Helping to Effectively Support a Dyslexic Boy at School - Assignment Example

How to Effectively Support an 8-year old Boy with Dyslexia in the Primary room Introduction: Dyslexia is a learning disorder caused by Neuro-cognitive phonological deficits to read, listen, write and spell. It is altogether a misconception that under-achieving of children is related to dyslexia syndrome. If it were, then Einstein could have achieved much more than he did as he nine when he started recognizing written words. What is Dyslexia Dyslexia is a term that has been loosely applied to reading disabilities. Specific definitions for dyslexia vary with disciplines. Those in medicine define dyslexia as a condition resulting from neurological, maturational, and genetic causes, while those in psychology relate dyslexia on the basis of the specific reading problems evidenced and give no reference to causation (Mattis, 1978). All disciplines would probably agree that dyslexia is evidenced by persons of otherwise normal intellectual capacity who have not learned to read despite exposure to adequate instruction. According to The British Dyslexia Association, word 'Dyslexia' comes from the Greek language and means 'difficulty with words'. The British Dyslexia Association defines Dyslexia as, "a combination of abilities and difficulties that affect the learning process in one or more of reading, spelling and writing. It is a persistent condition. Accompanying weaknesses may be identified in areas of speed of processing, short term memory, organization, sequencing, and spoken language and motor skills"(British Dyslexia Association, Online Journal). Dyslexia causes difficulties in quite specific areas of learning. It usually affects reading, writing and spelling, but can also influence mathematical skills. The condition is hard to define precisely because dyslexia often overlaps with other types of specific learning difficulties which can also affect spoken language and motor skills (Mattis, 1978). Dyslexia and Cognitive Theories: Although dyslexia can manifest itself in many ways, there may be a single cause: a phonological deficit. Some researchers assert that phonological processing difficulties are fundamental to dyslexia and can be found in all individuals with dyslexia. Other researchers accept the phonological deficit theory but see phonological problems as a symptom of dyslexia, while the cause is related to brain structure. Visual difficulties: Dyslexic people may be unable to process fast-incoming sensory information adequately. This could explain visual difficulties such as unstable binocular vision and unsteady fixation when reading. It might result in visual confusion of letter order, which can lead to poor memory of the visual form of words. Again, this may be a symptom of a deeper cause. Temporal or timing difficulties: Phonological, visual, or motor difficulties may all be indicative of an underlying temporal or timing difficulty, rather than alternative explanations for dyslexia. These timing difficulties may also have their origin in brain structure. Automaticity: Some tasks may be less 'automatic' for dyslexic individuals and may take up more of their concentration and attention than is the case for non-dyslexic individuals. Lack of automaticity in basic skills such as literacy and numeracy could mean that dyslexic people are more likely to experience processing overload when they are required to carry out new or complex tasks. They may need far more practice at any skill before they achieve automaticity. This condition is linked with differences in the structure of the cerebellum. Working memory: Working memory is used to hold new information in the mind for a short time before it is rejected or transferred into long-term memory. Some theorists regard inefficient working memory as being a key underlying factor in dyslexia. 'Difference' model: A lot of research focuses on the deficits associated with dyslexia. It may be more beneficial to refer to cognitive differences, as opposed to deficits, as some of these differences may enable dyslexic individuals to have particular strengths, such as good conceptual and creative higher-order thinking skills. How Is Dyslexia Diagnosed The diagnosis of dyslexia usually begins with awareness by parents or teachers that a problem in reading exists (Keys, 1982). A physician is often the first diagnostician to explore the nature of the difficulty. The medical practitioner should investigate the cause of the reading problem by conducting a complete physical examination and obtaining a comprehensive health history. If indicated, the child should be referred for a neurological examination. If dyslexia is suspected, the physician should refer the child for further evaluation and treatment by a specialist in psycho-educational diagnosis. The major purpose of the diagnostic process is to isolate the specific difficulties associated with dyslexia and to suggest appropriate educational intervention (Helveston, 1969). Usually the diagnostician will employ a battery of assessment instruments that explore the relationship of specific reading problems to the intellectual, achievement, perceptual, linguistic, and adaptive capabilities of the individual. Based on the results, an intervention plan can be implemented by a special educator or remedial reading teacher trained in specialized reading techniques. No one remedial reading method works for all reading disabled students. Therefore it is important that the teacher have mastery of many different techniques. Characteristics of Dyslexia: An individual is identified as dyslexic when a significant discrepancy exists between intellectual ability and reading performance without an apparent physical, emotional, or cultural cause. Specific reading problems associated with dyslexia