Early Detection of Dyslexia

Early intervention is key as it can remediate and work around upcoming academic difficulties.  This is a very important approach for students with dyslexia.  Recent reports suggest that dyslexia impacts 5-10 percent of the population.  Now wouldn't it be wonderful if this condition could be detected before children learned to read? Weaknesses could be strengthened and appropriate teaching methodologies could be selected, making the process of reading successful the first time.  This could save the educational system a fortune and these young learners could sail through elementary school with an intact self-esteem.

MIT News Reported, on August 14th, 2013 that research suggests that brain scans may help to diagnose dyslexia.  Differences in the size of the arcuate fasciculus, the brain structure that unites two language processing areas, is now detectable.  To learn more about this and their continued efforts, CLICK HERE. 

I hope you you found this helpful!  I would love to hear your thoughts.

Cheers, Erica

Dr. Erica Warren is the author, illustrator and publisher of multisensory educational materials at Good Sensory Learning and Dyslexia Materials.  She is also the director of Learning to Learn, in Ossining, NY.  To learn more about her products and services, you can go to www.goodsensorylearning.com, www.dyslexiamaterials.com & www.learningtolearn.biz  

The Different Types of Dyslexia: Targeting Intervention

Although reading disorders were recognized back in the late 1800s, the term dyslexia didn't become a recognized condition until the 1970's-1980's.  Since then, it has received an enormous amount of research and professional based attention.  However, many educators and clinicians are still mystified about how to best pinpoint the specific needs of each student with dyslexia.  

The primary underlying cause of this confusion is the fact that there are many cognitive weaknesses or deficits that can trigger a diagnosis of dyslexia.  So much like a dart board, if service providers continue to aim interventions at the wrong place, they may play a frustrating game and they will certainly never hit the bull’s-eye.  As a result professionals have begun to propose subtypes that categorize dyslexics based on common symptoms, so individuals with dyslexia can be understood and service providers can target the needed areas of attention. 

What are the different types of dyslexia?

The three most commonly defined subtypes of dyslexia are Dyseidetic Dyslexia or Visual Dyslexia, Dysphonetic Dyslexia or Auditory Dyslexia and Dysphoneidetic or Alexic Dyslexia. 

1) Dyseidetic Dyslexia or Visual Dyslexia: is when a learner struggles with the decoding and or spelling of words because he or she has great difficulty remembering or revisualizing the word, particularly irregular sightwords (also known as eidetic words).  These learners tend to have good auditory processing skills as well as an understanding of phonics, but they struggle with visual processing, memory synthesis and sequencing of words.  Word or letter reversals when reading, as well as writing and spelling difficulties are also common.

2) Dysphonetic Dyslexia or Auditory Dyslexia: is when a learner struggles with the decoding and or spelling of words because he or she has great difficulty associating sounds with symbols (also known as phonemic awareness).  These learners tend to have good visual processing skills, but they have deficits in auditory processing as well as linking a sound to a visual cue.

3) Dysphoneidetic or Alexic Dyslexia: is when a learner struggles with both visual and auditory processing deficits.  This subcategory is known as Mixed Dyslexia or Dysphoneidetic Dyslexia.  

What about the Other Cognitive Struggles that Are Often Associated with Dyslexia?

Although the above designations are somewhat helpful, they do not address all the areas that can be associated with dyslexia such as difficulties with handwriting, oral language, math, motor planning and coordination, organization, orientation to time, focus and attention, spatial perception, and eye movement control. As a result, Mattis French and Rapin proposed a different breakdown based on a study they conducted of 113 children with dyslexia. They proposed three very different classifications:

1) Syndrome I: Language Disorder - These learners experience anomia, comprehension                deficits, and confusion with speech and sound discrimination.

2)  Syndrome II: Articulatory and Graphomotor Dyscoordination - These learners exhibit gross and fine motor coordination deficits, as well as poor speech and graphomotor coordination.

3) Syndrome III: Visuospatial Perceptual Disorder - These learners have poor visuospatial perception and difficulties encoding and retrieving visual stimuli.

