Parent Information
Characteristics
of Dyslexia
The
student who struggles with reading and spelling often puzzles teachers and
parents. The student displays adequate average ability to learn in the
absence of print and receives the same classroom instruction that benefits most
children. Still, the student struggles with some or all of the many facets
of reading and spelling. This student may be a student with dyslexia.
The
difficulties of a student with dyslexia occur in phonemic awareness and
manipulation, and single-word decoding. They may have poor reading fluency and
spelling. All of these difficulties can cause secondary consequences in
reading comprehension and/or written composition. Other consequences of
having dyslexia are reduced reading experiences and poor growth of reading
vocabulary. These difficulties are unexpected for the student’s age,
educational level or background, or cognitive abilities.
It often
runs in families and may be caused by naturally occurring brain
differences. Many individuals learn to compensate for or practically
overcome their weakness through proper teaching method and practice.
Students with dyslexia can learn; they just learn in a different style.
Often these students are said to have language learning differences. They
tend to have talented productive minds.
The International Dyslexia
Association defines dyslexia as:
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 (Adopted by the
International Dyslexia Association Board of Directors, November 12, 2002).
The
characteristics of dyslexia vary from person to person and will depend on the
age and/or grade of the student. Some children experience problems in
many areas while some may have a difficulty in only one area. Students
with dyslexia may exhibit one or more of these characteristics even after being
provided interventions to correct the problem.
Everyone
can probably check one or two of these characteristics. That does not
mean that everyone has dyslexia. A person with dyslexia usually has
several of these characteristics, which persist over time and are persistent
after providing interventions to correct the difficulties.
Identification
of Dyslexia
Section
504 or IDEA (Special Education) procedures will be followed when conducting an
evaluation for dyslexia.
The
dyslexia evaluation consists of various tests depending on the student’s age
and stage of reading development. The following areas may be
assessed: reading real words in isolation, decoding non-sense words,
phonological awareness, letter/sound knowledge, fluency rate & accuracy,
reading comprehension and/or written spelling.
The
results of the dyslexia evaluation will be entered into a report, which will be
reviewed by the Section 504 or ARD Committee. The committee will
determine whether the student meets eligibility as a student with dyslexia.
Effective
Strategies for Instructing Students with Dyslexia
Effective
teaching strategies include:
- Explicit, direct
instruction-reading, spelling, and writing skills must be directly taught
- Systematically &
cumulative instruction-concepts must be introduced in a definite, logical
sequence
- Sequential & structured
instruction—step by step procedures are used to introduce, review, and
practice concepts
- Meaning-based instruction
- Multi-sensory
instruction—visual, auditory, and kinesthetic senses are engaged in the
learning process
Based
upon the areas of need for the student with dyslexia, the teacher may provide
instruction in these areas:
- Phonemic awareness
instruction that enables the student to detect, segment, blend, and
manipulate sounds in spoken language
- Phonics instruction that
takes advantage of the letter-sound plan in which words that carry meaning
are made of sounds and sounds are written with letters in the right
order. Students with this understanding can blend sounds associated
with letters into words and can separate words into component sounds for
spelling and writing
- Language structure
instruction that encompasses studying the meaningful units of language
(such as prefixes, suffixes, and roots), semantics (ways language conveys
meaning), syntax (sentence structure), and pragmatics (how to use language
in a particular context),
- Linguistic instruction
directed toward proficiency and fluency with the patterns of language so
that words and sentences are the carriers of meaning
- Strategy-oriented
instruction in the processes or strategies students use for decoding,
encoding, word recognition, fluency, and comprehension that students need
to become independent readers.
Accommodations
Teaching
students with dyslexia across setting and subjects can be challenging.
When necessary, students with dyslexia may need accommodations. Accommodations
should not interfere with the focus of the lesson. Accommodations are
educationally appropriate and can be very effective in enabling students with
dyslexia to access curriculum in all subjects. Which accommodations used
should be based on the need of the student with dyslexia. However, many
accommodations that are traditionally used are not allowable on state
assessments. If the student is in Section 504, accommodations will be
decided by that committee. If the student is in Special Education,
the ARD committee will determine the accommodations.
Each
school year, the Texas Education Agency determines what accommodations are
allowable on the state assessments and who can use these accommodations.
By clicking on the link below, you can find the most up-to-dateinformation
concerning the state assessment accommodations.
TEA
Student Assessment Division
Frequently
Asked Questions
Is there
one test that can be used to determine that a student has dyslexia or a related
disorder?
There is no
one test. Schools should use multiple data sources including formal and
informal measures that are appropriate for determining
dyslexia.Readingassessments, as appropriate for the reading development of the
student, should include: reading real words in isolation, reading nonsense
words in isolation, phonological awareness, letter-sound knowledge, rapid
naming, reading fluency rate & accuracy, reading comprehension, and/or
written spelling.
Do
students with dyslexia see things backwards?
No,
studies have proven the person with dyslexia is not seeing letters
backwards.
Do
students with dyslexia make more reversal errors than other students?
According
to research conducted with the NICHD, students with dyslexia make more reversal
errors than students who are proficient readers. However, the percentage
of reversal errors was not significantly different for the 2 groups studied.
How is a
student with dyslexia different from a skilled reader?
Students
with dyslexia do not pick up patterns of a language. Their difficulties
lie in the phonological and orthographic levels. Deficits in the
phonological awareness reflect the core deficit in students with dyslexia.
Can
dyslexia be inherited?
Yes,
dyslexia can run in families. Studies have shown a student with dyslexia
is eight times as likely to have a parent with dyslexia.
How long
will it take before my child is cured of dyslexia?
Dyslexia
is a life-long condition. It is not a disease. But with direct,
explicit, multi-sensory instruction, your student’s reading will improve.
This may take time. It is unrealistic to expect this to happen
overnight.
Do all
students with dyslexia also have ADD?
No, not
all students with dyslexia have ADD. And not all students with ADD have
dyslexia. ADD and dyslexia may be present in the same child, but they are
separate factors. ADD does not effect acquisition of word-level decoding
skills.
Websites
International Dyslexia
Association
Center for Learning Disabilities WTAMU