Special Education
Special Education Home
Resources
The Special Education Information Center (SPEDTex) provides resources and interactive features for increasing family awareness of disabilities and special education processes, with the goal of improving partnerships between schools and families.
Contact information:
Phone: 1-855-773-3839
Email: inquire@spedtex.org
Notice of Procedural Safeguards
Parent's Guide to the Admission, Review and Dismissal Process
Transition
The SSES application is closed. The application will open again on February 3, 2025, as the Parent-Directed Special Education Services (PDSES) application.
Child Find
Click HERE for more Information about Child Find
Special Education Services are available to eligible children within the Westwood Independent School District. The student must be between the ages of 3 and 21 with a documented handicap and an educational need that requires special education. Children with visual and/or auditory impairments may be eligible at birth. A variety of placement options are available if found eligible after a full and individual evaluation. If you suspect a school-aged child attending a WISD school may be in need of special services, please contact the Campus ARD Facilitator.
ARD Facilitators:
Westwood Primary -
Westwood Elementary -
Westwood Junior High -
Westwood High School - Sherilyn Deffenbaugh - sdeffenbaugh@westwoodisd.net
Dyslexia
DYSLEXIA
Manual Sobre Dislexia (The Dyslexia Handbook - Spanish)
Dyslexia and Related Disorders: Information for Parents
Dyslexia and Related Disorders: Information for Parents (Spanish)
HB 3928 FAQs: Dyslexia Evaluation, Identification, and Instruction
HB 3928 FAQs: Dyslexia Evaluation, Identification, and Instruction (Spanish)
Dyslexia means a disorder of constitutional origin manifested by a difficulty in learning to read, write, or spell, despite conventional instruction, adequate intelligence, and sociocultural opportunity.
Related disorders include disorders similar to or related to dyslexia such as developmental auditory imperception, dysphagia, specific developmental dyslexia, developmental dysgraphia, and developmental spelling disability.
Texas Education Code (TEC) §38.003
Characteristics of Dyslexia
The problems displayed by individuals with dyslexia involve difficulties in acquiring and using written language. It is a myth that dyslexic individuals “read backward,” although spelling can look quite jumbled at times because students have trouble remembering letter symbols for sounds and forming memories for words. Other problems experienced by dyslexics include the following:
The following are the primary reading/spelling characteristics of dyslexia:
• Difficulty reading words in isolation
• Difficulty accurately decoding unfamiliar words
• Difficulty with oral reading (slow, inaccurate, or labored without prosody)
• Difficulty spelling
*It is important to note that individuals demonstrate differences in degree of impairment and may not exhibit all the characteristics listed above.
If you have any concerns, please contact your child’s teacher for more information about the referral process and instructional support.
Westwood ISD Dyslexia Teachers:
Lex Anne Royle lroyle@westwoodsd.net
Erin Barron enbarron@westwoodisd.net
Region 7 Education Service Center Dyslexia Contact:
Angela Venters aventers@esc7.net (903)988-6798
