Dyslexia

What is Dyslexia?

• Brain-based learning disability that impairs reading

• NOT the same symptoms in each person• Common symptoms are lower reading

levels, difficulty spelling, difficulty in making sounds despite having NORMAL INTELLIGENCE

What Causes Dyslexia?

• 3 common Ideas on the Causes of Dyslexia:1. Brain Development2. Wiring of the Brain3. Genetic Inheritance

Bradford, John. "What Causes Dyslexia?" http://www.dyslexia-parent.com/mag24.html

Kaufman, Lorna N., Ph.D., and Pamela Hook, Ph.D. "The Dyslexia Puzzle: Putting the Pieces Together."

"What Causes Dyslexia." http://www.the-dyslexia-center.com/what-causes-dyslexia.htm

Brain Development

“Some researchers have found clusters of cells in the dyslexic brain that did not make it to the same location they are found in the non-dyslexic brain. In the non-dyslexic brain these cells are found primarily in the left side of the brain, the same area used dominantly for reading and language tasks, thus it is believed that these cell misplacements make it difficult for dyslexics to process language tasks”

Wiring of the Brain

“In connection with the cell misplacement in the first theory, another theory is that dyslexia is caused by a unique wiring in the brain. Dyslexics have been found to have strong activity in the right side of their brain. Because of the strength of their right brain, they engage this area while performing language tasks. However, as mentioned before, language tasks are typically and most efficiently performed in the left side of the brain. Thus, the wiring of the dyslexic brain is often prescribed as the cause of dyslexia.”

Genetic Inheritance

“These differences in brain structure and development are often found to be generational. Not every child of someone with dyslexia is dyslexic, but it is common for a dyslexic to have a family history of the condition. Also, dyslexia has been found to correlate to left-handedness. Just because someone is left-handed does not mean they are dyslexic, but it has been found that about half of the family members of a dyslexic are commonly left handed.”

Why no Exact Answer?

• “There are many definitions of dyslexia but no consensus. Some definitions are purely descriptive, while others embody causal theories.”

• “There is no consensus, either, as to whether dyslexia can be distinguished in practice from other possible causes of adults’ literacy difficulties. Many ‘signs of dyslexia’ are no less characteristic of non-dyslexic people with reading skills deficits. In our present state of knowledge, it does not seem to be helpful for teachers to think of some literacy learners as ‘dyslexics’ and of others as ‘ordinary poor readers’.

"Developmental dyslexia in adults: a research review". National Research and Development Centre for Adult Literacy and

Numeracy. 1 May 2004. pp. *133–147. Retrieved 13 May 2009.

When Teaching a Dyslexic

• Use different color chalks/markers for each line if there is a lot of written information on the board, or underline every second line with a different colored chalk, and ensure that the writing is well spaced.

• Put the decimal point in red ink. It helps visual perception with the dyslexic child.

• More time should be allocated for completion of work because of the extra time a dyslexic child needs for reading, planning, rewriting and proofreading their work.

Hodge, P.L. (2000). A Dyslexic Child in the Classroom. Retrieved April 07, 2013 from Davis Dyslexia Association International, Dyslexia the Gift Web site: http://www.dyslexia.com/library/classroom.htm

Read more: http://www.dyslexia.com/library/classroom.htm#ixzz2Pp2a5tx3

Technologies to Help

• Touch Typing Tutors – Instead of writing the words, kids use these typing tutors to hit a letter and hear the word spoken.

• Audio Recordings – With dyslexics having problems reading, listening can become a way to keep up in a class.

• Spell Checkers for Dyslexic Persons – These spell checkers can provide suggestions to misspelled words based on the context of its sentence or the words nearest to it. This type of spell checker can therefore correct a word although it may have been spelled very differently from the actual intended word.

• Scanning Pens - These are portable devices which dyslexic people can use to listen to text instead of reading it. The user points the scanning pen on a particular printed word and the pen’s speech synthesizer then speaks that word.

Lastly

• Although there is no Scientific Research to back this up at this time, Abelardo Gonzales, who is suffers from dyslexia, created a font that is supposed to help dyslexics be able to distinguish their letters easier. I downloaded this font and it is what I used to type this paragraph.

• abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz• 1234567890• ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Personal Story

• My Aunt Kristie