One in Five: How We're Fighting for Our Dyslexic Kids in a System That's Failing Them

by Micki Boas

Practical tips and advice for parents navigating the school system from a mom who’s been there.One in five children have dyslexia, but too many parents feel isolated and defeated in their efforts to secure an equal chance for their children. After fighting the school system for four years to get the correct diagnoses and proper learning assistance for her two dyslexic sons, Micki Boas realized that parents need to hack the system, cutting through the invisible red tape of school funding, IEPs, specialized teacher training, and more. Drawing on insights from over 200 parents, educators, and experts, Boas delves -When children need to be diagnosed to get the help they need—and why it doesn’t always happen -What special education programs are mandated by law—and why most schools fail to provide them -What parents can do to advocate for their children—and help change the larger system One in Five shares the secrets the “professionals” won’t tell you—but that makes all the difference.

Genres: Nonfiction, Education

271 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 11, 2020

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This. Is really important. We are experiencing much of what this author writes about. Our school system is not set up to meet the needs of SO MANY KIDS with reading disabilities- specifically dyslexia. I have been floored at the time and the money needed to meet my daughter’s basic need- to learn to read. I had no idea until we found ourselves right smack dab in the middle of what this book describes. It is helpful to see how others navigate a very frustrating journey and comforting to know that we are not alone and empowering to know there are some things we can do.

[T Engberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Micki Boas', by virtue of a technical error made by a school district's attorney in a due process matter, has opened a doorway into the very challenging process parents face when attempting to help their Dyslexic children in public schools across the country. Parents are routinely ignored, gaslit, blamed, lied to and otherwise told falsehoods in order for the school district to preserve its hegemony over Special Education. My own school district spends $6 million dollars a year in a legal retainer to keep Special Education parents at bay and allow the district to continue to avoid providing students who have IEPs what they need to become successful readers.

This is not the only part of Micki's story, however. She has interviewed hundreds of parents and professionals alike to demonstrate the similarities of the stories parents share in getting help for their children. She also writes about what parents can do to drive change in their communities.

Let me share with you a sobering statistic, that in 2019 in Georgia, 17% of Special Education students in the state read proficiently by the time they are in 8th grade. That's right. 83% of children who have Individual Education Plans protected under Federal Law (IDEA) can't read at or above their grade level. For many parents of Dyslexic students, the options become untenable: perhaps a specialty private school if that is a possibility or homeschooling.

It's hard that you, as a reader who uses Goodreads, would ever question that schools aren't doing what they should be, or that your tax payer dollars are being wasted. You are a reader. You're lucky. I'm lucky. My son isn't so fortunate as a profound Dyslexic student. He reads at a fourth grade level going into 9th grade. The Matthew Effect is in full evidence for a huge number of students from all backgrounds (Socioeconomic, Race, etc.) across the country. One in Five is a look into Dyslexia that uncovers the ugly truths about reading instruction for Dyslexic children. It is worth your time and understanding even if you don't think you're really "close" to reading failure.

[Kayla TM · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really hopeful when it came to this book. The school system does fail many children, but I didn't find this book to be an accurate depiction of this. The author, herself, mentions how charter schools play by different rules, and despite multiple lawyers suggesting that she move her child to a public school, where they're more equipped to deal with children with disabilities, she steadfastly refused because of something she perceived as a problem without even testing it out. The more I read, the more it felt like she was just trying to exploit the system to get them to pay for the specific school that she wanted her son to go to. To be fair, of course she wanted her son to go to a school with a curriculum specifically designed for dyslexia. But, it seemed like her tirade would've caused damage in other ways, specifically to her younger son. The rest of the book is a bunch of random collected stories about people who have dealt with issues within the school system, but what is depicted is people who put their kids in charter schools to the same issues Boas encountered, or people who just didn't know what they were doing but pretended to. People who complain about teachers not using specific programs or lacking training when the programs they are intending to use aren't even given a chance. Data has to speak for itself. There's a spin to it that doesn't seem to be accurate.

In the beginning of the book, I was hopeful because there were some interesting facts and information. But it seemed to devolve from there. I wanted more tips on how to actually help kids who have struggled with a disability, but have been left behind. Instead, it's a mother's tirade against a schooling system she was told wouldn't be properly equipped to deal with the issue. Very disappointing.

2 stars. Barely.

[Robin · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's estimated that one in five children has dyslexia. My daughter is one of them. As an Orton-Gillingham trained reading interventionist and mom of a dyslexic child, I was so eager to read this book and learn some new information that would benefit my child, my students, and the parents of my students. Instead, I got very little out of this book. The book was full of stories about the author's own children and anecdotes from other parents of children with dyslexia, but contained very little facts or new information. It was like a really long list of complaints about how both public and private schools had failed the author's children. As a teacher, I don't deny that teacher training programs leave educators very ill-prepared to identify students with language disabilities and even less prepared to help them, but the reader was practically beaten over the head with the constant stories of how terrible all schools and teachers are. Some of her ideas were downright disturbingly over-the-top, like when she suggested that her son's school use his private tutor in place of the teacher assigned by his school. I wanted so much more from this book.

