Diversity in the Classroom A Closer Look at Dyslexia

1
Diversity in the ClassroomA Closer Look at
Dyslexia

• Fall 2006 5 November
• By
• Metra Baugh

2
Introduction

• The purpose of this Power Point Presentation is
  to briefly research dyslexia and find ways for
  teachers and parents to help the child in school
  and beyond school. There are many children
  around the world who are affected by dyslexia.
  This learning disability has an affect on the
  childs performance, his/her self-esteem, and
  his/her future goals in life. Knowing how to
  identify the signs and symptoms, as well as how
  to teach and how to parent this child are
  essential in giving dyslexic children a bright
  future.

3
Overview

• The next set of slides will include an overview
  of the information collected by the researcher
  including historical information the definition
  of dyslexia facts about dyslexia specific
  research information ways in which parents,
  teachers and schools can help remediation
  information examples of groups who are effected
  web information the conclusion and, references.
  

4
Historical Facts

• Dyslexia, the most widely known of the learning
  disabilities, was the first brought to public
  notice in 1896, when an ophthalmologist named
  Morgan published an article entitled A case of
  Congenital Word-Blindness in the British Medical
  Journal (Morgan, 1896 Sanders, 2001, p.42).
• Awareness of dyslexia began developing in the
  late nineteenth century, long before there was
  any recognition of other, analogous impairments
  of learning (Sanders, M., 2001, p. 33). Today,
  dyslexia is seen to be one of several types of
  learning disability, all of which share certain
  defining characteristics (Sanders, M., 2001, p.
  33).

5
Historical Facts (continued)

• Only twenty-one years later did the next
  significant publication appear, also by an
  ophthalmologist, J. Hinshelwood (1917), who wrote
  a monograph on the subject, describing many cases
  of otherwise healthy children who could not read,
  and continued to call it congenital
  word-blindness (Sanders, 2001, p. 42). He
  emphasized two facts that there were often
  several cases from the same family, and that the
  symptoms were very close to those of adults who
  had lost the ability to read because of injury to
  the brain (2001, p.42). From this, Hinshelwood
  hypothesized an inherited brain defect (2001,
  p.42).

6
What is Dyslexia?

• Dyslexia is a handicap that affects up to 1
  in 5 schoolchildren in the United States, and
  which is also common among Asians.
• The majority of students who get identified with
  learning disorders get identified between the
  ages of 11 and 17.
• (Gorman, 2003)

7
What is Dyslexia? (Continued)

• The International Dyslexia Association defines
  dyslexia as a specific learning disability that
  is neurobiological in origin. It is
  characterized by difficulties with accurate
  and/or fluent word recognition and by poor
  spelling and decoding abilities.
• (Heward, 2006)

8
What is Dyslexia? (Continued)

• These difficulties typically result from a
  deficit in the phonological component of language
  that is often unexpected in relation to other
  cognitive abilities and the provision of
  effective classroom instruction (Lyon, Shaywitz
  Shaywitz, 2003, p.2 Heward, 2006, p.185).

9
What is Dyslexia? (Continued)

• Myth
• Dyslexia is about flipping letters children
  write the letters backward - Toys R Us-style.
• More boys than girls are dyslexic.
• Dyslexia can be outgrown.

• Truth
• Practically all children make mirror copies of
  letters as they learn to write, although
  dyslexics do it more.
• Boys are more likely to get noticed because they
  often vent their frustration by acting out.
• Dyslexia cannot be outgrown because it leads
  parents to delay seeking extra instruction needed
  to keep their children from falling further
  behind.

10
What is Dyslexia? (Continued)

• Symptoms
• Is late to recognize letters
• Has trouble rhyming
• Has difficulty listing words that begin with the
  same sound
• Is slow to learn the sounds of letters and letter
  combinations
• Has difficulty recalling the sounds of letters
  and letter combinations rapidly
• Has trouble learning to recognize words
• Has difficulty learning to decode unknown words
  Reads slowly and/or in a word-by-word manner
• Is reluctant to read
• Has weak spelling
• Writes far less than others

11
What is Dyslexia? (Continued)

• Causes
• Biological Factors generally present from birth
• Social Factors develop early from within the
  family and sooner or later, from the wider
  community.
• Psychological Factors those that evolve into
  the personality of the individual, shaped in
  great measure by the interaction of the
  particular set of biological and social forces at
  work over the years.
• (Sanders, M., 2001, pp. 55-56)

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The facts

• Dyslexic readers go through the same sequences
  and processes of learning to read as normal
  readers. But they are slower to make their way
  along the path to fluent reading, and they get
  stuck at certain places along the way (Sanders,
  M., 2001, p. 9).
• Not all dyslexics get stuck at the same places,
  or at the same number of places, or with the same
  degree of difficulty. But there are certain
  kinds of difficulty that characterize dyslexia,
  which, when identified and subject to
  remediation, can be overcome. With intensive,
  specialized instruction, almost every dyslexic
  child can learn to read (Sanders, M., 2001, p.
  9).