But What About Those That Learn to Compensate for Their Dyslexia?

Although dyslexia presents significant challenges, many learn to compensate and become successful and celebrated professionals.  Dr. Fernette and Brock Eide coined yet another term, Stealth Dyslexia, to describe gifted dyslexics who learned to compensate for reading difficulties with great analytical and problem-solving strengths.  However, these learners still experience significant difficulties with writing and spelling.  Because they are so smart, the difficulties these individuals experience are often characterized with inappropriate labels such as careless or lazy.  As a result,  many with stealth dyslexia can feel a sense of learned helplessness.

So, although these new ways of breaking dyslexia down into subcategories is helpful, clearly they still need to be refined.  I am dyslexic myself and feel that none of the subcategories or designations captures my profile.  Perhaps the solution lies in allowing each individual diagnosis to list the specific areas of cognitive deficits that impact learning so individual students can receive tailored interventions.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the topic.

Cheers, Erica
Dr. Erica Warren is the author, illustrator and publisher of multisensory educational materials at Good Sensory Learning and Dyslexia Materials.  She is also the director of Learning to Learn, in Ossining, NY.  To learn more about her products and services, you can go to www.goodsensorylearning.com  www.dyslexiamaterials.com and  www.learningtolearn.biz 

Quick Individualized Solutions for Struggling and Dyslexic Readers

There is no single reading program or method that will address all the needs of struggling readers, because each learner has his or her own unique strengths and weaknesses.  In fact, there are many cognitive processing weaknesses that can effect young learners and if you want quick and optimal results, it’s important to pursue a comprehensive evaluation.  A good assessment will help uncover the areas of difficulty.  Then educational professionals, such as an experienced reading specialist or educational therapist can focus on strengthening those specific areas of cognition. 

What Are Some of The Cognitive Processing Areas That Impact Reading?

There are many cognitive processing areas that can impact reading.  Here are the most common:

Tracking: is the ability of the eyes to follow the movement of an object in motion or follow words across the page from left to right.

Visual Synthesis– is the ability to pull the pieces together to create a visual whole.

Visual Closure - is the ability to identify or recognize a symbol or object when the entire object is not visible.

Visual Discrimination - is the ability to discriminate between visible likeness and differences in size, shape, pattern, form, position, and color. 

Visual Reasoning - is the ability to understand and analyze visual information. 

Visual Memory - is the ability to recall what has been seen.

Visual Sequencing  - is the ability to recall the sequence of symbols, letters or numbers that have been seen.

Attention to Visual Details - is the ability to attend to and recognize all the information and fine points presented in an image.

Auditory Discrimination - is the ability to detect differences in sounds.

Auditory Memory - is the ability to remember the details of what is heard.

Auditory Sequencing - is the ability to remember the order of information in which it was heard.

Auditory Closure - is the ability to “fill in the gaps” and decipher a word or message when a part is distorted or missing.

Sound Symbol Association - is the ability to connect a sound with a symbol or letter.

Word Retrieval - is the ability to rapidly and precisely express ideas into specific words.

Receptive Language - is the ability to accurately understand language that is seen or heard.

Mental Flexibility - is the ability to shift our thoughts in order to respond effectively to any given situation.

Comprehensive Reading Programs Work, But Are They The Best Solution?

No one would suggest a whole body workout, if you just had a weak bicep.  Although a whole body workout would help in many ways, it will be a long process and your bicep may never receive the intensive work it needs to catch up with the rest of your body.  Likewise, a reading program is always beneficial, but it will probably take time and it may never strengthen the specific cognitive areas that need the most attention. 

How Can Specific Cognitive Areas Be Strengthened? 

To strengthen specific areas of cognition, it is important to do repeated activities that exercise those areas of the brain.  For example, if you need to improve a student's tracking abilities, he or she would need to do a lot of activities that would require their eyes to follow from left to right and follow objects in motion.  Likewise, to improve visual discrimination, a student would need to complete a lot of activities that would require the processing of similar images.  They would need to learn to practice and uncover likenesses and differences. 

