Transcript Dyslexia - Nick West's bPortfolio

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An impairment in brain's ability to translate
written images received from the eyes into
meaningful language.
Dyslexia is a specific reading disability and is
the most common learning disability in
children
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According to the National Institutes of Health,
dyslexia in the United States range from 2% to
15% of the entire population.
Researches have estimated that about 5% to 9%
of school-aged children have dyslexia,
however, this figure may go as high as 17%.
Out of 100 dyslexics, only 5 are recognized and
receiving intervention.
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Signs and symptoms that a young child may be
at risk of dyslexia include:
Late talking
 Adding new words slowly
 Difficulty rhyming
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Reading at a level well below the expected age level
Problems processing and understanding what he or she
hears
Difficulty comprehending rapid instructions
Trouble following more than one command at a time
Problems remembering the sequence of things
Difficulty seeing similarities and differences in letters and
words
An inability to sound out the pronunciation of an
unfamiliar word
Seeing letters or words in reverse (b for d or saw for was)
Difficulty spelling
Trouble learning a foreign language
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Malfunction in certain areas of the brain
concerned with language. The condition
frequently runs in families.
Most people with dyslexia are of average or
above-average intelligence, but read at levels
significantly lower than expected.
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Two-year action research study aimed at helping parents of dyslexic students gain proper
support.
14 parental cases with varying degrees of dyslexic difficulties for the children involved.
Goals of the study:
 Investigated nature of communication between parents of dyslexic students and
teaching professionals.
 Examined experiences of parents of children who have dyslexic difficulties.
 Identified promising policies and practices which promote parental partnership and
dyslexia-friendly schools.
Findings:
 Majority of parents had positive feelings regarding labeling of their child as dyslexic as
it explained the struggles their child was dealing with in school. This was in direct
contrast to teachers feelings that labeling students had negative consequences for
students.
 Many parents paid for professional help outside the school to determine the cause of
their child’s disability.
 Teachers/schools that were willing to reach out to parents when they suspected a
student had dyslexia had mostly positive results with parental reception and
involvement.
Norwich, B., Griffiths, C. & Burden, B. (2005). Dyslexia-friendly schools and parent partnership: inclusion and homeschool relationships. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 20 (2), 147-165.
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Study in Ireland evaluating and comparing children with dyslexia in three different settings:
 Special Schools
 Reading Units
 Mainstream school resource provision
Participants of the study were parents of dyslexic children in the age 8-13 range who had been
assessing special education services for at least two academic years.
Total participants were 113 parents
Findings:
 Results mostly positive for all three categories
 Results MOST positive for special schools
 Very significant finding as parents of dyslexic children in the special schools group
reported the highest levels of happiness for their children.
 Parents in this study are saying that they prefer special education services above all
others for their dyslexic children
 Results least positive for mainstream school resource provision in comparison to the other
two categories
Nugent, M. (2007). Comparing Inclusive and Segregated Settings for Children with Dyslexia – Parental
Perspectives from Ireland. Support for Learning, 22 (2), 52-59.
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Article on Durham, UK program designed to promote dyslexia friendly schools.
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Working group was set up in 1998 to identify policies and guidelines to promote inclusive
schools with respect to dyslexia.
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2001 conference held with key educational leaders and policy makers. Conference was highly
successful and is now an annual event to discuss the promotion and continual improvement
of dyslexia friendly schools.
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Findings:
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Children with dyslexia best served through effective classroom practice and use of
available resources.
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Training is crucial to allow teachers and professional staff the ability to best serve
students with dyslexia.
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Consistent and constant monitoring and reviewing of best practices and teaching
methods for students with dyslexia is critical to success for students in mainstream
classrooms.
Coffield, M. & O’Neill, J. (2004). The Durham Experience: Promoting Dyslexia and Dyspraxia Friendly
Schools. Dyslexia, 10 (3), 253-264.
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Schools need to address parent partnership issues more seriously for
dyslexic students.
Teachers need to:
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Sensitive to parents perspectives regarding dyslexic difficulties of
their children.
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Take concerns of parents seriously and respectfully.
