October is Dyslexia Awareness Month, and on September 30 Senators Bill Cassidy (R-La.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) introduced a bipartisan resolution to say so. "Children with dyslexia are bright; they just learn differently," Cassidy said in the announcement. Hickenlooper, who is dyslexic, spoke about how much the right tools matter. Resolutions like this are symbolic. The more consequential dyslexia item in the Senate is a bill: the 21st Century Dyslexia Act (S. 3010), which Cassidy, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, has championed for years. It passed his committee in July and has been waiting on the Senate calendar since early August. What makes it unusual is who opposes it: not skeptics of dyslexia, but many of the country's leading dyslexia and disability organizations.
What would the 21st Century Dyslexia Act do?
The bill amends the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the federal law behind every IEP. Today, IDEA lists dyslexia as one example inside a broader category, "specific learning disability" (SLD), which also covers difficulties with listening, writing, and math. S. 3010 would take dyslexia out of that category and give it its own definition in the statute, according to the bill text published on GovInfo and the Congressional Research Service summary on Congress.gov. The text also adds a section requiring schools to provide "equal access" to dyslexia accommodations and services for children from low-income families and for students with limited English proficiency. Supporters say a named, stand-alone category will push schools to screen and identify more children. Cassidy argued in committee, as reported by The 74, that the change would "increase screening, identification and the number of students receiving appropriate accommodations."
Why is the definition the sticking point?
Here is the bill's definition of dyslexia, in full: "an unexpected difficulty in reading for an individual who has the intelligence to be a much better reader, most commonly caused by a difficulty in the phonological processing (the appreciation of the individual sounds of spoken language), which affects the ability of an individual to speak, read, and spell."
The phrase that worries critics is "the intelligence to be a much better reader." It echoes the IQ-discrepancy model, the older practice of identifying a learning disability only when a child's reading lags well behind their measured IQ. As we explained when dyslexia got a new definition, a 2025 expert consensus and the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) moved away from that "unexpected relative to intelligence" logic. The reason is practical: children with average or below-average IQ scores can have dyslexia, benefit from the same instruction, and were often turned away under discrepancy rules. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) made the point during the markup, saying under such definitions many dyslexic students "are judged to have lower intelligence levels. They don't get services."
Who opposes it, and who supports it?
On July 29, the day before the committee vote, 21 organizations signed a joint statement opposing the bill, published by the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD). Signers include IDA, the Council for Exceptional Children, and the Autism Society of America. They wrote that the bill defines dyslexia "in a manner that is inconsistent with current scientific understanding and evidence-based practice" and warned it would "create confusion for States and school districts." The Reading League, which strongly backs the federal science-of-reading bills, also opposed this one "in its current form," cautioning that pulling dyslexia out of the SLD category "without careful consideration, could unintentionally disrupt identification and service delivery systems." The coalition counts 20 states whose policies already discourage or reject discrepancy-style identification; Murphy cited 27 states that bar it. The counts differ by how you define a ban, but the direction is the same. On the other side, Cassidy and the committee's majority, which approved the bill 12-10, see a named federal category as overdue recognition for one of the most common learning disabilities.
What does this mean for my child right now?
Nothing changes unless the full Senate and the House both pass it and the President signs it, and the session ends in December. Your child's rights today come from IDEA as written: schools must evaluate a child suspected of having a disability, and dyslexia already qualifies under SLD. You do not need a new law to get help.
- Request an evaluation in writing if you're worried. If you see the signs of dyslexia, a dated letter starts the federal timeline. Our advocacy toolkit has the template.
- Ask how your district identifies SLD. One email: "Does our district use an IQ-achievement discrepancy, response to intervention, or another method to identify a specific learning disability?" The answer tells you what your child will face.
- Use the word "dyslexia." Federal guidance has said since 2015 that schools may use the term in evaluations and IEPs. You can ask that it appear in your child's documents now.
- Check your state's law. Many states already define dyslexia and require screening. Our state-by-state laws guide shows what applies where you live.
- Tell your senators what you think. Two sentences work: what your child needs, and which part of the bill you support or want fixed, such as the definition.
What mistakes should families avoid in this debate?
- Reading opposition as indifference. The groups opposing S. 3010 are some of dyslexia's strongest advocates. Their objection is to specific wording, not to recognizing dyslexia.
- Waiting for Washington. A pending bill is not a reason to delay an evaluation, an intervention, or an IEP meeting.
- Assuming "its own category" means more services. Eligibility still depends on the definition and the evaluation. A narrow definition in a stand-alone category could help some children and exclude others.
- Accepting an IQ gap as the test. If a school tells you your child's IQ is "too low" for dyslexia, ask for that in writing and ask what research supports it. Current consensus does not.
What happens next?
The bill can come to the Senate floor at any time, but floor time is scarce before December. Meanwhile, the Senate has a separate literacy bill pending, the READ Act, which cleared the same committee 20-2 and pairs with the House-passed Science of Reading Act. The two are easy to confuse. The literacy bills change how one federal grant program is spent; the dyslexia bill would change special-education law itself. A middle path some advocates have suggested is the obvious one: keep the goal of naming dyslexia, and update the definition to match current research before a vote. We'll report what the Senate does.
Frequently asked questions
What is the 21st Century Dyslexia Act? S. 3010 is a Senate bill, led by Sen. Bill Cassidy, that would remove dyslexia from the specific learning disability category in IDEA and give it a stand-alone federal definition. It passed the Senate HELP Committee 12-10 on July 30, 2026, and awaits a full Senate vote.
Why does the International Dyslexia Association oppose the bill? IDA and 20 other organizations say the bill's definition, which describes dyslexia as unexpected for someone with the intelligence to read better, conflicts with current science. They warn it could revive IQ-discrepancy identification and disrupt state systems that already identify dyslexia without an IQ gap.
Is dyslexia already covered under IDEA? Yes. Dyslexia is named in IDEA as an example of a specific learning disability, one of the law's eligibility categories. A child with dyslexia who needs specially designed instruction can qualify for an IEP today. Families can request a free evaluation from their public school in writing at any time.
Source: Senate HELP Committee press release on the Dyslexia Awareness Month resolution (Sep 30, 2026) · S. 3010, 21st Century Dyslexia Act, reported in Senate (GovInfo) · S. 3010 bill status and CRS summary (Congress.gov) · "Senate Panel Advances Science of Reading, Dyslexia Bills with Bipartisan Support" (The 74, Jul 30, 2026) · "Disability Rights Organizations' Statement Opposing the 21st Century Dyslexia Act" (NCLD, Jul 29, 2026) · Statement from The Reading League on the Senate HELP markup (Jul 30, 2026)