Stephanie Landis:

Welcome to another episode of Unbabbled. Today we are speaking with Dr. Erika Westreich. Welcome and we’re so excited to have you.

Dr. Erika Westreich:

I am so excited to be here as well. A little bit nervous. This is my first time on a podcast like this, but excited for the opportunity. Yeah.

Stephanie Landis:

Well, I will try and take it easy on you. We’re just going to chat about dyslexia and dyslexia in the school, and you have so much information on that, so it’ll be easy. So I’ll start off with the easy one. What is your experience with working with the schools?

Dr. Erika Westreich:

Yeah, so I am a school psychologist and a licensed psychologist. Basically, I worked in the schools for 10 years where I just got tons of experience, just testing, testing, testing. Worked with so many kids age range all the way from two up until high school. So I had just tons of experience testing, lots of testing kids for dyslexia. I tested hundreds and hundreds of students over the course of 10 years. And so that was in the public schools. And then in the last two years, I opened up my private practice where I test kids for dyslexia. For the most part, they come from the private school setting, but I also get some kids that are coming from public school who the parents want a second opinion. So just that’s really my joy of evaluating and figuring out really underlying conditions and how to help support kids at home and school.

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah, just another piece of that puzzle, helping parents figure things out. Well, recently, and I know this happened probably about a year ago, but it seems like sometimes things take a little bit longer to change, that Texas changed the way that they classify dyslexia within the public school system. Can you talk a little bit about what change happened?

Dr. Erika Westreich:

When I first started in the public schools years ago, I came onto the scene, I did my training in New York, and then I came to Texas for my first job. And what happened was is that I found out that dyslexia didn’t fall necessarily under the specific learning disability. In reading, I was taught in New York, and instead it fell under 504. And so what happened in the beginning of my career is that when kids were suspected of having some sort of issue with reading, it depended on severity. If it was mild, they might be tested for 504 through the general education side, but if it was more severe or there were maybe overlapping conditions, could this also be attention or more severe reading problems, then they were tested through the special education side. But what was happening basically is that I think a lot of kids were getting lost in that, not getting maybe enough support.

 

And so with this recent bill that was passed, dyslexia is now considered a specific learning disability and is named as such. And so kids that are suspected of having dyslexia or who already have been identified with dyslexia through 504 are now required to be tested through special education to really see what are we dealing with and does this child need specially designed instruction plus accommodations? Do they need an IEP or do they not qualify for that condition? And maybe they do just need just an accommodation or two, and that would still fall under 504. So that was a really long answer, but I hope it was kind of clear. That was my experience, how it shifted in the past ever since I started up until now.

Stephanie Landis:

Previously children weren’t housed under the special education department unless it was really severe. So that meant they didn’t get an individualized education plan. That’s what an IEP is, yes?

Dr. Erika Westreich:

Right. Yes. Yes.

Stephanie Landis:

And then what does an individualized education plan do for a student?

Dr. Erika Westreich:

Yeah, so it really helps get to where the student is and helps teachers figure out what they need to help them access the curriculum. So it might be modifying different ways of teaching. It might be supplementing different kinds of reading programs as opposed to an accommodation is just like you don’t get that kind of individualized support. It’s more extra time or maybe a read aloud, but nothing to really build your skill up. And so that’s what’s really provided with an IEP. The benefit also of an IEP is just to be able to, first of all, come once a year and definitely and review progress and see where are we and have we made progress and what do we need to change? And so that is part of it. There’s definitely more support given because with dyslexia, I mean, if we’re really having those challenges with phonological awareness and/or memory and/or rapid naming, I mean, you need targeted intervention.

I think of accommodations as a bandaid, it can help. But I mean, if you have a true dyslexic profile really needs usually a lot of just intense support. And with that, a lot of our kids could really be very successful with those supports, especially when they’re given early on. So yeah.

Stephanie Landis:

So previously with a 504, a 504 is just purely accommodations.

Dr. Erika Westreich:

So some kids with 504 did get some pullout intervention, but that kind of depended. 504 is just accommodations, but I think that some schools also provided those kids with pullout support, but it wasn’t necessarily through the 504 plan.

Stephanie Landis:

See, that is also where it seems like this change in the law seems to be a good thing because that’s what I was noticing with kids coming to Ushrom Parish from different public schools, is that every public school district and even sometimes the school themselves, they were varying what accommodations, what supports did it qualify for giving you actual pullouts and they would get pullout therapy, but they wouldn’t have an IEP in the goal trial. It just seemed to be kind of muddled. So do you think the goal of this law then would be to try and unmuddle it as much as possible?

