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Visit the site below for details and bios of presenters
http://www.learningandthebrain.com/Event-95/The-Web-Connected-Generation/Program
Orton-Gillingham tutoring in Columbus OH: Adrienne Edwards 614-579-6021 or email aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com
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Thanks to Alyssa Roberts Boscarelli, who posted some links to this information on the Ohio Dyslexia Group Facebook page.
[I want to note that it's always wise to double check any advice found here or on other sites.]
IRS Publication says
How much of the Expenses can you deduct? You can deduct on Schedule A (Form 1040) only the amount of your medical and dental expenses that is more than 7.5% of your AGE (Form 1040, line 38.)
For example, if : the AGI is $40,000, 7.5% of that amount is $3,000. Any expense less than that would be non-deductible.
Information from the Journal of Accountancy
The Journal of Accountancy had headlines that read “Dyslexia program tuition is a valid deduction;” and “Special education is a medical expense.”
They give further details, saying that the IRS (in letter ruling 200521003) has held that tuition paid to a school program to help dyslexic children deal with their condition can be an IRC section 213(a) deductible medical expense.
The article notes that the IRS first explained that “normal education” is not medical care.
For education to be considered medical care, a physician or other qualified professional must diagnose a medical condidtion that requires special education to correct it. The school need not hire doctors, but it must have professional staff competent to design and supervise a curriculum providing such care. Overcoming the disability must be the primary reason for the child attending the school. For more analysis, visit http://files.e2ma.net/14242/assets/docs/dyslexia_tuitionisavaliddeduction.pdf
Special Schools
From the Tax Research Consultant, we learn that a “special school” is distinguished by the substantive content of its curriculum.
Although ordinary education may be provided by the school, it must be incidental to enabling the student to compensate for or overcome a handicap so that the student will be prepared for future normal education or normal living.
The IRS privately ruled that the tuition, summer school, tutoring and transportation costs for a dyslexic child in a school that accepts only handicapped children with specific learning disabilities and has a curriculum tailored for learning disabled children are deductible.
Whether a school is a special school, however, is determined by the nature of the services received by the handicapped student — not with respect to the institution as a whole.
Examples of special schools:
For a closer look, and all the footnotes, visit http://files.e2ma.net/14242/assets/docs/taxresearch_tuitionasmedicalexpense.pdf
Orton-Gillingham tutoring in Columbus OH: Adrienne Edwards 614-579-6021 or email aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com
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House Bill 96 clarifies the definition of learning disabilities in the Ohio Revised Code to specifically include dyslexia.
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The Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity is worth visiting. Here is material from Author John Irving, the brilliant novelist who was also dyslexic. Go to http://dyslexia.yale.edu/Irving.html
Thanks to Gayle Long, who posted this at the COBIDA Facebook page, for drawing this to our attention!
Orton-Gillingham tutoring in Columbus OH: Adrienne Edwards 614-579-6021 or email aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com
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Marburn Academy, Central Ohio’s premier K-12 school for bright children with learning challenges, also offers summer programs in reading, writing and math.
It is not too early to begin considering the Marburn summer experience for pre-school through high school aged children.
Contact Barbara Davidson to inquire about dates and curriculum at bdavidson@marburnacademy.org or phone 614-433-0822.
Marburn Academy is a nationally recognized leader in education for children with learning differences. Their Free Community Seminars are designed to provide parents with solid, scientifically-based information and strategies that they might not receive from any other local source. Marburn Academy is committed to changing the way Central Ohio understands and treats learning differences.
Note: Marburn will be holding Admission Open Houses
Orton-Gillingham tutoring in Columbus OH: Adrienne Edwards 614-579-6021 or email aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com
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Some learning difficulties shouldn’t be left unattended, because they worsen over time.
Mary Ruth Coleman, Margaret Gillis and Tracey West have written an article on ELORS, the Early Learning Observation & Rating Scale.
Published in the most recent issue of “Perspective on Language and Literacy,” the publication of the International Dyslexia Association, the article is subtitled “Honoring Parent and Teacher Concerns.”
The authors contend that using the ELORS rating scale allows parents and educators to provide young children with a deliberate program of
carefully targeted opportunities for guided play and exploration, intentional teaching, and appropriate support… The earlier we recognize that a child is having difficulty, the sooner we can provide appropriate support.
The earlier support is provided, the more likely the child will overcome these difficulties, as well as avoiding secondary problems.
The Early Learning Observation & Rating Scale was designed to make it possible for parents and teachers to gather information and document their levels of concern across seven developmental domains.
The ELORS scale was developed in partnership with NCLD, the National Center for Learning Disabilities.
It is based on systematic observations of children in natural settings. Using ELORS, teachers and parents are able recognize early signs of learning disabilities.
The seven domains are Perceptual/Motor, Self Management, Social/Emotional, Early Math, Early Literacy, Receptive Language, and Expressive Language.
By circling a number from one to four, a parent or teacher scores associated behaviors and skills in each domain.
By circling the number 1, the parent or teacher indicates “little or no concern.” But circling the number 4 registers “great concern.”
The following are the related behaviors and skills associated with each domain, as shown in the article. Adults, as they observe the child, would rate each of the listed behaviors on that scale of 1-2-3-4 levels of concern.
