One family. One fight. A chance to change special education for hundreds more.
A Massachusetts child with severe dyslexia spent years in a program built on accommodations — and still could not read independently. When the family found intensive, evidence-based instruction, the child's reading finally moved. Reimbursement was denied. This family has now retained counsel and is taking the fight to federal court.
Progress was real. Then the system failed.
A child in Massachusetts was identified with severe double-deficit dyslexia — a profile affecting both phonological awareness and rapid naming, the two core building blocks of reading. After years in public school, the child's reading remained at the 6th percentile. Classroom accommodations were not enough.
When the family secured placement in a specialized, evidence-based dyslexia program, the results were measurable: reading composite scores rose to the 15th percentile, with documented gains in accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. The right intervention worked.
Then, after a five-day hearing, the family's request for reimbursement was denied — on the reasoning that the district's accommodation-based program was appropriate. The appeal asks a federal court to examine the question the family says was never reached: whether a program that reads to a child is designed to ever teach that child to read.
"Reading a test aloud to a child helps them finish the test. It does not teach them to read."
The family has retained counsel and is preparing an appeal in federal district court. Legal representation is secured — but the costs of an appeal are not, and this family cannot carry them alone.
Read the Full Case →This is one family's fight. But the questions it raises reach every Massachusetts child with a reading disability.
1 in 5 children has dyslexia
Dyslexia is the most common learning disability. Yet appropriate, evidence-based reading intervention is routinely denied by school districts — with families told that accommodations alone are enough.
Accommodation is not remediation
Reading a test aloud to a child helps them finish the test. It does not teach them to read. Federal law asks whether a program is designed to build genuine independence — the question at the center of this appeal.
Families carry the cost alone
When a district will not provide intensive reading instruction, the families who can find a way pay for it themselves. Most cannot. The children whose parents cannot fill that gap are precisely the children federal law was written to protect.
A federal ruling reaches further
An administrative decision binds one family. A federal court ruling on what IDEA requires for children with severe reading disabilities could establish standards that protect hundreds of Massachusetts families who come after.
Federal oversight has already flagged the system
In January 2025, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs issued a monitoring report finding Massachusetts out of compliance with federal IDEA requirements in several areas — including its special education dispute resolution procedures and its oversight of state-approved private school placements. This appeal is not an isolated complaint about one outcome. (U.S. Department of Education, OSEP)
Stand with this family
Your donation funds the federal appeal — attorney fees, expert witnesses, filing and court costs, and preparation of the record. Every dollar is an investment in justice for one child and precedent for hundreds more. Any funds raised beyond the legal costs will be donated to the International Dyslexia Association, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.