Dr. Erika Westreich:

Yeah, I think so. Unmuddle, I think just screening also, that’s a big part of the law, making sure that we’re screening at kinder and first and then intervening and testing and providing services. So really just districts need to know what to do as opposed to the 504, it was kind of unclear with dyslexia who was doing the testing. Often the testing looked a lot like the testing we were doing through special education. So I think it’s to just, I think be more clear with what are we all doing, how are we identifying and just providing as much support as early as possible.

Stephanie Landis:

That’s a great point because when you go through the special education system, there are really clear rules and laws in place for testing and how quickly you have to test and who is doing the testing and if parents have to be notified that the testing and the screening is happening- Yeah, there’s

Dr. Erika Westreich:

So much deeper work. Oh my gosh, yes.

Stephanie Landis:

And so is that different from the way that schools might’ve been doing screenings and testings for dyslexia previously?

Dr. Erika Westreich:

So yeah, it was very separate. I mean, it also, it depended. I was within a few different school districts in the 10 years, but I mean, it felt like the 504 was through general education for the most part, and that was just a separate person, a separate process, a separate thing. And then we were evaluating through special education. So it was like sometimes there wasn’t a lot of overlap. Those students were kind of there and we were here and it’s like, oh, those are not our students. Those are not SPED students. 

Stephanie Landis:

It seems like this will hopefully make it a little more clear because then you can have the SPED and other kid, everybody’s talking to each other more clearly and distinctly, hopefully. That seems to hopefully be the goal in every school, but when you have two separate systems, it can sometimes not work as smoothly as one would like. So now under the new law, each child, when they get screened, goes through the special education system.

Dr. Erika Westreich:

Yeah. So they basically get, if those markers come out that they might have dyslexia, they’re supposed to be provided with intervention. So okay, let’s start that intervention and then get the process going for an individualized evaluation. So we’d get, “Hey, parent, we’re concerned. We’d like to do an evaluation to find out more and start the consent process.” So that’s what’s new in terms of, I think just like we said before, just trying to get in early and get more kids identified and just understand the process. I mean, I remember when this came out, I was still in the public schools when this info was coming out and everyone was just like, oh my gosh, it’s going to be so busy. It’s going to be so much work, thinking about all those kids that are going to need to be tested. And so at this point, I’m thinking, I’m not in this school district anymore, but I’m thinking things have calmed down because we had all those 504 kids to test at this point, but I mean, there’s always not enough special education staff.

There’s always need for more, so that’s always a problem, but that’s a separate note.

Stephanie Landis:

As a parent, to me, it sounds like it would be a positive for things going from just a 504 to an IEP.

Stephanie Landis:

Are there any drawbacks for a parent or as a student going then from a 504 to an IEP?

Dr. Erika Westreich:

Yeah. So actually going back to when I first started, I was like, what is going on? Why is dyslexia this separate thing? Dyslexia is a learning disorder in reading. What are we saying? And so what I was told is that parents had lobbied for this, didn’t want their student who just had dyslexia to be under special education. They were worried about the stigma, and so they just wanted some accommodations under 504. So parents wanted that, and that’s, I think, what happened and why we got to the place that we were at. So there is some stigma, special education. Some people think of it as, I guess, I don’t know, as a negative or as something to be embarrassed about. But I mean, there are so many positives. And at the end of the day, what I always tell parents, honestly, in private practice and really always is that at the end of the day, we want a confident student and we want a confident student who can read and write and answer questions and get up there and present ideas.

And that will make sure that our mental health is in check. Not always, obviously, but it’s really important that especially kids who are having trouble with reading, really, we get to the core of it and intervene and just get as much support as possible so that we can be well-functioning adults. And so to me, the more support, the better. And if that happens to be through special education supports, so be it. There are always going to be parents who are just worried about stigma and worried about long-term and worried about just different things like that.

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah, I agree. Especially from the speech side, working with children that might have just simply articulation things, it’s really hard for parents to wrap their head around that speech also can fall under special education. And then it’s talking to them about actually falling under this umbrella is a good thing. It protects your child. What we’re looking at is looking past any sort of label and looking for the end goal and the end product, and what can we do that make sure that your child gets the most support that they can to be as successful as they can in the classroom. And so while it might feel scary for parents at first to go from accommodations to being under an IEP, it comes with so many more protections and legal protections and other things that now we can really make sure that your child is getting all the support that they need to get that end goal and the end product.