A primary use of ELORS is to inform the conversations parents, teachers and concerned professionals have as they collaborate to prepare a student’s educational plan.
According to Coleman, Gillis and West,
The ELORS facilitates problem-solving because it anchors the conversation in shared observations of actual behaviors in naturalistic settings. To be most useful, parents must take an active role in the problem-solving process by contributing information that is critical to addressing their child’s needs. The ELORS can help to organize and focus the parent’s concerns during these conversations.
Visit www.LD.org for more information from the National Center for Learning Disabilities.
Author Mary Ruth Coleman, Ph.D, is a Senior Scientist at the FPG Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina and directs Project U-STAR-PLUS . Her numerous publications include the textbook “Educating Exceptional Children.” She was president of the Council for Exceptional Children in 2007.
Margaret Gillis, Ed.M., is a doctoral candidate and visiting instructor at the University of North Carolina. She is one of the developers of ELORS.
Tracey West, PhD., is an investigator at the FPG Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina, and coordinator of the National Professional Development Center in Inclusion.
sole source for this post is the article by Mary Ruth Coleman, Margaret Gillis and Tracey West in the Summer 2011 “Perspectives on Language and Literacy,” the quarterly publication of the International Dyslexia Association. Visit that site at www.interdys.org .
tutoring in Columbus OH: Adrienne Edwards 614-579-6021 or email aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com
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The OH House approved 93-1 a bill that would allow three schools to voluntarily join a three-year pilot program involving screening and special instruction for students with dyslexia in cooperation with a local library.
Co-sponsor Rep. Ted Celeste (D-Grandview Heights) said as much as 20% of the population has the neurobiological disability that affects ones ability to read and do arithmetic. The goal of the pilot is to demonstrate and evaluate the effectiveness of early reading assistance programs for children with dyslexia and to evaluate whether those programs can reduce future special education costs.
“Dyslexia is not a disease, so there is no cure,” he said, adding the bill would add dyslexia to the Ohio Revised Code definition of a learning disability.
Early identification of dyslexia will decrease the need for special education services, and all parties involved will experience long-run cost savings.
Existing Department of Education funds would be used to pay for screenings.
“By identifying dyslexia early on in the course of learning to read, we will prevent children from falling significantly behind in decoding, reading fluency, spelling and writing let alone avoiding the heartache, self esteem damage and expense to the families and schools involved,” he said.
Rep. Brenner said participating schools would report results of the pilot after three years to determine if the program should be expanded.
tutoring in Columbus OH: Adrienne Edwards 614-579-6021 or email aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com
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Primary: 614.767.0438 ; Mobile: 614.288.8784; Email: charlotteandrist@gmail.com
Posted in > Dyslexia, > LD and the Law, > Ohio Specific Information
Tagged Learning disability, Ohio HB 96
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House Bill 572, which is supported by families affected by dyslexia, has been introduced into the General Assembly by Representative Ted Celeste.
So far HB 572 has garnered the support of more than two dozen co-sponsors.
For the past year, Celeste has been working with the International Dyslexia Association, its local affiliate and the families of Ohio’s dyslexic students.
Celeste says “There are concerns that Ohio is not doing enough to identify, screen and assist those with dyslexia.”
Before introducing the bill, he has taken a look at what other states are doing.
The legislation will formally define dyslexia as “a specific learning disorder that is neurological in origin and that is characterized by difficulties with accurate or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities.” It adds that these difficulties traditionally arise from a deficit in the phonological component of language.
Celeste has been meeting with scores of people who have battled dyslexia, and it became apparent that early diagnosis and treatment is the right way to treat the problem. One of those people is entrepreneur Janis Mitchell, who was diagnosed in first grade. She says “So many kids are constantly told that they are lazy or stupid when that is not the case at all.
Celeste agrees, and says that when left unidentified, the disorder can cause children to feel inadequate. That opens the possibility of them slipping through education system cracks.
Mitchell is the former vice-president of the Central Ohio Branch of the International Dyslexia Association (COBIDA). She worked along with Celeste in mapping out HB 572.
Earl Oremus, the headmaster at Marburn Academy, a Columbus-based school that specializes in working with dyslexic students, said he is pleased that HB 572 is rooted in early screening and intervention. “If we do the right thing early, we can prevent failures in reading levels.”
Oremus staunchly supports early identification. He says it can be enormously effective for children who have learning challenges.
“It is extremely damaging to fail in school,” he says. He adds that a child who is convinced that he or she will not be able to read by the fourth grade is primed to conclude he doesn’t want to be in school.
The proposed pilot project would create a partnership between a school district and a regional library or library system in three settings — urban, rural and suburban. It would be mandated to operate for three full school years, would study the effectiveness of early reading assistance programs for children with dyslexia and evaluate whether those programs can reduce special education costs in the future.
Celeste says he knows there is a great deal of interest from both sides of the aisle. This is a sign, he feels, that the bill has a good chance to move forward.
Dyslexia Awareness Rally Oct. 6
The legislation will be highlighted by all three Ohio branches of the International Dyslexia Association at the organizations annual Dyslexia Awareness Rally on October 6th from 10 am to 2 pm, on the south lawn of the Ohio statehouse. The event will include testimony from people with dyslexia, their families; and there will be music and artwork.
tutoring in Columbus OH: Adrienne Edwards 614-579-6021 or email aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com