What Are Some Specific Tools Professionals, Teachers and Parents Can Use?

To help make this process easier, I have designed a series of specific cognitive activities and games in a series of publications called Reversing Reversals.  The first publication in the Series, Reversing Reversal Primary, offers cognitive training materials for young learners that are struggling with letters and numbers, as well as those that are showing signs of dyslexia or other learning disabilities.  This product includes fun activities and games that use animals which will truly please and entice students.  Young learners will not even realize that they are working on the foundational skills that are necessary to learn basic math and reading.  The next product is Reversing Reversals.  This integrates letters and numbers into the activities and games.  Finally, Reversing Reversals 2 continues to offer more activities which work with letters, numbers and even symbols.   Free samplings of the activities are available for all three of these publications.  To learn more and try the free samples, go to dyslexiamaterials.com.  Another comprehensive tool that addresses many of the cognitive processing areas is Audiblox: http://www.audiblox2000.com/  For visual processing issues, I also like the MiniLuk system, and for Visual Discrimination and reasoning, I like Visual Discrimination by Jean Edwards.  See the links below:

                 

I hope you found this helpful!  I would love to hear your thoughts!!

Cheers, Erica

Dr. Erica Warren is the author, illustrator and publisher of multisensory educational materials at Good Sensory Learning and Dyslexia Materials.  She is also the director of Learning to Learn, in Ossining, NY.  To learn more about her products and services, you can go to www.goodsensorylearning.com  www.dyslexiamaterials.com and  www.learningtolearn.biz 

10 Easy Ways to Strengthen the Weaknesses Associated with Dyslexia

Dyslexia is the new, hot topic in education around the globe, and it is frequently featured in educational conferences, news articles, YouTube videos, and even movies.  New estimates suggest that as many as 1 in 10 children have this difficulty, making it the most common type of learning disability.  Although dyslexia is common, many with this condition remain undiagnosed.  Furthermore, many others who have received this diagnosis don’t fully understand it and never receive the needed remediation.  So, how can we help this underserved population? 

Here are some suggestions:

1. Because black text on a white background can be visually uncomfortable for many with dyslexia, provide them the option of using color overlays or nonprescription glasses with color-tinted lenses.  You can make your own overlays by taking transparent, colorful pocket folders or report covers and slicing them into strips that can also be used as bookmarks.  You can get a selection of tinted glasses that your students can use on sites like Amazon.com.  The most popular color seems to be yellow. 

2. Similarly, if changing the color of the background is helpful for reading, it is likely that your learners will also benefit from changing the background color when typing.  On a Mac, using Word, this can be done by clicking on the Format drop down menu, and then selecting background.  Here you can select another background color.  Please note, this will not impact the background when printing documents.  On a PC, this can be done by selecting the drop down menu, Page Layout, then Page Color.

3. Play search games with letters and words that are challenging.  For example, if a learner is having trouble discriminating between the letters "b" and "d," give them a magazine, newspaper or other print out and have them circle all the "bs."  They don’t have to be able to read the text; they will just be searching for the designated letter or word.  If you instruct a student to scan one line at a time, you will also be strengthening his or her tracking skills.

4. Purchase a book of jokes, or find some on the internet.  Go through each joke and talk about what makes it funny.  Discuss double meanings, and make a list of words that have multiple meanings.  Finally, encourage the learner to make their own joke book.

5. If spelling is a real problem, make a list of the student's commonly misspelled words.  Use a notebook and place one word on each page.  Have fun coming up with memory strategies that will help the learner remember the correct spelling.  For example, if a student is having difficulty with the word “together,” he or she may notice that the word is made up of three simple words – to, get and her.  As another example, one may notice that the word “what” has the word "hat" in it.  The student might draw many hats in their notebook and then write down the question, “What hat?”

6. Play fun, free internet games and videos that review basic phonics, such as Star Fall, BBCs Syllable Factory Game, Phonics Chant 2 and Magic E.

