The Bench Mark Studios Podcast above shares more on this project.

Director’s Vision

It is inconceivable to me that in the USA, nearly 40% of fourth-grade students are unable to read at a basic level, and nearly 33% of 8th graders fail the basic reading benchmark. Something is broken when widespread reading instruction and strategies still fail to meet the needs of ALL students. (National Assessment of Educational Progress, NEAP statistics). Reading proficiency would increase exponentially if dyslexia-specific strategies, often called structured literacy strategies and programs, were used to teach ALL students to read. Reading curriculum decisions are often made by administrators and school boards. School board positions are often elected positions. Use your vote to demand better reading instruction in the public education we pay for. Literacy is the foundation by which a nation functions. It reduces poverty and incarceration, increases civic participation, improves health and well-being, and empowers people. Everyone wins when our nation is functionally literate. We are failing our youngest citizens in a most basic way. We need to teach in a way that ALL children can learn.

While researching my last documentary, Raising Faith: Stories about Dyslexia, the production team learned that 20% of people are dyslexic, meaning they are neurodivergent in their ability to process information received from the eyes or ears into understandable language and coding. We also learned that many more than this number of incarcerated individuals are deemed to be dyslexic. One study suggests close to 80% of prison inmates in Texas are functionally illiterate, and a significant number of them have the neurodiversity associated with dyslexia (Moody et al., 2000). This was the seed of this new film project.

The Dyslexia Behind Bars documentary focuses on the school-to-prison pipeline and dyslexia’s role in this experience. Recent federal legislation has focused on the high rate of incarcerated individuals who are dyslexic or exhibit dyslexia type issues in reading, math, and comprehension, coding words and organizing ideas for writing, and how they might be identified and rehabilitated, including learning to read, while they are serving time in prison. Let’s be clear, far fewer people with dyslexia are diagnosed than the number of people who struggle with this way of thinking and processing information differently. This federal program is called the First Steps Act.

The majority of incarcerated individuals in the U.S. are held in state prison systems. The Pennsylvania State Prison System does not conduct dyslexia screening of inmates, and Pennsylvania is one of the top 10 states for incarceration numbers, according to several key studies. Surrounding states also have their own different policies regarding intake and rehabilitation. The film Dyslexia Behind Bars will share insights on the school-to-prison pipeline and highlight these issues.

This topic also has racial justice implications because dyslexia remediation is funded far less in economically disadvantaged and poor educational systems. These are the places where generational reading struggles, like dyslexia, are not discussed. These are the places where young readers do not receive special educational testing and screening that is not available through school funding. No national studies have been completed on the correlation between incarceration and dyslexia; however, a 2014 Department of Education Report and the federally funded First Step Act that passed in December 2018, conclude that a disproportionate number of incarcerated individuals are dyslexic. This film’s production can help highlight this issue through lived experience, to foster further research and, more importantly, change.

Overall, dyslexia is the number one cause of illiteracy, and illiteracy is a known risk factor in criminal behavior. Not only are the Federal and State educational systems failing our children, but as they grow up, their inability to read leads to further failures. It is no surprise that incarcerated adult dyslexics are not successful in their enrollment in rehabilitation and enrichment programs like the “behind bars” high school completion program, the GED certification, and college classes because of their dyslexia. And while the 2018 First Step Act includes provisions requiring the Attorney General to implement a dyslexia screening program for federal prisoners and to incorporate programs designed to treat dyslexia or to create productive activities, the program only applies to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. This documentary is meant to raise awareness on this topic through a documentary “lived experience” approach, infused by bright and articulate experts who understand dyslexia, incarceration, re-entry and struggle.”

Statistics can be found at https://nces.ed.gov

• Thank you to these individuals and groups who have shared wisdom, resources, and connections.
  • Lancaster Bail Fund
  • Bench Mark Program & Studios
  • BreakIT Entrepreneurial Incubator
  • Calvary United Methodist Church, Pittsburgh
  • Carrie Kurtz
  • Carrie Smith, PhD
  • Chester County Re-Entry Coalition
  • Children’s Dyslexia Center of Lancaster
  • Community College of Philadelphia
  • Christopher A. Hackman
  • Darren Landis
  • Doug Maddox
  • Ellen Long, PhD
  • Faculty Professional Development Council Grant
  • Faith Phagan
  • Heather Brown
  • James Machado
  • Jeffrey Porter
  • Jeremy Burnworth
  • Jessica Lopez
  • Jill Craven, PhD
  • Joey Nicholson
  • John Rusnak
  • Karen Rice, PhD
  • Kathleen Seeman
  • Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas
  • Lowery Woodall III, PhD
  • Luis Suave Gonzolez
  • Mark Mullen
  • Mark Walmer, Esq.
  • Mary Glazier, PhD
  • Melanie Snyder
  • Millersville University Media Arts Production Program
  • Millersville University President’s Commission for the Status of Women Grant
  • Millersville University Sabbatical Leave Committee
  • Melanie Snyder
  • Millersville University
  • Pardon & Expungement Services llc
  • PASSHE Faculty Professional Development Grant (FPDC)
  • Pennsylvania Re-entry Council (PARC)
  • Pete Anders
  • Point Park University School of Communication
  • Rene Munoz
  • St. Moses Church, Baltimore, MD
  • The Ware Center at Millersville University
  • UnCUFFED Ministries
  • Wesley Bullock