Guest Post by Daniela Feldhausen, Founder of Kids Up Reading Tutors

You finally have an answer. After months or years of wondering why reading is so much harder for your child than for their classmates, an evaluation has confirmed it: your child has dyslexia. For most parents, this moment brings a strange mix of emotions at once. There’s relief, because now you have a name for what you’ve been observing and a reason your child isn’t “just being lazy” or “not trying hard enough.” There’s grief, because a diagnosis can feel like the end of one version of your child’s story. And there’s worry, because you’re not quite sure what to do next.

All of those feelings are normal, and none of them mean you’re doing this wrong. A dyslexia diagnosis doesn’t limit what your child can achieve. It’s a roadmap. Dyslexia is one of the most researched learning differences there is, and children with dyslexia who get the right support don’t just learn to read, they become strong, confident readers. The question in front of you now isn’t whether your child can succeed. It’s how you’re going to support them at home, at school, and possibly with outside help, so that they get there as smoothly as possible.

First, Give Yourself (And Your Child) A Moment to Process

Before you jump into research mode, it’s worth pausing. Your child may have complicated feelings about the diagnosis too, especially if they’re old enough to understand what it means. Some kids worry that “dyslexia” means something is wrong with them. How you talk about the diagnosis at home will shape how your child feels about it for years to come, so it’s worth leading with language like “your brain works differently when it comes to reading, and we’re going to learn exactly how you learn best” rather than framing it as a deficit.

It also helps to understand what the diagnosis actually says. In many school evaluations, you may see the term “specific learning disability in reading” rather than the word “dyslexia” itself. If that’s shown up in your child’s paperwork and you’re wondering whether it means the same thing, this breakdown of SLD in reading versus dyslexia is a helpful place to start.

Supporting Your Child’s Reading At Home

Home is where your child feels safest, which makes it a powerful place for building reading skills, as long as it doesn’t turn into another source of pressure. A few principles make a real difference:

Separate decoding practice from reading for joy – and all the other benefits of reading. You still want your child to experience stories, humor, and learn new information without it feeling like work. Reading aloud to your child, listening to audiobooks together, or letting them follow along with a narrated book are all important literacy experiences. Your child will learn about our language, grammar, sentence structure, vocabulary and so much more at their grade and maturity level – separate from the independent decoding practice they also need.

Contribute to your child’s motivation. Kids with dyslexia often become reluctant readers not because they dislike stories or learning, but because reading has become associated with frustration. Praising effort and strategy (like applying the phonics patterns they’ve learned) rather than speed and accuracy can help improve your child’s self-esteem when it comes to reading.

Be patient with the pace, or increase the frequency of instruction. With systematic, explicit instruction in frequent sessions throughout the week, kids can make incredible progress.  If your child isn’t catching up as quickly as you’d like, consider getting them more frequent instruction.

Helping Your Child At School

Your child’s school is a critical partner, but it may take some active involvement from you. 

1. Understand your child’s rights. Depending on how the evaluation was conducted and where you live, your child may qualify for a formal plan, such as an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or a 504 Plan, that legally guarantees certain accommodations and services.
2. Ask specific questions about instruction, not just accommodations. Extended time and audiobooks can help your child access grade-level content, but they don’t teach your child to read. Ask directly whether your child is receiving structured literacy instruction (an evidence-based, systematic approach to teaching phonics and language structure) and how often. Ask how quickly and how often kids exit the school’s special education program because they’ve become fluent readers.
3. Keep records and stay in regular contact. Save evaluation reports, meeting notes, and email correspondence with teachers or the school’s special education team. A quick monthly check-in with your child’s teacher can catch small problems before they become big ones.
4. Be your child’s advocate, even when it’s uncomfortable. Many parents feel hesitant to push back on a school’s recommendations, especially early on. But you know your child best, and it’s completely appropriate to ask questions or request additional support when something isn’t working. For a practical rundown of how to do this well, these tips on advocating for a child with dyslexia at school can help you prepare for meetings with confidence.

When (And Why) To Consider An Outside Reading Tutor

Even excellent schools with highly-educated, caring teachers are often stretched thin. A special education teacher may be splitting attention across a caseload of a dozen or more students with very different needs, and general education classrooms typically can’t offer the frequency or intensity of instruction that a dyslexic reader needs.

This is where outside tutoring often makes the biggest difference, not as a replacement for what the school is doing, but as a complement to it. Research consistently points to a few features that separate reading intervention that works from reading help that doesn’t:

• One-on-one instruction tailored to your child’s specific needs, rather than a small group moving at a shared pace.
• Training in structured, multisensory methods like Orton-Gillingham, rather than general homework help or tutoring aimed at grades rather than skills. If you’re not sure which kind of support your child actually needs, this comparison of reading tutoring versus homework help is a useful tool.
• Enough frequency to build real skill. Once or twice a week is rarely enough to move the needle for a child with dyslexia. This article on high-dosage tutoring explains why session frequency matters just as much as session quality.
• Clear, measurable progress tracking, so you and your child can both see growth over time, which does wonders for motivation.

If you’re starting to look into what a strong tutor should offer before you commit to one, this checklist for choosing a reading tutor is a good place to begin, and understanding the return on investing early in dyslexia support can help you weigh the decision with confidence.

Families in the Washington, DC area looking for this kind of specialized, high-dosage support can also learn more about dyslexia and reading tutoring in DC.

Dyslexia Testing At Georgetown Psychology

Does your child seem to be falling behind their peers in reading? Do they have difficulty recognizing letters and sounds, reading unfamiliar words, or remembering skills they seemed to understand the day before. These could all be signs that your child is dyslexic, which is why getting them tested for dyslexia is important so they can get the support they need to be successful. We offer dyslexia testing at our offices in Bethesda (MD), Georgetown (DC), McLean (VA), and Alexandria (VA).

You Don’t Have To Do This Alone

A dyslexia diagnosis can feel overwhelming on the day you receive it, but it’s also the moment things start to make sense, both for you and for your child. With patient support at home, an engaged partnership with your child’s school, and the right kind of outside help when it’s needed, kids with dyslexia don’t just catch up. They build genuine confidence as readers and as learners.

This guest post was contributed by Daniela Feldhausen, the founder of Kids Up Reading Tutors.  Kids Up provides live, one-on-one online reading and dyslexia tutoring based on the Science of Reading and Orton-Gillingham for students in grades 1 through 12.

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