include difficulty in pronouncing new words, difficulty distinguishing similarities and differences in words, and difficulty discriminating differences in letter sound. Other problems may include reversal of words and letters, disorganization of word order, poor reading comprehension, and difficulty applying what has been read to social or learning situations. What Factors Contribute To Dyslexia Ocular Problems It has been found that dyslexic individuals have no greater incidence of eye problems than do individuals with normal reading ability (Helveston, 1969). Such parameters as visual acuity, stereo acuity, ocular alignment and motility, fusion status (break point amplitude), and refractive error have not been shown to be significantly different in poor versus normal readers. Individuals with reading problems should, however, have a careful eye examination as part of an overall medical examination. There is no scientific evidence that visual training (including eye muscle exercises, ocular tracking or pursuit exercises, or glasses with bifocals or prisms) leads to significant improvement in the performance of dyslexic individuals. Language Problems According to Mattis (1978), the primary contributing factor to dyslexia is an auditory language deficit. Approximately 86% of the individuals identified as dyslexic evidence an auditory language disorder that prevents the individual from linking the spoken form of a word with its written equivalent. In light of this, any individual with reading problems should have a careful evaluation of his or her language capabilities and where indicated, appropriate speech and language intervention should be provided. Visuo-Spatial-Motor Problems In contrast to language problems, visuo-spatial-motor factors of dyslexia appear less frequently (Robinson and Schwartz 1973). Approximately 5% of the individuals identified as dyslexic have a visuo-spatial-motor problem that interferes with sequential organization, scanning, and the perception of temporal and spatial cues. Although visuo-spatial-motor confusion is common in young children who are just learning to read, these problems do not tend to account for severe and persistent reading difficulties unless the child has missed so much basic reading instruction that he cannot get caught up. Assessment of visual, spatial, and motor capacities should be included in the diagnosis of any coordination or orientation disorder; however, there is no scientific evidence that interventions such as neurological and sensory organizational training, laterality training, dominance training, balance beam, or reflex inhibition will significantly accelerate reading performance. Other Factors The importance of general intelligence in learning to read has been examined and shown to be a critical factor in both reading and language abilities. Investigations of the role of dominance in handedness, eyedness, and mixed laterality have produced no consistent conclusions. Studies investigating low birth weight, EEG abnormalities, temperamental attributes, attention deficit disorders, birth order, food additives, and chemical allergies have yielded mixed results. What is clear is that a wide range of factors can be associated with reading difficulties but that these factors work differently in different children. There is no simple formula for diagnosing and treating a dyslexic child. Each one requires his/her own individual program. Dyslexia - is it genetic Dyslexia does appear to run in some families. Researchers have discovered families in which reading difficulties have spanned several generations. It is likely that there is a genetic component which makes some family members prone to the condition. Recent research has focused on chromosome 6, but the specific genetic link has not been conclusively identified. Whether or not there is an obvious family history, it is important to identify whether dyslexia is the reason any individual may be having difficulties. According to the British Dyslexia Association about three times as many boys as girls are diagnosed as dyslexic in British schools. Professor Miles' study in 1980 and other studies have reported similar figures. Dyslexia and Classroom: Dyslexia sometimes used to be dismissed as a 'middle-class disease'. Teachers who did not understand the condition believed that it was being used as an excuse by middle class parents who could not accept that their children were slow learners. However, it is becoming clear that dyslexia is widespread and occurs across the whole range of the population. The British Dyslexia Association supports this view and suggests that the condition is found equally among people of all social classes and abilities. It may simply be easier to recognize in a child who in other ways seems to be making good progress than in one who is generally a slow learner or where there may be lower expectations because of social background. The vast majority of people with dyslexia can lead perfectly normal lives if they are given the help they need. The disability is so common that most of us live and work with dyslexic people without realizing anything is wrong. Dyslexia does not affect intelligence and dyslexic people can be successful in any area of life, often excelling in the visual arts, music and the theatre. Every dyslexic child suffers from bullying at some stage in their schooling, and, combined with the difficulties they experience with spelling, writing and reading, being bullied can have a devastating effect on their self-confidence and achievement. If a dyslexic child appears to be low in spirits, or to be on their own in the yard/playground, it is important to enquire whether they are being bullied. Sometimes they may be reluctant to speak out as they fear further reprisals from the bully. However, if they are