Letters: KC readers discuss help for dyslexia, Trump’s PAC scam and Latinos on television
Help them read
The lack of dyslexia awareness in American public schools is unacceptable. Diagnosis and tutoring at an early age are crucial for students’ success. I was not diagnosed until the fourth grade, but many others are never diagnosed.
Although 1 in 5 people have dyslexia, many schools do not provide testing or tutoring. The ability to read changes everything. It’s estimated that half the prison population has dyslexia. What could these men and women have done different with their lives if they had been taught to read?
Diagnosis, tutoring and other accommodations are critical to students’ success. All these things are a massive learning curve for parents and students. Private tutoring is very expensive and not always an option. Every child should be taught to read, with schools providing the proper instruction and support.
I know firsthand the importance of early diagnosis and tutoring. In less than 18 months, my reading went up by four grade levels, and today, as a sophomore, I’m reading at the senior level. After my diagnosis and tutoring, the whole world opened to me.
The future of our children and our country depends on all children being able to read.
- Johnathon Lipperdt, Lee’s Summit
Scared senators
The headline on The Star’s Wednesday editorial asked: “Why are senators from Kansas and Missouri afraid to say Biden won?” (12A)
The answer, of course, is that these senators are cowards who prioritize their own careers and ambitions, and their party, over what is best for the country.
As former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich has pointed out, President Donald Trump’s lawsuits are just a ruse to funnel millions of dollars (via misleading ads requesting donations for his “Official Election Defense Fund”) into his own political action committee.
These senators still fear Trump post-election. How sad.
- Ross Sougey, Overland Park
Gun sense
Recent Star news coverage in partnership with Report For America about gun violence in Missouri has been well researched and informative. While these stories cover different aspects of gun violence, from homicide to domestic abuse, each focuses on the easy access to guns because of Missouri’s lax gun laws.
Although we understand gun owners fear losing their freedom to own guns, we also know many of us fear for our safety because of the proliferation of firearms. Our hope is we can come together and find common ground by seeking areas on which we agree rather than focusing on those we don’t.
A good place to start is supporting the right of everyone to feel safe. A 2019 survey from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found widespread agreement among gun owners and non-owners supporting universal background checks and extreme-risk protection orders. Both would keep guns from people who shouldn’t have them while protecting the rights of law-abiding citizens.
Our vision is that all people in our community are safe from gun violence. It would be wonderful if all of us came together to make that happen by supporting sensible gun legislation in Missouri.
- Judy Sherry, Grandparents Against Gun Violence, Kansas City
I don’t see me
Latinos are not an invisible people. We are many, more than 60 million in the United States. Yet as an elder who watches television, I am thoroughly annoyed that Latino representation in TV programming and commercials is very limited.
My reaction was to quit watching those specific channels. I believe that Latinos and others should do the same.
- Ascension Hernandez, Shawnee
This story was originally published November 27, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Letters: KC readers discuss help for dyslexia, Trump’s PAC scam and Latinos on television."