13
According to Research

• In the research article Understanding Chinese
  Developmental Dyslexia Morphological Awareness
  as a Core Cognitive Construct, the researchers
  examine the problems in the reading development
  of Chinese children (Hua Shu, Sina Wu, Catherine
  McBride-Chang, and Hongyum Liu, 2006).

14
According to Research (Continued)

• The researchers explain that since there are a
  vast number of homophones in Chinese, good
  readers must rely on different characters
  discriminating meanings in homophones to derive
  meaning from text (Hua Shu, Sina Wu, Catherine
  McBride-Chang, and Hongyum Liu, 2006). They
  further explain, A parallel example in English
  might be confusion in a childs interpretation of
  the word before as meaning be four or
  interpreting the word grandson to mean grand sun
  (Hua Shu, Sina Wu, Catherine McBride-Chang, and
  Hongyum Liu, 2006).

15
According to Research (Continued)

• Shu, Wu, McBride-Chang and Liu explain,
  Chinese is semantically relatively transparent,
  so that complex vocabulary can often be built by
  combining morphemes via compounding.
  Furthermore they state, Compared with English
  language, the Chinese language is much more
  systematic in combining morphemes logically to
  form new words in language and print (2006).

16
According to Research (Continued)

• Elly Singer, an associate professor at the
  Department of Developmental Psychology of the
  University of Utrecht and at the Department of
  Education of the University of Amsterdam,
  reported her findings in the research article The
  Strategies Adopted by Dutch Children with
  Dyslexia to Maintain Their Self Esteem When
  Teased at School.

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According to Research (Continued)

• Singer reported Reading and spelling are the
  prime problems for children with dyslexia.
  However, a growing body of research shows that
  their academic problems are related to a wide
  range of psychosocial problems, such as
  inattentiveness, low motivation for schoolwork,
  dropping out of school, fear of failure,
  depression, anxiety, loneliness, low self-esteem,
  and poor peer relations (Greenham, 1999
  Hellendoorn Ruijssenaars, 2000 Kavale
  Forness, 1996 Singer, 2005).
• Singers method comprised of 60 Dutch children,
  9- to 12-year age range, from a mainstream school
  population, and who had average or above average
  IQs.

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Ways Parents can help

• Early Intervention
• Infant to toddler years
• Create interest and pleasure in books
• Introduce the names of objects and concepts into
  daily language.
• Rhyme
• Toddlerhood to Kindergarten
• Make use of libraries, books and reading
• Increase attention to words and letters
• School years
• Encourage reading for enjoyment
• Encourage reading works of literary value
• (Sanders, 2001, p. 154-163)

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Ways Parents can help (Continued)

• Take notes on the types of errors your child
  makes, how often they occur, and where youve
  noticed them.
• Keep copies of his/her work and results from
  group tests.
• Conference with his/her teacher to get a sense of
  how hes/shes doing in comparison with his her
  peers.
• See if the school offers any appropriate special
  instructional programs.
• Request a meeting with your schools
  student/teacher support team.
• Ask the teacher if he/she thinks your child might
  have a learning disability.
• (SchwabLearning.org)

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Ways Parents can help (Continued)

• Depending on the childs age and language skills,
  speak with him/her about the difficulties youve
  observed.
• Ask him/her how he/she feels about school and
  what he/she feels he/she needs help with.
• Tell him/her you know he/she tries hard, but you
  and the teacher are going to help him/her find
  ways to succeed.
• Work in collaboration with school staff let your
  child see you functioning as a team.
• Look into private tutoring through community
  agencies or privately if its affordable.
• Encourage him/her to use his/her strengths and
  talents.
• Be patient with him/her and support his/her
  efforts.
• (SchwabLearning.org)

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Ways teachers and Schools can help

• Identify the specific skills the child already
  has
• Identify the specific skills the child needs to
  master in developmental sequence, for example,
  including
• Hearing differences in sounds
• Learning letter names
• Spelling words that dont follow the rules
• (SchwabLearning.org)

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Ways teachers and Schools can help (Continued)

• Recommend a specific intervention including
• Special help from the childs classroom teacher
• Small group help
• Individual help from specially-trained teacher
• (www.pbs.org)

23
Ways teachers and Schools can help (Continued)

• Use appropriate remedial reading intervention via
  special programs including
• Orton-Gillingham program
• Wilson System
• Project Read
• Alphabetic Phonics
• (PBS Parents explain that these programs are
  all multi-sensory approaches that offer children
  opportunities to learn through seeing, hearing,
  and touching.as well as utilizing a large
  amount of repetition that helps children with
  dyslexia learn.)

