dyslexia and dysgraphia

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Zenaida Almodovar, Irene Guzman, Maritza Sorensen & Kristin Torraco April 7, 2009 Group Presentation Exceptional Learners

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Page 1: Dyslexia and Dysgraphia

Zenaida Almodovar, Irene Guzman, Maritza Sorensen & Kristin TorracoApril 7, 2009

Group PresentationExceptional Learners

Page 2: Dyslexia and Dysgraphia

DyslexiaDyslexia is a neurologically-based, often familial, disorder which interferes with the acquisition and processing of language.

•Varying in degrees of severity, it is manifested by difficulties in receptive and expressive language, including phonological processing, in reading, writing, spelling, handwriting, and sometimes in arithmetic. In other words, the problem is a linguistic one, not a visual one. (Shaywitz, page 40)

•Students may also show difficulty with a receptive language disability.

(2003) Sally Shaywitz, professor of pediatrics at Yale University of School of Medicine.)

Revised definition from the International Dyslexia Association.

DysgraphiaIt is a learning disability resulting from the difficulty in expressing thoughts in writing and graphing. It generally refers to extremely poor, nearly illegible handwriting.

•Also known as a visual-motor integration problem. It is a processing disorder.

•It is related to disorientation. Sometimes it is simply because writing instructions were given while the dyslexic was disoriented. (The Gift of Dyslexia by Ronald D. Davis, Chapter 9. 45-51)•The most common type of writing problem occurs when dyslexic students have had so much instruction on what their writing should look like that they have multiple mental pictures of words and letters superimposed over one another.

Page 3: Dyslexia and Dysgraphia

Dyslexia affects one out of every five children—ten millions in America alone.

What is so exciting about the new level of understanding dyslexia is that it explains reading and reading difficulties for all ages and all levels of education. Scientists now understands how children acquire the ability to read and why some do not by identifying the primary or core cognitive weakness responsible for dyslexia.

New discoveries now make it possible to (1) identify with a high degree of precision those children who are at the highest risk for dyslexia-even before they develop reading problems; (2) diagnose dyslexia accurately in children, young adults, and adults and (3) manage the disorder with highly effective and proven treatment programs.

Gender Differences Studies had indicated that dyslexia

affected anywhere from four to six times as many boys as girls.

Page 4: Dyslexia and Dysgraphia

DyslexiaThe Preschool Years-Delayed Speech-Trouble learning common nursery rhymes-Mispronounced words -Difficulty in learning and remembering names of letters-Difficulty learning the sounds that go with letters.

•Kindergarten and first grade

-Inability to read common one syllable words or to sound out even the simplest of words.

•Second grade and on:-Speech that is not fluent-Difficulty memorizing math facts and calendar concepts.-Difficulty organizing in space and time.Spoken Language: They may have problems with the mechanical and social uses of language: syntax, semantics and phonology.

•Dyslexia is not the result of lack of motivation, sensory impairment, inadequate instructional or environmental opportunities, or other limiting conditions, but may occur together with these conditions.

DysgraphiaIf a child has trouble in any of the

these fine motor skills/areas:Tight, awkward pencil grip and body position•General illegibility•Avoiding writing or drawing tasks•Tiring quickly while writing•Saying words out loud while writing•Unfinished or omitted words in sentences•Difficulty organizing thoughts on paper.•Difficulty with syntax structure and grammar.•Excessive erasures•Frequent need for verbal cues and use of sub-vocalizing.•Heavy reliance on vision to monitor what the hand is doing during writing.•Copying off of the board is slow, painful and tedious. Child looks up and visually “grabs” just one or two letters at a time.

Page 5: Dyslexia and Dysgraphia

Dyslexia SymptomsThe Temporal Lobe is involved in auditory (sound) sensation and is where the Primary Auditory Cortex and on the left hemisphere, Wernicke's Area (language recognition) are located. This lobe is also involved in emotion, memory and speech. When processing matching letters and sounds, the non-impaired readers showed stronger brain activity in the superior temporal cortex - a region of the brain associated with much of our hearing abilities - than when they were processing letters and sounds that did not match. Dyslexic readers processed both matching and non-matching pairs at the same, slower pace. Ms. Blau also found that even when a dyslexic reader was exposed to sound only, there was less activity in the superior temporal cortex. Vera Blau, a PhD student in cognitive neuroscience at Maastricht University. MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), fMRI and fMRS are being used to document neurological dysfunction in some people. (p. 193)

Dysgraphia•Language, visual, perceptual, and motor centers of the brain are also believed to play a role in dysgraphia.

•Evidence suggests it may be hereditary.

Page 6: Dyslexia and Dysgraphia

Dyslexia

The best replicated region is located on chromosome 6p22.2. Four genes in this region is SNP-level: KIAA0319, TTRAP, MRS21, and DCDC2. (Olson & Byrne, 2005)It is caused by an impairment in the brain’s ability to translate images received from the eyes or ears into understandable language. Dyslexia is inherited. You are born with it.

3 types of dyslexia:Trauma dyslexia: occurs after some form of brain trauma or injury.Primary dyslexia: dysfunction of the left side of the brain (cerebral cortex . It is passed in family lines through their genes. It is found more than in boys than in girls.Secondary /Developmental dyslexia

Dysgraphia

Studies indicate that what usually appears to be a perceptual problem (reversing letters/numbers, writing words backwards, writing letter out of order, and very sloppy handwriting) usually seems to be directly related to sequential/rational information processing.

