate the student. However, if the student is absent from school during the evaluation period for three or more school days, the evaluation period will be extended by the number of school days equal to the number of school days that the student is absent.
There is an exception to the 45-school-day timeline. If a district or charter school receives a parent’s consent for the initial evaluation at least 35 but less than 45 school days before the last instructional day of the school year, it must complete the written report and provide a copy of the report to the parent by June 30 of that year. However, if the student is absent from school for three or more days during the evaluation period, the June 30th due date no longer applies. Instead, the general timeline of 45 school days, plus extensions for absences of three or more days will apply.
Upon completing the evaluation, the district or charter school must give the parent a copy of the evaluation report at no cost.
Additional information regarding special education is available from the district or charter school in a companion document titled Parent’s Guide to the Admission, Review, and Dismissal Process.
Bookshare - Bookshare is an accessible online library which has over 500,000 titles available to individuals with print disabilities. Through an award from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), Bookshare offers free memberships to U.S. schools and qualifying U.S. students.
Learning Ally - Learning Ally has 80,000 + human-narrated audio books available to individuals with print disabilities. The materials can be delivered through internet downloads and accessed using various mainstream and assistive technology devices. Through a contract with TEA, Learning Ally offers free memberships to Texas K-12 public and charter schools with qualifying students.
Talking Book Program - The Talking Book Program (TBP) provides free library services to qualifying Texans with visual, physical, or reading disabilities. TBP is part of the National Library Service to the Blind and Print Disabled, a program administered by the Library of Congress. The TBP collection consists of more than 100,000 titles, including hundreds of titles in Spanish.
International Dyslexia Association (IDA) - Is an international non-profit education and advocacy organization devoted to issues surrounding dyslexia.
The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity - The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity (YCDC) is the preeminent source of cutting-edge research, informed advocacy and trustworthy resources to help those with dyslexia reach their full potential.
Region 10 Resources - Tech resources for dyslexia support.