Smart people read with ease. Marie Burnette believed that, so she hid her reading struggle for decades. Her daughter wrote her letters, because Marie was sure people would call her stupid. Yet Marie earned diplomas in counseling, reflexology, and anatomy. Struggling to read says nothing about how smart your child is, or you.
FROM THE VIDEO
Key moments from Generation Dyslexic from a Cultural Perspective with Marcia Burnette-Bailey and her mother, Marie Burnette:
- 07:44Four generations of one family share a reading struggle, and the host says to look back at how school was for you.
- 15:50A service sends a slow reader to psychotherapy because “they thought there was something happening in your home.”
- 44:59Marie’s advice to families: if you see something wrong, find out, and be your child’s best friend.
Common questions from parents
Does dyslexia run in families?
What do I say when the school asks what is going on at home?
Is it possible to be bright and still struggle to read?
Is an online dyslexia screener the same as a diagnosis?
A mother hid her reading struggle for decades. When she sought help for her daughter, the service asked what was wrong at home. The reading went unseen.
Why would a parent hide a reading struggle?
Marie hid it because of what people said back then. In her words, “they used to think you’re stupid.” Nothing in her story looks like a lack of brains to us. She says she “could have been a doctor.” Does her story sound like yours? Read this post on finding out as an adult.
The old idea had help from an old dyslexia definition. In 2002, the International Dyslexia Association called these difficulties “often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities.” Its 2025 definition dropped that phrase. Catts and colleagues (2026) explain why. Tests built on an IQ gap “lack predictive validity.” A bright child who struggles to read is the expected picture. It is not a puzzle.
Then there is the family pattern. Marie’s mother never did any writing; her sister did it for her. Marie was assessed only as an adult. Her daughter, Marcia, was assessed as a child. Marcia’s own daughter makes four generations, the family says.
The show calls dyslexia genetic. The IDA’s 2025 definition is more careful. It says the causes are “complex and involve combinations of genetic, neurobiological, and environmental influences.” In 2016, Snowling and Melby-Lervåg reviewed studies of family risk. They looked at children whose parent or sibling had reading problems. Those children went on to have dyslexia more often than others. Many did not, though. That is a pattern across groups, not a forecast for your child. The host’s advice still holds: look back at how school was for you. What your own reading struggle tells you about your child walks through it.
Answer the home question once. Then bring the talk back to reading.
Laura Lurns · Learning Success expert
What if the school keeps asking what is going on at home?
When Marcia was slow to read, Marie took her to be assessed. The service sent them to psychotherapy instead. “They thought there was something happening in your home,” Marie says. She was asked to leave the room, again and again. And the reading? “They didn’t pick that up.”
The host of the show says families still bring her this story. In her words, with a Black child “it’s always the question of what is going on in the home.” Our research library holds no study of this by race. So we will not put a number on it. We do take these families at their word.
One study looked at who schools notice. In a 1990 Connecticut study, Shaywitz and colleagues tested boys and girls themselves. Schools had flagged fewer girls than the testing found. That study was about girls, not race. The authors cautioned against “relying solely on schools” to find reading trouble. In our view, that warning fits here too.
So the question about home deserves one honest answer. Then bring the talk back to reading:
- Answer the home question once, kindly.
- Then say: “I am asking you to assess my child for a learning difference.”
- Put that request in writing, and keep a copy.
In the United States, you have the right to ask for a school evaluation. It is free to your family. Our notes on talking with schools give you more words to use.
Key takeaways
- Bright and struggling fits: In 2025, the IDA dropped its “unexpected” wording about reading trouble.
- Look at your school days: Reading trouble runs in families, so your story holds clues.
- Bring it back to reading: Answer the home question once, then ask for an assessment in writing.
How do you protect your child’s confidence while you push?
Marcia remembers the words that hurt most. As a girl, she overheard her parents say “she’s not going to make it.” Asked what held her back most, she named her confidence. Twice.
Today Marcia has a first-class degree. She works as a case officer in England. She writes education, health and care plans for other families. She does not call her struggle a gift. “I have a lot of scars,” she says, “but I’m working through it.” Her strengths are real, and she earned them the hard way. We will not pretend it was easy.
That is the part you guard at home. A diagnosis describes where your child is today. It does not predict where they’ll be in a year of the right kind of practice. Say the hopeful thing out loud, where your child hears it.
Marcia also saw no one like her. In her words, “the representation was all white.” She did not meet another Black person who shared her struggle until university. Our view is simple. Let your child see people who look like them and learn like them.
Marie’s advice to families is short. “If you see something wrong, find out.” And: “Be their best friend.”
A child who struggles to read deserves a reading assessment, not a question about the family.
Laura Lurns · Learning Success expert
You want your child seen clearly, not judged by guesses about your home. The villain is a system that asks about the family and then waits. Nobody will ever advocate for your child as hard as you will. You saw it first. Trust that. A screener is a starting point, not a diagnosis. Only a professional evaluation opens an IEP or 504 plan. When you are ready, share what you have seen in the free dyslexia screener.
See what All Access gives your child
Take the dyslexia test
Is your child struggling in school?
Get your free personalized learning roadmap
You describe what you see at home. We turn it into a plan you start this week.
- Answer 5 short questionnaires about what you already notice, 30–45 minutes at your own kitchen table
- Your child sits no test and gets no score: nothing to schedule, nothing for them to dread
- You do the answering, the AI does the writing, and a person reviews it before it reaches you
- Access all 40+ courses instantly: reading, math, focus, processing and more, with new ones added regularly
Why we use AI, plainly: it writes from a knowledge base our team maintains and audits. We work through it line by line and pull anything the evidence stops supporting. The roadmap you get on Tuesday reflects what we corrected on Monday, and a human still reads it before you do.
Your school district must evaluate your child free of charge if you ask in writing, whatever your income and whatever the outcome (US, 34 CFR 300.111 and 300.301(b)). That route takes time and answers a different question than you do. This one starts today, from what you already know.
Your answers stay yours. We do not sell your personal information, and we do not hand identifiable assessment data to outside AI companies to train their models.
A screener is a starting point, not a diagnosis. If your child might need formal accommodations (an IEP or 504 plan), or you suspect a vision, hearing or medical cause, pursue a professional evaluation too. That is the only route to those supports.