24
Remediation

• Remediation via the Orton-Gillingham Method
• The Orton-Gillingham method relies heavily on
  multisensory techniques, which date back to the
  1920s when a teacher named Grace Fernald, in
  collaboration with Helen Keller, wrote about how
  she instructed her reading-impaired students to
  trace letters or words while saying the names
  aloud (Fernald Keller, 1921 cited in Clark
  Uhry, 1995 Sanders, 2001, pp. 181-182).

25
Remediation (continued)

• This procedure known as the VAKT approach
  (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, tactile), in
  which sight, sound, movement, and touch are all
  activated in order to create as strong and
  lasting a memory as possible (Fernald Keller,
  1921 cited in Clark Uhry, 1995 Sanders, 2001,
  pp. 181-182). Tracing is sometimes done in
  material such as sand where there are strong
  tactile and visual impressions as well as the
  kinesthetic sensation of movement (Fernald
  Keller, 1921 cited in Clark Uhry, 1995
  Sanders, 2001, pp. 181-182).

26
Remediation (continued)

• There are a number of speculative ideas about
  why it works it keeps the student actively
  engaged on the task for longer periods of time
  than other methods, it cuts down boredom through
  varied methods of practice, the motor activity
  involved is a refreshing release, it provides
  more immediate and useful feedback to both
  teacher and student (Clark Uhry, 1995 Sanders,
  2001, p. 182).

27
examples of People who are Affected

• Victor Villasenor A Chicano Novelist
• In 1993 he received the Outstanding Learning
  Disabled Adult Achievers Award from the Lab
  School of Washington, D.C.
• His first novel titled Macho was published in
  1973.
• Other novels include Rain of Gold and The
  Wild Steps of Heaven.

• Picture courtesy of The Western Stage posted on
  http//www.victorvillasenor.com/

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examples of People who are Affected (Continued)

• Villasenor recalls his diagnosis. Joseph, my
  youngest son, was having a lot of trouble in
  school. So when my wife, Barbara, and I talked
  to the teacher, she told us he was dyslexic. I
  had never even heard of dyslexia becausewhen I
  was growing up in California, help wasnt
  available for kids who were slow learners. And
  if you were Mexican, teachers treated you as if
  you were never going to achieve anything anyway.
  So I never got any kind of special help (The
  Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education, 1995, p.8).
  

29
examples of People who are Affected (Continued)

• Darryl Duncan
• African American, Dyslexic Commercial Jingles
  Writer.
• Experienced in songwriting and jingle writing
• Owner and Operator of GameBeat Studios
  established in 1998
• Produced commercial jingles for Wal-Marts Voices
  of Color campaign
• Recent recipient of the Bronze and Silver Telly
  Award for the Illinois Lottery Mega Millions
  commercials

• Photo courtesy of www.gamebeatstudios.com.

30
examples of People who are Affected
(Continued))

• Through contracts with Almo-Irving Music and
  Warner Brothers, Duncan has produced music for
  Jeffery Osborne, Chaka Khan, and R. Kelly.
• Duncan has written music for Motorola, Toyota,
  McDonalds, Burger King, Volkswagenand many more!

31
examples of People who are Affected (Continued)

• Duncan spoke with the Chicago Citizen newspaper
  about his dyslexia When I first had dyslexia,
  it affected my reading, he recalls of his first
  signs of dyslexia since he was a child. When I
  would see characters, I would switch words
  around, he stated.
• He also told Chicago Citizen about his ability
  to create music While I dont perform live, Im
  able to create things from scratch because I hear
  he entire piece in my head before I compose it,
  he states.

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Web Information

• http//www.dyslexia-ca.org/
• The Inland Empire Branch of the International
  Dyslexia Association (IDA)
• As declared in the vision statement, The
  International Dyslexia Associations purpose is
  to pursue and provide the most comprehensive
  range of information and services that address
  the full scope of dyslexia and related
  difficulties in learning to read and writein a
  way that creates hope, possibility and
  partnershipso that every individual has the
  opportunity to lead a productive and fulfilling
  life, and society benefits from the resource that
  is liberated.
• The information is designed for educators,
  students, parents, professionals who are all
  affected in some way by dyslexia.

