Transcript Company Meeting Title

The Challenges of Dyslexia:
Finding the Courage to Teach,
Learn and Parent
Nancy Hennessy, M.Ed.
ORBIDA
Feb. 23, 2007
Purpose
Create hope, possibility and
partnership
so that every individual has the
opportunity to lead a productive
and fulfilling life
and society benefits from the
resource that is liberated.
Acquisition and application of
knowledge that allows us to tap
into and participate fully in life’s
journey.
So, what knowledge, skills,
attitudes might empower us to
achieve our purpose!
Every Child Reading
Let’s begin by acknowledging that…
If we are to activate our abilities and avoid
energy traps so that we can serve our
children, we need to accept and acknowledge
our connectedness.
“When I accept my connectedness, I
give up my attempt to manipulate
and win.”
Blend and dance….
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And then, let go of need to be right.
Recognize the realness of the other’s
emotions and position.
Seek to understand.
Balance tools of advocacy and
inquiry.
Follow the “yellow brick road”
or path of understanding to our
destination….
Change is needed if we are to reach our
destination-a place called Success where
every child learns to read…..
 Recognize reality
 Visit courage
 Listen to experience
 Explore the competency-confidence
connection
 Take charge!!!!!
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Fall out
Startling Statistics
We see, we feel, we
change….
“People change what they do
less because we give them
analysis that shifts their thinking
than because we show them a
truth that influences their
feelings.”
John Kotter and Dan Cohn-Heart of Change, 2002
“Statistically, more American children suffer
long term life harm from the process of
learning to read than from parental abuse,
accidents and all other childhood diseases
and disorders combined. In purely
economic terms, reading related difficulties
cost our nation more than the war on
terrorism, crime, and drugs combined.”
Children of the Code www.childrenofthecode.org
National Institute for Family Literacy www.nifl.org
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academic
social
emotional
economic
cognitive
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38% of students with learning disabilities drop out of
school-significantly more than students without
learning disabilities.
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Previously undetected learning disabilities have been
found in 50% of juvenile delinquents. Once remedial
services are provided, this population's recidivism
rate drops to just 2%.
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Adults with learning disabilities earn an average of
36% less per hour than their peers without
disabilities
And…
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1 out of every 5-10 students has some
degree of dyslexia
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60-80% of students with an identified
specific learning disability have that
disability in the area of reading and
language
National Institute of Health:Child
Health and Human Development
Can you think of some other “truths”
that could prompt or support us as we
attempt to find the courage to
change??
Perhaps, our next stop will help us to
better understand how we can deal
with those flying monkeys!!!!
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How do you define?
Why do we need it?
Where can you find it?
An unfathomable ability to find
the wherewithal to face and
handle unbelievably difficult
events and episodes in life.
Witness the experiences of….
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the parent
the child
the teacher/therapist
the adult dyslexic
the diagnostician
the administrator
What emotions
do school evoke
for you?
“Teaching and parenting
tug at the heart, open the heart
and can even break the heart.
The more one loves
teaching/parenting,
the more heartbreaking it can be.
We find courage to
teach/parent by keeping
our heart open
in those very moments
when the heart is
asked to
hold more.”
Need a reason…..
“To learn to read is to light a fire;
every syllable that is spelled out is
a spark.”
Victor Hugo
Connect and relatethe perspective of:
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the dyslexic
the parent
the educator
“I am what I can make work.”
Erik Eriksen
“….reading is a proxy for how individuals
perceive their intelligence.”
“….reading problems potent perpetrators
of low self-esteem.”
Reid Lyon
NYIDA, 2004
Chris’ Story
Perseverance
A man of action not words……
“Too many cooks spoil the broad.”
“Deep within you is a song that plays softly
-a song you can hear only if you’re very quiet,
and very still. Stop, take the time to listen to the
soul of your song. Then travel the road it leads
you to. Let its melody carry you over your self-doubts
and fears as you move forward. I, like many people,
listened to the negativity in my head instead of
connecting with the song within my soul-I believed
I was dumb because of my inability to read-this is the shame
that governed my life and kept me locked in a small world.“
Building Blocks for Resiliency
(Orville Dean)
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Awareness of strengths
Positive relationships-the
charismatic adult…….
Loss
The loss of the child they believed
they had or the child they dreamed of
having….
Loss
Mourning
Denial
Fear
Guilt
Bargaining
Blame
Envy
Isolation
Anger
Armed Services Officer
“When I was in first grade, my poor mother would cringe
when she saw the teacher standing with me in the
carpool line, my plump, white-knuckled fist full of the
red-inked casualties that were my handiwork. Somehow
I survived first grade. My performance in second grade,
however, called for drastic measures.”
Parent advocate…
…when are they
going to
understand they
do this every day
and I have only
one chance to
learn how to do it
and get it right.
