S3010-119

What This Bill Does

The 21st Century Dyslexia Act changes the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, so dyslexia is expressly listed as its own disability rather than appearing only within the definition of a specific learning disability. It defines dyslexia as an unexpected reading difficulty in a person whose intelligence indicates the capacity to read better, most commonly caused by difficulty processing the individual sounds of spoken language and affecting speech, reading, and spelling. Conforming edits remove dyslexia from the separate specific-learning-disability category.

The bill also adds an equal-access requirement. When a local educational agency or another agency determines eligibility for, or provides, an IDEA accommodation or service, it must provide equal access to every eligible child, including children from low-income families, children from families with low socioeconomic status, and children with limited English proficiency.

Who Benefits and How

Children with dyslexia benefit from explicit federal recognition that can make their disability category clearer during IDEA evaluations and service planning. Their parents and guardians gain a more specific statutory basis for requesting appropriate evaluation, accommodations, and special education services. Eligible children from low-income households and children with limited English proficiency benefit from an express equal-access protection. Special-education advocates gain clearer language for oversight and enforcement.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Local educational agencies and other agencies administering IDEA must update eligibility procedures, forms, guidance, and service decisions to reflect the standalone dyslexia category and equal-access rule. School psychologists, special-education evaluators, and individualized education program teams may need training and revised assessment practices. State educational agencies must oversee local compliance. These are administrative and compliance costs; the bill does not provide a stated appropriation to cover them. The bill does not make every child with reading difficulty automatically eligible, because IDEA eligibility determinations still apply.

Key Provisions

• Adds dyslexia expressly to IDEA's definition of a child with a disability.
• Defines dyslexia by reference to unexpected reading difficulty and phonological processing.
• Removes dyslexia from the definition of a specific learning disability to treat it as a distinct category.
• Requires equal access to IDEA accommodations and services for all eligible children, including specified low-income and limited-English-proficient groups.