Some of the strongest advocates I have met for kids with dyslexia are not their parents. They are grandparents.

There’s a reason for that. Grandparents have raised kids already. They have watched their own children, nieces, nephews and neighbor kids learn to read. They know what literacy looks like and can tell when something isn’t working. They also have less to prove. A young mom may worry she’s being pushy. A grandpa who has sat through decades of parent-teacher conferences usually doesn’t.

The other reason is in the family tree. Dyslexia can run in families. The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity lists a family history of reading or spelling trouble as one of the early signs to watch for. So when a grandmother sees her grandson guess at words and melt down over homework, she may be watching her own son at that age. Or herself.

That memory is useful. Share it. Tell your grandchild’s parents what school was like for you, or for them. A lot of today’s grandparents were never tested as kids. They were called slow or lazy and told to try harder. We’ve learned from those mistakes.

Dyslexia is common. The International Dyslexia Association estimates that as many as 15% to 20% of people have some of its symptoms, such as slow or inaccurate reading, poor spelling or mixing up similar words. It has nothing to do with how smart a child is.

people with dyslexia are not dumb. They need to be taught in a way that fits how their brains learn.

What grandparents can do

Read together, and keep it fun. Let your grandchild pick the book, even for the 10th time. Take turns reading pages. When a word is hard, help sound it out instead of telling them to guess from the picture.

Use audiobooks. Listening to a good story builds vocabulary and a love of books while decoding catches up. Most libraries lend them for free.

Notice what they’re good at. Kids with dyslexia hear a lot about what they can’t do. Tell them what they can. Maybe it’s building, drawing, telling stories or fixing things. Say it out loud.

Be patient. Progress can be slow and then come in a rush. Your calm helps more than you know.

Give your time. Parents are stretched thin. A grandparent who can drive to tutoring, sit in on a school meeting or take homework duty two nights a week is a gift.

Go to the meetings, if the parents want you there. Bring notes on what you’ve seen at home. Under a 2023 state law, Wisconsin public schools now screen every child in 4K through third grade for early reading skills, and parents must get the results. In 5K through third grade, a child who scores below the 25th percentile gets a personal reading plan. Ask to see the results and the plan. Parents can also ask the school for a diagnostic reading assessment. The Department of Public Instruction publishes a free guidebook on dyslexia, created under a 2017 state law.

More good news, more help is available

Sometimes a school just isn’t the right fit. A lot of families think they’re stuck until next fall. If they live in Wisconsin, they’re not.

Wisconsin’s regular open enrollment window runs from early February through the end of April. But state law also lets parents apply to a public school in another district at any point in the school year, as long as the parent and the new district agree the move is in the child’s best interests. If the home district says no, parents can appeal.

Grandparents can’t file the paperwork. Parents do. But you can help them sort through the options.

Plus there are private options and aid

Private schools set their own admissions. At Feller School, we accept new students on a rolling basis, and we are still enrolling for this school year. A child doesn’t need a formal diagnosis to apply, and financial aid is available. If your grandchild is struggling, call us and set up a tour. Bring the parents, too.

Kim Feller is the founder of Feller School in Madison, a K-6 school for students with dyslexia, and the author of “Your Brain Loves Patterns: A Parent’s Guide to Dyslexia and the Science of Reading.” Learn more at fellerschool.org.