asked when one or two of their friends are present, this may result in their friends saying what is really happening. This will allow the whole matter to come out into the open, and usually the child being bullied experiences a great sense of relief. Dyslexia may not affect some one in the same way as it does to other. Hence, it manifests itself differently from individual to individual. However, the only common factor seems to be that these individuals read at levels significantly lower than typical people of a similar age and intelligence. Reading, whether silent or aloud, has to do with processing sound, which is a very complex mixture of frequencies with variable intensities. Analyzing it accurately and so quickly may seem to be lots easier then what it really is. That is why many voice recognition systems are still imperfect. Analysis of sounds is done in the inner ear, more specifically in the cochlea. If the cochlea is not analyzing sounds accurately, dyslexia can occur. Each sound has a base frequency and some higher harmonics. When some sounds have nearly the same frequency, differing only in the higher harmonics, a person with dyslexia might misinterpret them. Consequently, the person with dyslexia tends to process language at a slower rate. They just have an auditory processing problem. To address this problem ears are retained to hear and process these differences much better. This s done by listening to gated music, using specific high frequency bands. This makes it gradually possible to distinguish between the higher harmonics. Once this problem is fixed, improving the spelling may also become possible. Reading is a complex act that requires the ears and eyes to work together synchronously. As the eyes see a letter, the ears identify the corresponding sound even when reading silently. Then, the vestibule leads the eye from letter to letter and the cochlea translates each letter into a sound. Ideally, both operations should happen almost simultaneously. The trouble starts when the delay is too long. So, if the vestibule and cochlea are not in synchronization, the eyes and ears are not in synchronization either. To make things more complicated, each sound lasts a specific time. The ear constantly has to adjust to these rapid changes. When it does not, the eyes and ears are no longer in synchronization. The right sound is not put together with the right letter. Without the sound, the letter remains dead. The meaning cannot emerge. The dyslexic is left second-guessing, hoping for a miracle taking the chance to utter finally a sound that might fit the letter of the alphabet dancing on the page. To impact the functioning of the vestibule, listening to low frequency gated music is experimented. The effects are usually very rapid and very visible. People quickly improve their motor skills and posture. They often start to do better in sports, improving their self-esteem. Gradually, it becomes possible to read with more pleasure, and further improve spelling. Dyslexic children are helped most when their condition is identified early and is known to all their teachers. Dyslexic students who obtain additional specialist help for the greatest possible time before transfer to secondary school at age 11 are less likely to experience emotional problems. Taking too long in assessing such problem in students may waste students' time and lowering their confidence. Good progress in reading is usually linked to a highly-structured program of teaching, often involving a multi-sensory approach. This will result in students making progress in spelling, although seldom to the same extent as in reading, and make much more limited progress in the development of their writing. Spelling and writing poses problems for many dyslexic pupils after their transfer to secondary school. Teaching Methods: Young children, which are 8 years old, may face certain difficulties in school. These children may face; Difficulty pronouncing words, may reverse or substitute parts of words Difficulty carrying out a sequence of directions Difficulty while hearing fine differences in words; e.g., writes "pin" for "pen" problems stating thoughts in an organized way Confusion in the order of letters in words Recognizing words previously learned Spelling a word several different ways; cannot recognize the correct version Dilemma over poor reading comprehension Multi-Sensory Teaching Styles: In his book, Gavin Reid suggests that, "It is important that teaching methods are set in context as no strategy, program or approach can stand in isolation - each has to be part of a bigger package, preferably a whole school package (Reid G, 2003, p.13)." According to him, "Dyslexic children may not readily consolidate new learning and therefore find it difficult to change inappropriate learning habits (p.11)." Because dyslexia can affect many areas of language and thus it can have an impact on all subject areas, it becomes imperative for teachers to present information, to help students interact with information and how to evaluate acquisition of information. Therefore, it also becomes important for teachers to remember and get used to with the learning styles of children with dyslexia. These children of average age of 8 years need to be involved, as much as possible, to the use multi-sensory teaching methods and teachers must use a varied teaching style. Inclusion: Studies from the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development have shown that for children with difficulties learning to read, a multi-sensory teaching method is the most effective approach or treatment. Using a multi-sensory teaching approach means helping a child to learn through more than one of the senses. Most teaching in schools is done using either sight or hearing (auditory sensations). The child's