Teachers are just like the kids…..
“Teaching is an act of courage
and as such, it is an act of
love.”
“Teachers’ beliefs about
their effectiveness are
directly linked to their own
self-esteem and sense of
competence.”
True Confessions
I was dysteachic…….
My story…….
“As a young teacher, I yearned for the day when
I would know my craft well, be so competent,
so experienced, so powerful that I could walk
into any classroom without feeling
afraid-now know the day will never come.”
RESISTANCE
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Fear of failure
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Value status quo
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Lack the knowledge necessary to
implement
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Inability to compare effectiveness
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Lack of administrative support
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Culture of the school
“We need the courage to start
and continue what we should do,
and the courage to stop what we
shouldn’t do.”
Richard Evans
Come on down the road….
Where else might we need to go to
seek the “wisdom of the wizard???”
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Dyslexia Defined
The Science of Reading
Informed Instructors and
Learning Envirionments
Dr. Samuel T. Orton’s contributions….
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More widespread than recognized
Exists on a continuum
Differences in neurophysiology
Not product of poor teaching
Not properly treated can have lifelong
consequences
Requires explicit, systematic,
intensive instruction about the
structure of language
Dyslexia
IDA Research Definition, 2002
Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is
neurological in origin. It is characterized by
difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word
recognition and by poor spelling and decoding
abilities. 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. Secondary consequences
may include problems in reading comprehension
and reduced reading experience that can impede
growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.
…..phonological component
-the sound factory
“A child has to develop
the insight that spoken
words can be pulled
apart into phonemes
and that letters in a
word represent these
sounds.”
“Oh, I get it-sounds
make words!”
Phonology/Orthography Connection-the code
of written language
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Mapping of phonemes onto the
letters that represent them
Dyslexia
Ginger Berninger, who directs the
University of Washington’s Learning
Disabilities Center, has stated that
“Most people think dyslexia is a
reading disorder, but it is also a
spelling and writing problem." She
adds that “children who can not spell
can not express their ideas in
writing."
secondary consequences may include
problems in reading comprehension and
reduced reading experience…
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“attention to code is capacity
draining-results in inability to attend
to meaning that results in
less exposure to text, less practice
that results in………..
diminished capability in areas of
vocabulary, syntactic structures and
declarative knowledge
that influences verbal intelligence.”
Cunningham & Stanovich, 2002
Diagnosis and Remediation of Reading
Disabilities-Joshi, 2004
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The use of discrepancy between reading
comprehension and listening
comprehension for the diagnosis and
treatment of reading disabilities has strong
theoretical backing.
Beyond grade three, the speed of word
recognition becomes an important factor.
Spelling is a more rigorous test of decoding
than non-word reading.
While the student with dyslexia may exhibit other
language-based difficulties, the essence of dyslexia is
an inability to decipher the code or structure of the
language resulting in significant problems with
accurate and automatic word recognition skills
essential to skilled reading. Dyslexia is treatable. It is
not outgrown and persists over the lifetime. It occurs
across cultures and language and thus can be
described as a “universal vulnerability.”
A-ha!!!!
Orton, like his colleagues, recognized
that dyslexia may be neurologically
based, but that the treatment must be
educational.
Samuel Orton, Anna Gillingham,
Bessie Stillman,June Orton
and……were on to something!!!!!
A little history…….
Orton Gillingham
Multisensory Structured Language
Samuel T. Orton
Anna Gillingham
Bessie Stillman
Romalda Spalding
Beth Slingerland
Aylett Cox
Tori Greene and
Mary Lee Enfield
IMSLEC, AOGPE, ALTA and Independent MSL Programs…….
“Whether we enter the best of times
is dependent on whether or not we
use the gifts research has provided
wisely or foolishly.”
Marzano, 2003
Critical Research Reviews…..
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National Research Council (1998)
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National Reading Panel (2000)
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RAND Report, Subgroup on Reading
Comprehension (2002)
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What else????
Research Based Building Blocks for
Instruction
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phonemic awareness
phonics
fluency
vocabulary
text comprehension
Put Reading First, The Research Building
Blocks for Teaching Children to Read, 2001
www.nifl.gov
Abandon the band-aid approach”
“If a child is dyslexic early on in
school, that child will continue to
experience reading problems
unless he is provided with
scientifically based proven
intervention.”
Find the courage to change!
Best practices….
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Ongoing assessment:
Benchmark, screening, progress
monitoring and diagnostic
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A tiered approach to intervention:
-Core reading program
-Small group supplemental
-Intensive strategic 1:1 or small
group
Most powerful instruction…..