Dr. Erika Westreich:

Yeah. And I will say also, the progress monitoring, being able to really look at goals and seeing, did my child meet this goal or not, and how can we adjust this to make them more successful? I mean, there are 504 meetings, but again, like you said, there’s just so many protections under IDEA that it’s just parents need to think about that.

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah. My experience with a 504 meeting is that it was like, “Oh, are these accommodations still working? Yep, check the box. Oh yep, everything’s still going. ” My experience with IEP meetings, it’s like, are we meeting our full goals? Here we have very measurable and specific goals, and are we actually showing progress in meeting the goals? It feels like, yes, the underlying of the accommodation still working would be that she’s meeting her goals or he’s meeting his goals, but they aren’t … It doesn’t seem to be the general idea of the meeting is like, what is progress happening here? And that seems to be like when you come together for a meeting to go over their IEP, is that there’s more focus on progress and moving forward and meeting those goals.

Dr. Erika Westreich:

Right, right. I agree.

Stephanie Landis:

So in other states, is dyslexia considered its own diagnostic criteria that you can then go and get an IEP for or are all states like Texas?

Dr. Erika Westreich:

All states are different in how they interpret dyslexia, but like I said, coming from New York and whatever, but I don’t know a lot about other states, but my understanding is that the screening process or in terms of the training required to give those tests. And there’s nothing specific in the federal law, and so states have figured that out for themselves, and so it could really vary greatly, which is really interesting. I mean, that brings us to the dyslexia handbook, by the way, is really helpful in terms of getting more information about Texas-specific information. And I think every state has their own information in terms of what their state is doing for dyslexia. And so yeah, it’s hard to know what every state is doing, but I would say that they’re doing things differently.

Stephanie Landis:

There’s no way. Since federally, they do leave it up to states to decide, then we could have 50 different states doing it 50 different ways. There’s no way to know what every state does. It’s always interesting when we have people move in from different states and reading their IEPs so different and talking to friends in other states, I’ll be like, “Oh, we can do this. ” And they’re like, “Oh, we can’t do that, or we have to do it this way.” And it could be so confusing for families.

Stephanie Landis:

You said that you work with a lot of students in private schools. When students might be changing from a private school to a public school or a public school to a private school, can they use school testing done in a public school to help them in private schools?

Dr. Erika Westreich:

Yeah. So when it comes to the private schools, it really varies by school as well in terms of what they’re capable of, in terms of what does their special services team look like and what kind of services they could provide. So I always tell parents, I mean, they can always bring the evaluation from the school district and just say, “This is what my child was getting. These were the recommendations. What can you provide realistically in your school?” When I do a private evaluation, my recommendations, I usually write out all the things that would be just so beneficial for the child. And I just tell parents realistically, I don’t know what this private school necessarily will be able to accommodate, but just talk it through. And sometimes parents need to think about a school change if we’re talking about a significant disorder. But yeah, basically, I think that answered the question.

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah. And then parents who might be going from a private school to a public school, maybe that’s the way they’re getting more intervention. Can they use a private assessment to help in the public school support need for intervention?

Dr. Erika Westreich:

Yeah. So typically what happens is that they take a private evaluation and bring it to the 504 committee. That’s what was historically done for dyslexia also, and accommodations would be put in place. And then sometimes I would say, and of course you can always request a full and individual evaluation. They’re going to do their own testing. I mean, typically school districts prefer to do it that way. They prefer to look at it because sometimes they’ll include things that a private evaluation won’t necessarily include. Specifically, I’m thinking of a school observation is typically not done in a private setting, and so school districts are going to want to do that and are just going to want to do things their way typically. And so sometimes that happens. I say, bring it there, see what they say, but they might want to retest. So just know that just to do it their way.

And also, sometimes there’s a difference when looking at eligibility conditions for special education in the school districts as opposed to an outside diagnosis. So that’s also something that’s sometimes a litle bit different, whereas you can meet that criteria in a private setting as opposed to in the school district falling under the special education eligibility is a little bit different.

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah, we get that a lot in the speech language side of it too. And that is something that I think a lot of parents struggle with. And even as a professional, sometimes I struggle with it that I’m like, “Oh, for me, I see clearly that this child could use these supports and extra interventions, and in the school they have to have some sort of threshold of who they can serve and who they can meet.” What type of criteria do they use to decide? In the past, it would’ve been whether they get services or just a 504, and now it will be, I guess similarly probably, do they fully qualify with dyslexia? Are they dyslexic enough to get these interventions and a full IEP? Or it’s confusing for parents to go through this because they’re like, there’s something going on. How do you explain that to parents of if a child meets the threshold or not within the school district?