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a dyslexia advocate and parent of dyslexics, this book didn’t provide new information, but I found it highly interesting to read the stories of so many parents around the US. I do think this is a great book for parents on this journey as it really shows that they’re not alone in their experiences, and the problems are widespread. Micki does a nice job explaining terminology parents will encounter on this journey. I am floored by the costs of private schools as my state doesn’t have them, nor do we have charters. The fight for services for all kids with reading difficulties goes on, and we must continue to advocate. The one piece that came through in this story is that parents must understand is this isn’t a one and done decision- it will have to be battled over your child’s school career, and there are no shortcuts to getting informed, and learning all the ins and outs. It takes a ton of time to learn about all the different working parts, so be prepared for that, and don’t leave it to the schools.

[Sonya Hohlt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really opened my eyes to the maddening situations that parents can find themselves in when advocating for their dyslexic children. Knowing that 20% of all schoolchildren are likely to have dyslexia, why aren't schools set up for them? This is not new information. Is it inertia? Not caring? Why aren't universities training future teachers more in dyslexia? The stories the author includes need to be told and known. I am early on my (unexpected) dyslexia journey with my child, and after reading this book I will certainly be more aware of what to look for and what to ask when dealing with school officials. I will say, however, that my child's public school has been wonderful to deal with and we haven't experienced any of the problems so frustratingly shared by the parents in the book. Now I know how blessed we are! The only reason I give the book 4 stars instead of 5 is because it would have been nice to read more stories of success, but otherwise this is a must-read for parents with dyslexic children.

[Ginni · Rating 3 out of 5]

One in Five is mostly the story of specific mothers whose dyslexic children inspired them to take up the crusade for education equality. There's a little bit of advice and call to action as well, but a solid three-quarters of the book is straight memoir.

What these accounts reveal about the broken American educational system is heartbreaking and infuriating, for sure. It would have been nice to learn more about what we can do for kids with language learning difficulties. A few of the stories involve kids getting pulled out of public school to be taught at home--what kind of things should a home school mama keep in mind when teaching a child with dyslexia? The Orton Gillingham approach is mentioned often, but never really explained. And the laws referenced often seem so state-specific as to be irrelevant to the rest of the country.

(I received this book for free through a Goodreads giveaway.)

[Emily Pecot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend for the real deal and advice
This book really resonated with me as a mother trying to navigate “the system” and feeling like I’m getting nowhere.
It really broke my heart and made me angry to read how other mothers have experienced the same roadblocks and horrible comments that I have experienced in trying to get my child the help she needs.

Most books related to dyslexia seem to focus on diagnosing and embracing it, but this book really gets to the heart of the struggles that moms experience and how we can more strategically advocate for our children. I really appreciate that this book clearly laid out problems and solutions to multiple scenarios. I received an early copy for review.

[The Suburban Eclectic · Rating 3 out of 5]

For parents who have recently received a dyslexia diagnosis for their child One in Five may offer the comfort and compassion of shared frustration with public and private K-12 education. However, the next steps in progressing the field of service and support in the education system are lacking. Still, this is a decent place to start for anyone new to dyslexia and there are worthwhile references that provide context and more specificity. For those readers looking for more definitive action, One in Five may be a bit simplistic.

[Ashley at Reading Themes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was excited to read this book as a mother of two dyslexic kids. I was disappointed because I felt like this book was mostly about the legal aspects of getting intervention for your child. I did not fee like the majority of the book could apply to every parent of a dyslexic student. The author did a great job sharing from her personal experiences of what worked and did not work for her 2 children.

[Kaytlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won an advanced reader's edition of this book as a Goodreads giveaway from the publisher or author. Thank you to them for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review. First, thank you to the author Micki Boas for sharing her and her son's story in the hopes that it will have an impact and help others. Many of the stories from parents told in this book are heartbreaking. The stories are evidence of areas across the country with signs of broken systems unable to address the needs of children with dyslexia. The heartbreaking stories from both the author and other parents were balanced with valuable information, guidance, and advice from lived experience to help other parents struggling to help their children get the resources they need. I really admired the author's honesty in revealing how she had gone through a period of denial when her son was young, based on desire for her son to have a happy and normal life, which was reinforced by the messaging she received from her son's doctors and teachers. This open vulnerability definitely built a sense of trust for me between reader and author and would hopefully help other parents who might have gone through a similar experience with denial and then self blame to see they aren't alone and hopefully find a way to take any blame off themselves.

[Robin Singer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book but hard to read as the parent of a kiddo with dyslexia. It's very sad that the same situations and even painful words happen consistently across this country. I think this should be required reading for new teachers.

[Robin McCool · Rating 4 out of 5]

While still instructed to tell parents "Dyslexia is a medical diagnosis", I am happy to be using one of the recommended programs with several of my students to help stop failing students. I enjoyed the format of this book and intend to share it with many of my teacher friends. Continue the fight!

[Michelle Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me so angry! Not the author, she did a fantastic job explain the topic. I'm so infuriated with the education system. It is completely failing our kids.
Micki, thank you for sharing this. I'm telling all my friends to read this!!

[Sarah West · Rating 5 out of 5]

Makes me want to pull my kids from school and homeschool asap. Our teachers are not educated on learning differences, our classrooms have too many kids in them, and schools make it extremely difficult to access help, testing and guidance for how your child can thrive.

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impassioned and easy to read, opens up lots of opportunities to discuss special education funding, though American public schools often have more special education resources than independent/private/charters, I wouldn't consider them properly funded by any stretch of the imagination.

[Greta · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have a dyslexic kid run out and get this book and read it now!