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Assume that parents are highly concerned and interested in their
children’s education.
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Non-involvement of parents does not necessarily mean a lack of
interest.
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Special education environments are still working well for
dyslexic children and therefore inclusion should not be the
only option.
It is important that the voices of parents and children be heard
with respect to dyslexia and not just schools and policy
makers.
Policies and best practices should be supported by evidence
and not just opinions.
Parents and children need to be provided with options so that
they can choose the educational services that are the best fit for
their specific needs.
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One size does not fit all and while inclusion works for many
children with dyslexia it does not work for all and eliminating
special services for children with dyslexia is not a good idea or
best practice.
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Children with dyslexia should be educated in mainstream
schools to promote inclusive practices.
Schools should work closely with parents in a partnership to
continually improve educational methods and instruction
for students with dyslexia.
Important that teachers and schools have high expectations
of students with dyslexia as a means to promote confidence,
self-esteem and higher achievement.
Schools should have regard to inclusive practices and are
responsible for providing equal access to learning for
students with learning disabilities such as dyslexia.
PRO’S
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Inclusion can promote self
confidence and self-esteem if success
is achieved in mainstream
classroom.
Placing dyslexic students in special
education settings may contribute to
their feelings that they are not
intelligent and therefore inclusion is
a much better approach.
CON’S
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Some research has shown that
labeling helps parents and students
with dyslexia explain and cope with
their struggles much better.
Training and monitoring can be
costly and time consuming for
general education teachers and
schools.
Students with dyslexia often feel
embarrassed about their disability
and those feelings can be
devastating if exposed in the general
education setting.
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Teachers need to watch for signs of students being withdrawn or
depressed as this can be a sign of dyslexia. (medicinenet.com)
Setting up students with dyslexia with supportive peers is crucial to
them succeeding in the general education classroom. (Nugent, 2007)
Teachers need to be flexible with how assignments are structured
i.e. allowing dyslexic students to listen to books on tape if the
disability is severe. (Nugent, 2007)
Constant communication with parents is critical for teachers to make
sure that the student is progressing properly. (Coffield & O’Neill,
2004)
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Teachers can help in identifying dyslexia by watching for
symptoms such as reversing letters and numbers, difficulty in
copying work from the board or a book, and general
disorganization of a student’s work. (medicinenet.com)
Accommodations should be provided such as extra time on tests
that require a lot of reading or allowing the child to tape record
lessons at school for playback later. (bing.com)
Creating a clean, organized environment with minimal distractions
is helpful for students with dyslexia. If this environment cannot
fully be achieved in the classroom the teacher should make sure to
let the parents know that this environment would be ideal for the
student’s room at home. (bing.com)
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Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER). (2009).
Retrieved from http://www.bing.com/health/article/mayo117226/Dyslexia?q=dyslexia
Medicinenet.com: We Bring Doctor’s Knowledge to You. (2010). Dyslexia.
Retrieved from http://www.medicinenet.com/dyslexia/article.htm
Organized Wisdom: Health. (2009). Dyslexia Statistics. Retrieved from
http://organizedwisdom.com/Dyslexia_Statistics
Norwich, B., Griffiths, C. & Burden, B. (2005). Dyslexia-friendly schools and
parent partnership: inclusion and home-school relationships. European
Journal of Special Needs Education, 20 (2), 147-165.
Nugent, M. (2007). Comparing Inclusive and Segregated Settings for
Children with Dyslexia – Parental Perspectives from Ireland. Support for
Learning, 22 (2), 52-59.
Coffield, M. & O’Neill, J. (2004). The Durham Experience: Promoting
Dyslexia and Dyspraxia Friendly Schools. Dyslexia, 10 (3), 253-264.
Nugent, M. (2008). Services for Children with Dyslexia – the Child’s
Experience. Educational Psychology in Practice, 24 (3), 189-206.
Phadraig, B. (2007). Towards Inclusion: The Development of Provision for
Children with Special Educational Needs in Ireland from 1991 to 2004. Irish
Educational Studies, 26 (3), 289-300.