Dr. Erika Westreich:

Yeah. So something that we look at when diagnosing outside the school district as well, but it’s focused on very heavily in the schools is yes, they might have some dyslexic markers, but not necessarily to the point that it’s impacting them educationally in a significant way. And so it’s similar with other diagnoses as well. Yes, they might have some red flags for this or that, but is it really impacting them educationally? Are they still passing? Are they still, their report cards are good, their math testing is good. And so if there’s no educational need, then they might not qualify. Whereas outside the school district, some of those milder symptoms are going to be diagnosed. And I think sometimes evaluators in the school district are going by different, like you said, thresholds or numbers, oh, we consider below this number a significant delay as opposed to above this number.

And so- If you’re

Stephanie Landis:

1.5 standard deviations below, fine, but 1.2 standard deviations, then no. I mean,

Dr. Erika Westreich:

Oh, he doesn’t qualify because he scored just a few points too high. And I was just like, but it’s so clear to me that he’s not on level and you would get that with his.

Stephanie Landis:

No, I’ve been there where I’m like, but yes, she’s still doing all right, but she’s struggling to do all right. And there’s a disconnect between potential and what’s happening and that just little bit. I’m like, couldn’t you have just answered one more question wrong?

Dr. Erika Westreich:

Right, right. And I will actually jump in. This is a good place to talk about parents’ rights for an individual, what’s it called, evaluation. So that if parents do think that, I just want another person to look at this, they do have that option of requesting an IEE, it’s called, and just get an outside evaluator to take another look because sometimes when that happens, the threshold, again, outside the school district is a little different, but the school district still considers that and is obligated to consider that. And so once they have that outside evaluation, sometimes it kind of just is easier to get that through and get the child to qualify. So that’s just a side note.

Stephanie Landis:

No, I think that’s perfect and something we’re definitely looking for because now parents were looking at things through the lens of like, okay, how can I help get my child accommodations? Or even if some parents were never in the system, so they don’t even know what changes we’re talking about, helping support them so that they have knowing what they can do as advocates, what questions to ask, what the testing situation will look like is all extremely beneficial. And now they know that they can go in and it’ll look like it’s going through the special education system, but it’s also good to know that you can bring in an advocate or you can ask for second opinions. Is there anything else that you often give as advice to parents as they’re navigating through the system?

Dr. Erika Westreich:

I’m just thinking if you do think that your child might qualify for special education or has a need or has dyslexia and you want that testing, make sure to put it in writing because once you put it in writing and request it, the school district does have an obligation to get that process going. So they have timelines and legal obligations. And so put it in writing, I believe even an email is good enough to just get that process going.

Stephanie Landis:

And you mentioned briefly, but all schools now, public schools now in Texas have to do screenings, did you say in kindergarten and in first?

Dr. Erika Westreich:

Kinder and first, yeah. So I think the process before now was just kind of wishy-washy and now it’s a requirement. So we’re getting in there at that stage, and so hopefully most kids are being tested in first grade. Once they’ve received adequate instruction, even if some of these kids didn’t go to pre-K by first grade, middle of first grade, if they’re still lagging behind after a year and a half of instruction, then we can consider something like dyslexia because there were times when we were testing a fourth or fifth or sixth grader for the first time. And it was just like, oh, this is such a pity that this wasn’t identified sooner. Because as you can imagine, it becomes just exacerbated and it becomes, this is a behavior problem, this is a focus problem. It’s

Stephanie Landis:

A confidence problem. Yeah.

Dr. Erika Westreich:

Yeah. We’re avoiding and we’re leaving the room or whatever it is. And so I think this is going to be a really good thing.

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah, I agree. Especially another thing to keep in mind is that it can take a long time to get through the testing process that yes- Oh

Dr. Erika Westreich:

My gosh, a really long time.

Stephanie Landis:

They have timelines and deadlines, but it can be really long. Can you explain what the timeline is?