33
Web Information (Continued)

• http//www.college-scholarships.com/learning_disab
  ilities.htm
• Colleges with Programs for Learning Disabled
  Students
• This website provides a list of colleges that
  have special programs designed for students with
  Learning Disabilities. Some of the colleges
  include Beacon College, Limestone College,
  Waldorf College, Westminster College, and many
  others.
• I would recommend this website for teachers,
  guidance counselors, students, and parents who
  are concerned about the advancement of his/her
  childs education.

34
Web Information (Continued)

• http//www.dyslexia-parent.com/
• Dyslexia Parents Resource
• The Dyslexia Parents Resources provides useful
  information which will help with dyslexia
  treatment, finding the right school, help with
  IEPs and the IDEA, help with parents at home,
  help with the symptoms, guidance with medication,
  help with social problems and more.
• This is a helpful resource for parents, students
  and educators.

35
Web Information (Continued)

• http//www.sofdesign.com/dyslexia/
• SOfDesign International, Inc.
• This website offers special software and
  training support for dyslexic individuals
  including Key2Speak Software, which allows you
  to hear what you type as you type ReadPlease
  Software, which is a free text reader and, many
  more options.
• This would be helpful for teachers, students,
  parents, and professionals.

36
Web Information (Continued)

• http//www.mayoclinic.com/health/dyslexia/DS00224/
  DSECTION7
• MayoClinic.com Tools for healthier lives
• This is a medical website that provides basic
  information about dyslexia and other health
  conditions. Individuals can find information
  ranging from symptoms of dyslexia and causes to
  screening, diagnosis information, treatment, etc.
• This website is ideal for teachers, students,
  parents, and professionals.

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Conclusion

• Dyslexia is a learning disorder that has many
  faces and many needs. It is the parents, the
  teachers, and other professional personnel's
  job to identify the problem and help the student
  along his/her educational pathway.

38
References

• A primer on dyslexia. (n.d.). Retrieved October
  17, 2006 from http//www.pbs.org
• Baumel, J. (M.S Lic. Edu. Psych.). (2003).
  Dyslexia An overview. Retrieved October 17,
  2006 from http//schwablearning.org/print_resource
  s.asp?typearticle43proofhttp
• Carbo, R. (1995, January 31). Writers Chicano
  novelist overcomes dyslexia. The Hispanic
  Outlook in Higher Education, p 8. Retrieved
  October 30, 2006, from ProQuest Ethnic NewsWatch
  homepage.
• Chinn, L.R. (2006, May 17). Dyslexia doesnt stop
  commercial jingles writer from finding his muse.
  Chicago Citizen, p 3. Retrieved October 30,
  2006, from ProQuest Ethnic NewsWatch homepage.

39
References (Continued)

• Colleges with programs for learning disabled
  students. (2006). Retrieved November 3, 2006,
  from http//www.collegescholarships.com/learning_d
  isabilities.htm
• Dyslexia parents resource. (n.d.). Retrieved
  November 3, 2006, from http//www.dyslexia-parent
  .com/
• GameBeat Studios. (2006). Headshot of Darryl
  Duncan. http//gamebeatstudios.com/news/news_01.
  php?PK71 . Chicago GameBeat Studios.
• Gorman, C. (2003, September) The new science of
  dyslexia Why some children struggle so much
  with reading used to be a mystery. Now
  researchers know whats wrong and what to do
  about it. TIME Asia, 162 (9). Retrieved
  September 23, 2006 from http//www.time.com

40
References (Continued)

• Heward, W.L. (2006). Exceptional children An
  introduction to special education. (Eighth
  Edition). Upper Saddle River Pearson Merrill
  Prentice Hall.
• Inland Empire Branch of the International
  Dyslexia Association. (n.d.). Retrieved November
  3, 2006 from http//dyslexia-ca.org/overview.html
  
• Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and
  Research (MFMER). (2005). Dyslexia. Retrieved
  from http//www.mayoclinic.com
• Shu, H., Wu, S., McBride-Chang, C., Liu, H.
  (2006). Understanding chinese developmental
  dyslexia Morphological awareness as a core
  cognitive construct. Journal of Educational
  Psychology 98 (1), 122-133.

41
References (Continued)

• Singer, E.. (2005). The strategies adopted by
  dutch children with dyslexia to maintain their
  self-esteem when teased at school. Journal of
  Learning Disabilities 38 (5), 411-423.
• SofDesign. (n.d.). Retrieved November 3, 2006
  from http//www.sofdesign.com/default.html
• Sanders, M. (2001). Understanding dyslexia and
  the reading process A guide for educators and
  parents. Needham Heights Allyn Bacon.
• Victor Villasenors Homepage. (2006). Headshot
  of Victor Villasenor. http//www.victorvillasenor
  .com New York The Western Stage.