Torgeson, 2005
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More time
Smaller group
Targeted at right level
Clearer, more detailed explanations,
more systematic instructional
sequence
More extensive opportunity for guided
practice
More opportunity for error correction
and feedback
“Fruits of these scientific labors can not
be realized however, unless teachers
understand and are prepared to
implement them.”
Louisa Moats
“Good teaching matters!”
“Good intentions are not enough!”
“ Recent studies and review of the
literature have shown that there is
a consistently positive relationship
between teacher preparation and
student outcomes.”
Snow, Griffin & Burns, 2005
“Teaching matters and good
teaching can change the brain
in a way that has potential to
benefit struggling readers.”
Sally Shaywitz, 2004
What Education Schools Aren’t Teaching
about Reading…
National Council on Teacher Quality, 2006
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Most education schools are not teaching the science of reading
Even courses claiming to provide a ‘balanced approach” ignore
the science of reading
Characteristics such as national accreditation do not increase the
likelihood.
Phonics is taught more frequently than any other component of
reading suggesting that ideological resistance to the ”phonics
camp” does not really explain why the science is being ignored
Much of current reading instruction is incompatible with the
science
Teacher educators portray the science as one approach that is no
more valid than others
Many courses reflect low expectations with little evidence of
college level work
The quality of almost all reading textbooks is poor. Their content
includes little to no hard science, and in far too many cases, they
are inaccurate and misleading
There is no agreement in the field about what constitutes “seminal
text.”
“Teachers can not teach what they do not
know.”
Nolan, Mc Cutcheon & Berninger, 1990
“Reading experts agree by
consensus that if teachers are poorly
calibrated and significantly
overestimate their knowledge of
important reading related information,
they will not seek to acquire or be
open to new constructs presented in
professional development.”
Cunningham, Perry, Stanovich and Stanovich, 2004
Informed instruction depends on….
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Our knowledge of declarative and
procedural knowledge-we can only
teach what we know
Our metacognitive skills-know what
we know, seek what we don’t
So, how do we develop and nurture
highly qualified educators?
“Literacy is a secondary system, dependent on language as the
primary system so effective teachers know a good deal about
language.”
Snow, Griffin & Burns, 2005
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Phonology
Morphology
Syntax
Semantics
Pragmatics
Orthography
Etymology
“Metalinguistic Awareness”
Water up and differentiate the curriculum!
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How many phonemes in book?
What is the third speech sound in
dodge?
How many syllables in talked?
Identify the closed syllable
quot
lise
teep
Why does the t double in admit when
adding ing?
How many morphemes in destruction?
What is the origin of the word
dyseidetic?
What about process?
“However, in addition
to being taught the
knowledge and skills
through workshops,
institutes or courses,
educators, much like
our children, need
multiple opportunities
for practice, feedback,
and application under a
mentor’s guidance.”
If, as a teacher,
(Glickman, 2002)
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I present the same lesson in the same manner
that I have used in the past;
I seek no feedback from my students;
I do not analyze and evaluate work in a manner
that changes my own emphasis, repertoire or
timing;
I do not visit or observe other adults
as they teach;
I do not share the work of students with
colleagues for feedback, suggestions and critique;
I do not attend particular workshops or seminars
and read professional literature on aspects of my
teaching;
continued
I do not welcome visitors with experience and
expertise to observe and provide feedback on
my classroom practice;
 I have no individualized professional
development plan focused on classroom
changes to improve student learning; and
finally,
 I have no systematic evaluation of my
teaching tied to individual, grade/department,
and schoolwide goals,
THEN
I have absolutely no way to become better as
a teacher
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Skill Development Ladder
(Gordon)
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Unconsciously
Skilled/Talented
Consciously
Skilled
Consciously
Unskilled
Unconsciously
Unskilled
What about teaching/learning environment?
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culture that encourages risk-taking
fosters continuous growth
studies student results
provides opportunities for collegial
exchange
believes that professional
development is not a single event!
Final thoughts..
Evidence from genetic influence
does not deny the powerful
influence that parents, teachers
and therapists can have.”
Richard Olson, 2004
“We are all connected in chains of
care, not only to friends and
families but to others we can not
see.”
Arlie Hochschild, 2002
Let’s take a lesson from
Lady Dyslexia (instead of the wizard)….
“If something comes to life in others because of you,
then you have made an approach to immortality.”
Norman Cousins
We know….
“The world connects not
by molecules. It connects
through ideas, hopes,
faces, dreams, actions,
stories and memories.”
Bonnie Sanford Grief
 Recognized reality
 Visited courage
 Listened to experience
 Explored the competency-confidence
connection
Seize the moment and become equity
champions!!!!!
Equity champions-individuals who regardless of
their role (parent, educator…) passionately
lead and believe in the mission (success)
regardless of the challenges!
Take action and change our thinking and
practices based on knowledge!
SUCCESSA place where
every child can read!