Dr. Erika Westreich:

Yeah. So once the parent signs consent, it’s 45 school days. The districts have 45 school days, not regular days, school days. So with all the breaks that we have in public schools, that could look like getting consent in November and not having the evaluation complete until, I don’t know, February, because think about December break and November break. So it’s just very long. And then even then once the evaluation is complete, you have 30 days after that to go to ARD and to have that initial meeting. And so it’s just really long. It basically takes half a year. And so parents should know that also. It takes a long time to just get the ball rolling. So even if you think, oh, maybe my kid’s sort of having issues, might as well get the process going. And then once it happens, you’ll be like, oh, nevermind.

I think my kid’s fine. Then just wait because it just takes so long.

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah, because if you’re talking about first grade, it’s like, yes, we’re getting in there in first grade, but if they’re doing their screenings in the middle of first grade and then they’re testing through the spring of first grade, now we’re not starting until second grade, now getting in there and doing some of the intervention. And it seems like a short time, but kids are learning and progressing so fast. And if they’re not getting that intervention, then there’s just time that they’re missing that they could have gotten a lot of really targeted intervention and kept their progress going at a steady rate as well.

Dr. Erika Westreich:

Right. And I guess just requesting that the sooner the better, highly recommend that for sure.

Stephanie Landis:

Can you ask for your child to be screened or they fully have to go through the testing, the full testing?

Dr. Erika Westreich:

Good question. When you’re requesting that full evaluation, we’re going to look at all the areas we suspect of disabilities. So we go through it all. We gather information from teachers and maybe do an observation and gather all the records. And so it’s not going to be a screening at that point. It would be, we’re looking at everything, everything we’re suspecting. And that’s why it also takes so long. I mean, if you’ve ever read one of these school district evaluations-

Stephanie Landis:

Many, they’re amazing.

Dr. Erika Westreich:

Yeah, they’re so comprehensive and they take so much. I mean, the good ones, listen, yes, if you read a good evaluation, they’re extensive and there’s just so much involved. So I mean, that’s part of it. All that writeup and all that work takes a long time.

Stephanie Landis:

And like you said, they’re testing, they’re doing observations, they’re speaking with the teachers, they’re getting everybody together. Even at the parish school, some of our students will go and get tested at the public school and they’ll come out to the private school and speak with us and do observations there. And it is fascinating to be able to work with the public schools to go through. And so like I said, from the professional hat, I’m always like, “Yeah, it’s going to take time. They’re doing a really thorough job and they’re speaking with a lot of different people. ” And the really well done ones, you can tell that they’ve looked at this child from every angle. It’s fantastic to see. Yeah,

Dr. Erika Westreich:

Exactly. Yeah. And when you hear an evaluator go through and give you the results and it really sounds like, “Oh, this is my child. You get it. Behaviorally you got him and reading level and all the different things that go into it, you really feel like, okay, they get it. This is describing my child.” And it really feels like, like I said before, just a really comprehensive look at your child and really understanding. So the process is long, but hopefully at the end of it, you feel like you’ve captured the strengths and weaknesses of your child and just figure out if they meet that threshold, what kind of intervention can we put in place? So yeah.

Stephanie Landis:

Gives goals and a roadmap and progress monitoring to get there.

Dr. Erika Westreich:

Right.

Stephanie Landis:

What might be some things that would get parents to start thinking, “Hmm, maybe I should start the process going. ” We’ve said if you have that feeling early, but what might that feeling look like or what might the indicators be that might get them thinking, “Oh, I should start this process.”

Dr. Erika Westreich:

.So honestly, this kind of links our two professions. So kids that have some of those are tick issues or expressive language issues, phonological awareness type rhyming or memory issues, those kinds of things are red flags even in the preschool years, especially if your kid is requiring speech and language services, those kids are … We look out for those kids because some of those kids do end up having dyslexia as well, and we can see that already in those preschool years. So our speech kids often also qualify for dyslexia. So that’s something. Just for parents who have kids in speech therapy, just be on the lookout for any concerns related to blending, rhyming, taking words apart, just listen to your kid read, try to listen to them read and you read, have them read to you and just see, is it kind of flowing? Is it sounding like it’s getting better and better?

Is it progressing? Is it sounding like it’s getting more fluent over time or are they still struggling to piece together those sounds to make words? Are they avoiding reading? Are they enjoying reading?

Those are the kinds of things that would stick out because most kids, it kind of does progress naturally the reading process. And so when kids are getting stuck or not liking it, avoiding it, that to mute as a parent would be a red flag. So I would definitely want to learn more. If I saw that at home, I’d want to find out, get some work samples, like how’s the spelling or talk to the teacher, find out more, where are they comparing them to their peers and just figuring out if this is something I want to do to go down that road of asking for the evaluation and moving forward. Yeah, I think that would be my advice to parents.