7. Make difficult letters, numbers and words with the learner out of wet spaghetti, pebbles, raisins, pipe cleaners, a sand tray, shaving cream, or clay.   You can also place challenging letters, numbers or words on a ball or a balloon and play catch.  Every time a participant catches the ball or balloon, he or she reads the first symbol or word seen.  Integrating a tactile and kinesthetic modality into lessons will make them more enjoyable and memorable.

8. Use books on tape or read aloud.  While listening, ask the learners to close their eyes so they can image the story in their head.  Many learners with dyslexia never fully develop their capacity to envision or visualize a story, because reading is so mentally overwhelming.  Helping these learners to develop the ability to utilize their mind’s eye aids in reading comprehension and memory.  Another option is to have the learner read along, so they can begin to see and recognize whole words and phrases.  A great organization that offers books on tape for struggling readers is Learning Ally. You can also purchase Franklin's Anybook Anywhere so that books can be recorded at your convenience, yet played anytime - anywhere!

9. Have fun creating a special reading area.  Make sure to come up with a fun name for this place, such as "the book nook."  Decorate it together.  You can fill it with pillows, stuffed animals, blankets and other comforting objects.  You can hang drapes around it, get a large bean bag, hide it under a tall table, or build it around an indoor chair swing or hammock.  Have books, highlighters, colored pencils and paper within reach.

10. Create a consistent time every few days where the whole family  grabs a book and reads.  All family members should congregate and read in a common room.  Make sure to have munchies and other comforting objects at hand.  This is a time to relax and enjoy the company of one another, so make this a cherished and special time.

If you are interested in purchasing some products that help students with dyslexia, consider downloading a free sample of Dr. Warren’s Reversing Reversals, Following Directions, Making Inferences the Fun and Easy Way, or Reading Games.  These and more great publications are available at www.dyslexiamaterials.com

Dr. Erica Warren is the author, illustrator and publisher of multisensory educational materials at Good Sensory Learning and Dyslexia Materials.  She is also the director of Learning to Learn, in Ossining, NY.  To learn more about her products and services, you can go to www.goodsensorylearning.com  www.dyslexiamaterials.com and  www.learningtolearn.biz 

Can Hemisphere Integration Exercises Help Students with Dyslexia?

It is common knowledge that the brain has two hemispheres and that they are bridged by a bundle of nerves that travel across the corpus callosum.  However, because this overpass exists, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is always used.  In fact, you will often hear of people claiming to be right or left brain dominant, and many people function quite well using predominantly “half a brain.”  But if we could learn to unite the power of both hemispheres and assimilate experiences for optimal learning, wouldn’t that be great? 

Image 2

Brain Gym by Dr. Paul E. Dennison and Smart Moves, by Dr. Carla Hannaford offers just these tools, as well as some scientific research to back these claims.  What they have uncovered, by uniting the fields of Applied Kinesiology, Educational Kinesiology, Developmental Optometry, Biology and Neuroscience, are movements or exercises that enhance communication across the hemispheres.   Many of these activities continually cross the midline (an imaginary line that descends down through the body from the corpus callosum) so that both hemispheres are activated, and they must communicate for proper execution (See image 2).  Other movements involve procedures that help to relax and refocus the mind and body by using acupressure or trigger points and other simple motions.  

The authors claim that the activities can help improve academics, focus, memory, mood, and even remediate learning disabilities such as dyslexia and dysgraphia.  The bottom line is that many students remain physically inactive in classrooms for much of the day, and integrating simple movements between lessons, can provide the needed physical release. 

I would love to share some specific exercises, but they are protected under copyright laws. 

You can learn more by purchasing their books linked below.

Cheers, Erica

Dr. Erica Warren is the author, illustrator and publisher of multisensory educational materials at Good Sensory Learning and Dyslexia Materials.  She is also the director of Learning to Learn, in Ossining, NY.  To learn more about her products and services, you can go to www.goodsensorylearning.com  www.dyslexiamaterials.com and  www.learningtolearn.biz