Demystifying Dyslexia

By Sarah Johnson

Inclusion Specialist

Moseley Elementary

At the end of this training, you will • Understand myths and misperceptions about

dyslexia

• Have knowledge of some of the research about dyslexia

• Know the definition of dyslexia

• Know about disorders related to dyslexia

• Understand difficulties and consequences associated with dyslexia

• Recognize common signs of dyslexia

• Know what steps to take when you think you have a student with dyslexia

Definition of dyslexia

• A disorder of constitutional origin manifested by a difficulty in learning to read, write, or spell, despite conventional instruction, adequate intelligence, and socio-cultural opportunity.

Myths and Misperceptions

• These students have a low IQ

• These students reverse letters, like b, d, p, q because they see things backwards

• These students have difficulties in all subjects and content areas

• Gifted children will not have dyslexia

• Dyslexia is rare – only 2-3% of people have it

• Dyslexia cannot be diagnosed until 3rd grade

• Reading each day will cure dyslexia

Myths and Misperceptions, cont.

• Only English speaking students have dyslexia

• Students with dyslexia cannot learn to read or write on grade level

• Students with dyslexia need to be in a special ed class

• All teachers have been trained to identify and teach students with dyslexia

Facts supported by research

• Students with dyslexia have average to above average IQ levels

• Dyslexia affects at least 1 out of every 5 children in the United States (National Institutes of Health, 1994)

• Some forms of dyslexia are highly heritable

• Reading failure is the most commonly shared characteristic of juvenile justice offenders

• Dyslexia is identifiable, with 92% accuracy, at ages 5 1/2 to 6 1/2

Facts supported by research

• Dyslexia has been shown to be clearly related to neurophysiological differences in brain function. Dyslexic children display difficulty with the sound/symbol correspondences of our written code because of these differences in brain function.

• Early intervention is essential for this population

• Reading failure caused by dyslexia is highly preventable through direct, explicit instruction in phonemic awareness

Facts supported by research

• Longitudinal data (studies that follow children over time) indicate that explicit systematic phonics instruction results in more favorable outcomes for disabled readers than does a context-emphasis (whole-language) approach

• Dyslexia is due to a difficulty processing language. It is not due to visual problems, and people with dyslexia do not see words or letters backwards.

Related disorders

Disorders similar to or related to dyslexia

• Specific developmental dyslexia

• Developmental auditory imperception –difficulty hearing the difference in sounds in words

• Dysphasia – an inability to associate meaning with words (receptive and/or expressive)

• Developmental dysgraphia – difficulty expressing thoughts on paper and with the act of handwriting

• Developmental spelling disability – difficulty learning to spell

Primary difficulties

• Phonemic awareness and manipulation of sounds

• Single-word decoding – difficulty reading real words in isolation

• Difficulty accurately decoding nonsense words

• Reading fluency – slow, inaccurate, or labored oral reading

• Spelling

Secondary consequences

• Variable difficulty with aspects of reading comprehension

• Variable difficulty with aspects of written composition

• A limited amount of time spent in reading activities

Common signs

Pre-school• May talk later than most children• May have difficulty with rhyming• May have difficulty pronouncing words• May have poor auditory memory for rhymes and

chants• May be slow to add new vocabulary words• May be unable to recall the right word• May have trouble learning numbers, days of the week,

colors, shapes, and how to spell and write his or her name

Common signs, cont.

K-3rd

• Fails to understand that words come apart

• Has difficulty learning the letter names and sounds

• Has difficulty decoding single words

• Has difficulty spelling phonetically

• Reads dysfluently

• Relies on context or pictures to recognize a word

Common signs, cont.

4th – high school• Has a history of reading and spelling difficulties• Avoids reading aloud• Read most materials slowly – oral reading is labored,

not fluent• Avoids reading for pleasure• May have an inadequate written vocabulary; may have

a strong verbal vocabulary• Has difficulty spelling – may resort to using less

complicated words in writing that are easier to spell• May display behavior problems

I think I have a student with dyslexia. What should I do?

• Continue core reading instruction

• Continue small group instruction, focused on phonemic awareness and letter-sound relationships

• Speak with parents - ask if there is a family history of dyslexia or reading problems

• Refer student to RTI committee

• Follow recommendations from the committee

• Monitor and document progress

What happens when a student has dyslexia?

• Testing is needed to confirm – district or outside agency

• State law has clear SBOE-approved procedures

• Eligible for specialized instruction

– Small class setting; program must include: reading, spelling, writing instruction

– Instruction must be: explicit, direct, systematic, sequential and cumulative

– Must use multisensory methods

What happens (cont)…

• Phonemic awareness: detect, segment, blend and manipulate sounds in spoken language

• Instruction must be: graphophonemic (phonics), synthetic (blend sounds), analytic (segment sounds)

• Must include: language structure – prefixes, suffixes, roots, semantics, sentence structure, pragmatics

Resources

• http://www.dys-add.com/nowknow.html

• http://www.tea.state.tx.us/curriculum/elar/2007EnglishHandbook.pdf

• The Dyslexia Handbook, Revised 2007

What questions do you have?