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah. That sound manipulation early is such a big thing. Like you said, it can be so connected with our kids that have a speech and language, which isn’t surprising since dyslexia is a language-based reading

Disorder that they’re so connected that having that part in there. But I’m glad that you brought that up because it is something that I see as a speech pathologist also is that when kids are really struggling on the phonemic awareness end or sounds are sounding similar, rhyming is different and not different. Rhyming is difficult for them or I’m saying a word and I’m like, “Oh, break this into other sounds.” They’re like, “No, it all sounds like one chunk. I’m not breaking that down. It’s all sounding the same to me. ” From my speech side, I’m like, “Oh, okay, we need to keep an eye on this one in the future.”

Dr. Erika Westreich:

Yeah. I mean, I’m curious, now I’m asking you a question, but I’m curious, do you ever recommend, when you’re working with parents, do you ever say, “I think there are some red flags for dyslexia.” Does that happen on the other end? Yeah.

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah. And especially depending on the age when they’re itty bitties, everything is … But as they get older and I’m working with kids in later preschool or kinder or first, it’s a lot more getting curious of like, “Huh, I’m noticing this here. Is this happening in class as well? Or how’s the reading going? ” Same thing, that sequencing and the working memory that I’m like, oh, it’s not … I’m trying to work on narratives and their working memory is really falling apart here. Are they having this working memory when they’re trying to do math and reading? And then usually the parents are like, “Yeah, actually the working memory is a problem there too.” Or, “Yeah, we’re trying to sequence things together and it’s not going. ” So there are definitely many times. And I’m so lucky at the parish school that we have a lot of reading specialists and interventionists.

So I will be like, “Hey, hey, come chat to me about this kid before I go to the parents, am I on the right path? Come just watch this kid for a little bit, or what can I do here to screen to see if there’s something a little bit deeper?” But the amount of students that have a language delay and then a dyslexia, it just research finds that they overlap so much that same thing, I almost always like, not to alarm you, but just as you’re working with them as they get older, just keep it in the back of your mind.

Dr. Erika Westreich:

Yeah, just keep it in mind. I think parents appreciate that, right? Just FYI, not

Stephanie Landis:

Totally. I don’t want to worry any parent, but I also don’t want them to get to being where they’re in third grade and they’re struggling and they’re like, “Oh, it was dyslexia.” And they’re like, “That’s Stephanie. She didn’t warn us.”

Dr. Erika Westreich:

Right, right. Sorry.

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah,

Dr. Erika Westreich:

That makes sense.

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah. Well, this was fantastic. I really appreciate your time and your expertise on this and where can people find you?

Dr. Erika Westreich:

Oh, so in terms of I have a website, if they do want to just find out more about me and my services, it’s doodlediagnostics.com. And yeah, like I said before, I do private evaluations and I really pride myself on just really being a support for parents and an advocate and whatever, if they’re coming from public school or a private school, just trying to help figure out how could they navigate that system.

Stephanie Landis:

Yeah, which is fantastic because as we’ve just spent so long talking about, the system is confusing for people inside of it and outside of it is confusing and changing and it’s hard for parents who have no background with it to navigate. And then if you already know the system, it still could be tricky to navigate. So it’s always good to have somebody there with you and on your side to help you figure things out.

Dr. Erika Westreich:

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

Stephanie Landis:

All right. We end every episode with asking the same question. If you had one piece of advice to give to the listeners, what would it be? And it could be on the topic of dyslexia and advocacy and looking into testing, or it can be something totally out of left field that is just usually your go- to or on your heart.

Dr. Erika Westreich:

Okay. I think I would say just as parents, we know our kids best. And if you think something is wrong or you feel like your kid needs more support, just never stop advocating for them because you’re going to be their biggest advocate. No one else is going to advocate for them like you can. So I just want to say just be supportive of parents and just do what you need to do to get your kid whatever they need. So I would just encourage parents to just be assertive. Yeah.

Stephanie Landis:

It’s hard, especially like we just said, the system is complicated, but if you feel like, yes, I need support, then you’re probably right. Your child probably does need some support. And what’s the worst that can happen? They could say, “Oh, thanks. We looked in it and know that they don’t.” Fine, now that you know. Yeah.

Dr. Erika Westreich:

Exactly.

Stephanie Landis:

Well, thank you so much. I appreciate chatting with you. Thanks.

Dr. Erika Westreich:

Yeah, thanks for having me.