- Target:
- United States Congress
- Region:
- United States of America
Learning is hard for everybody. But it is easier for some people then it is for others. Some people have dyslexia, dysgraphia or dyscalculia. These people struggle daily, whether in school or at home. They specifically struggle with reading, writing and math.
The main problem is that Congress doesn’t allocate enough money to fund public testing. Congress DOES allocate money to dyslexia research, but NOT to testing for dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia. most parents are reluctant to get private testing for their child. This is because private testing is generally expensive, averaging $307.52 per session. They would rather hope their child copes on their own, or ask the school to test for them. This is BAD! Most public schools have inefficient ways to test, and they are generally inaccurate. So most parents just don’t get their child tested.
This is terrible. By refusing to get their child tested, or just in general, the consequences of going undiagnosed are bad. Because dyslexia and dysgraphia affect the ability to read and write, children with dyslexia and dysgraphia will start to dread Language Arts. Beside Language Arts, math can be dreaded as well. Math is also dreaded because dyscalculia affects a child’s ability to do computations. This causes many bad problems for our youth. When a child dreads Language Arts and Math daily, they will refuse to work hard in those subjects, leading the teachers to label the students “lazy” or “stupid”.
These labels will cause a lack of self-esteem, which may lead to depression. The labels may also cause bulling on the playground, which sadly, is common. Mrs. Barton says that the child will start enduring verbal teasing, which may escalate. Just like with any bulling, it can be hard to get help. Especially when the student has dyslexia, dysgraphia, or dyscalculia. Just having the disorders makes it hard enough. This is because the child will feel guilty about having the disorders.
They struggle a lot. But there still is hope.
This petition is requesting Congress to put 31 million dollars into getting a professional into each public school to test every student for dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia. Here is how I got 31 million dollars as my requested number.
An average test for dyslexia, dysgraphia or dyscalculia costs 285 Euros. This is 307 United States Dollars. There are 98,817 public schools in the U.S. I multiplied those two numbers together, getting 30,336,819 total dollars, which I rounded to 31 million. This will not happen immediately, but over a period of 50 years.
In order to fund the testing, the government may have to raise taxes. This would anger most Americans. I see their point. Living in America IS expensive. Many citizens already live below the poverty line. They do not want to fund testing for many kids, nor do they care. But this does not matter. Most adults would want the government to help their children in anyway possible.
So, will you help a child and sign this petition?
You can further help this campaign by sponsoring it
The Testing for dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia in public schools petition to United States Congress was written by Boaz Malakoff and is in the category Education at GoPetition.