Page 7: Dyslexia and Dysgraphia

Dyslexia•Parent Interview•Comprehension tests: look at the whole person and examine the root cause of any learning difficulties. The assessment should also include observations, input from teachers and parents, analysis of student work and developmental and social histories.•Various assessment by a psychologist or other health professional in order to actually diagnose the disorder.•Examples of these follow up include: occupational therapy, educational tutoring, parenting strategies, social skills training. Etc. Chartered psychologists operate either through schools and colleges or privately in a consulting room (hospitals)Effective battery of tests for the early recognition of reading problems which includes of:Phonology (awareness, memory, and access.•Letters (names and sounds)•Vocabulary (receptive and expressive)•Print conventions•Listening comprehension•Reading (real words, nonsense words, and comprehensions.-Comprehension Test of Phonological Processing in Reading (PRO-ED, Inc.)Lindamood Auditory Conceptualization TestRosner Test of Auditory Analysis Test of Phonological AwarenessYopp-Singer Test of Phoneme Segmentation by H.K. Yopp in the Reading Teacher 49 (1995) 20-29.

Dysgraphia

Observations within all these areas are required to make a reliable diagnostic statement. Cluster Feedback and anticipating Rhythm and timingVisual perception (which underlies reading, mathematics and handwriting)Visual trackingHandwriting and letter formationHandwriting speed (if applicable)Sitting posturePencil grip and hand functionsFine motor skillsGross motor coordinationVisual memoryIt can be used to determine if the learner's writing skills are appropriate for child’s age. They can also provide information on his writing processing. Through observations, analyzing student work, cognitive assessment and occupational therapy evaluations, educators can develop comprehensive, IEPs. An Occupational Therapy Assessment is usually recommended when a child is experiencing these certain difficulties. Typical programs focus on developing fine motor skills such as pencil grip, hand coordination, and developing motor-muscular memory.

Page 8: Dyslexia and Dysgraphia

DyslexiaAll researchers agree that there exists “ a strong relationship between early speech and language impairments and reading disabilities and that these impairments may precede and foretell a subsequent reading” (Catts, Hu, Larrivee, & Swank, 1994, p. 155). Research does show up a specific difficulty that many poor readers share: an inability to develop phonological awareness (phoneme awareness).

Language difficulties can include auditory discrimination difficulty, extremely limited auditory memory, slow auditory processing, word retrieval when speaking (dysnomia) mixing up syllables when saying long words, low vocabulary, poor grammar, difficulty reading, terrible spelling, and extremely poor written expression.

A dyslexic reader can develop an awareness of the sound structure of a word by physically forming the word with his lips, tongue, and vocal cords.

Dysgraphia

•Some students with dysgraphia may also have difficulty with language processing and the connection between words and ideas they represent.

Language therapy and occupational therapy help the learner develop the important connections between letters, sounds, and words. Some students work best with keyboarding or speech recognition programs.

Page 9: Dyslexia and Dysgraphia

Dyslexia Dysgraphia

Interventions

Reading•“Walk-to-Intervention”•Engaging games for struggling reader.

Math•Use manipulative.•Encourages the joy of mathematics•Help students develop one-to-one correspondences.•Teach mnemonic strategies•Role play the word problem.

Accommodations

•Provisions of extra time•Request of extra time on examination.•Recording class lectures.•Listening to Audio-books.•Visual reference can be used to support students working on math skills.•Store pictures of maps and text of frequently –used directions.•Store reference for self-help spaghetti.•Store emergency contact information.

Interventions

Phonemic AwarenessSegmenting

ActivitiesWord BuildingSingle Word

DecodingPre-Reading

Silent and Oral Reading

Pre-SpellingSpellingSentence Writing

Accommodations

•Using clay, they become familiar: shaping cutting and rolling.•Outline their thoughts.•Allow students to use graph paper for math.•Talk aloud as they write•Have a computer available to organize information.•Draw a picture of a thought for each paragraph.•Develop cooperative writing projects.•Assignments and compositions in logical step-step sequence.•Visual graphic organizers.

Page 10: Dyslexia and Dysgraphia

A new method of determining level of disability.

Level 1: The student is exposed to appropriate instruction in reading and writing. If she/he continues to experience difficulty, she/he goes to the next level of intervention.

Level 2: The student receives more Individualized intervention. If she/he continues to have difficulty, she progresses to the next level of intervention.

Level 3. This level would typically begin placement in a special education program with accommodations and modifications.

Page 11: Dyslexia and Dysgraphia

Dyslexia

•October is Dyslexia Awareness Month.

•People with dyslexia are often gifted in math. Their three-dimensional visualization skills help them “see” math concepts more quickly and clearly than non-dyslexia people.

•Most people with dyslexia have gifts in areas controlled by the right hemisphere of the brain. The right side controls: artistic, athletic, mechanical, people, 3-D visual spatial vivid imagination, intuition, creative, global thinking and curiosity skills.

Dysgraphia

Page 12: Dyslexia and Dysgraphia

Illinois Branch of The International Dyslexia Association. (2007, October 11-12). 21st Annual Conference. “Rocketing from Remediation to Reading: Reading is Rocket Science.”

Shaywitz, Sally, Ph.D. (2003). Overcoming Dyslexia: A new and complete science-based program for reading problems at any level. New York, NY. Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 94. Notes: page 32. Matthew Effect for IQ but Not for Reading Results from a longitudinal Study. Reading Research Quarterly 30 (1995): 894-906

Lyons, G. R., Shaywitz, S. & Shaywitz, B (2003). A Definition of Dyslexia. Annals of Dyslexia, (53), 1-14.

Bender. (2008). Differentiating Instruction fro Students With Disabilities.

Nielsen. (2009) Brief Reference of Student Disabilities. Landay, Debra, Z. (2008). Research Paper: Predicting Reading

Impairment. Concordia University, Education 6100. Hallahan, Daniel P., Kauffman James M., Pullen, Paige C. (2009).

Exceptional Learners: An introduction to Special Education. 11th Edition. Chapter 6.