sight is used in reading information, looking at diagrams or pictures, or reading what is on the teacher's board. The sense of hearing is used in listening to what the teacher says. A dyslexic child may experience difficulties with either or both of these senses. The child's vision may be affected by difficulties with tracking, visual processing or seeing the words become fuzzy or move around. The child's hearing may be satisfactory on a hearing test, but auditory memory or auditory processing may be weak. In the multi-sensory teaching approach, goal is to create a sequential system that builds on itself in an almost 3-dimensional way. It shows how sounds and letters are related and how they act in words; it also shows how to attack a word and break it into smaller pieces and it incorporates following subjects in its curriculum. Phonemic Awareness: It is the first step. In this step, children of 6-8 years age are taught how to listen to a single word or syllable and break it into individual phonemes. They also have to be able to take individual sounds and blend them into a word, change sounds, delete sounds, and compare sounds. These skills are easiest to learn before someone brings in printed letters. Phoneme/Grapheme Correspondence is the next step. In this step, these children are taught which sounds are represented by which letters, and how to blend these letters into single-syllable words. The Six Types of Syllables that compose English words are taught next. If 8-year old children know what type of syllable they're looking at, they'll know what sound the vowel will make. Conversely, when they hear a vowel sound, they'll know how the syllable must be spelled to make that sound. Probabilities and Rules are then taught, in which, the English language provides several ways to spell the same sounds. For example, the sound 'SHUN' can be spelled either as 'TION', 'SION', or 'CION' (Teaching Methods, Bright Solutions for Dyslexia). The sound of /J/ at the end of a word can be spelled GE or DGE. Dyslexic students need to be taught these rules and probabilities. Roots and Affixes, as well as Morphology are then taught to expand a student's vocabulary and ability to comprehend unfamiliar words. For instance, once a student has been taught that the Latin root TRACT means pull, and a student knows the various Latin affixes, the student can figure out that retract means pull again, contract means pull together, subtract means pull away (or pull under), while tractor means a machine that pulls. Simultaneous Multi-sensory Instruction: Research has shown that dyslexic people who use all of their senses when they learn (visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic) are better able to store and retrieve the information. So a beginning dyslexic student might see the letter A, say its name and sound, and write it in the air all at the same time. It must also be noted that instruction for dyslexic students must be much more intense, and offer much more practice, than for regular readers. Proficient reading is an essential tool for learning a large part of the subject matter taught at school. With an ever increasing emphasis on education and literacy, more and more children and adults need help in learning to read, spell, express their thoughts on paper and acquire adequate use of grammar. A dyslexic child who finds the acquisition of these literacy skills difficult can also suffer a lot of anguish and trauma when they may feel mentally abused by their peers within the school environment, because they have a learning difficulty. Much can be done to alleviate this by integrating the child into the class environment (which is predominantly a learning environment) where he/she can feel comfortable and develop confidence and self esteem. These children can be made to feel very different from their peers simply because they may be unable to follow simple instructions, which for others seem easy. It is a class teacher's responsibility to provide an atmosphere conducive to learning for all pupils within their class. Spelling is the activity which causes most difficulty for dyslexic children. The observation of spelling errors in short, simple words is the way in which most dyslexic children first come our attention. Examples of words which cause particular difficulty are: any, many, island, said, they, because, enough, and friend. Other words will sometimes be spelt in the way that you would expect them to be spelt if our spelling system were rational, for example does/dus, please/pleeze, knock/nock, search/serch, journey/jerney, etc. The BPS report (1999) suggests that, "Bottom-up approaches to achieve 'accurate and fluent word decoding is a pre-requisite for efficient reading for interest and information' and that 'reading development is dependent on the teaching methods deployed, and also, the language in which children are learning to read", and "the efficiency and integrity of underlying phonological abilities will determine how effectively children are able to learn through independent reading (p.237)." Conclusion: The explosion in neuro-scientific knowledge has profound implications for education (Fawcett, 2007). Specific learning disabilities provide the crucible in which the discipline may be forged, illustrating the scope by consideration of developmental dyslexia. Current approaches have failed to establish consensus on fundamental issues such as theoretical causes, diagnostic methods, and treatment strategies. It can be argued that these difficulties arise from diagnosis via behavioral or cognitive symptoms, even though they may arise from diverse causes. Rather than an inconvenience, variability of secondary symptoms within and across learning disabilities can inform both diagnosis and treatment. Dyslexics have much strength: oral skills, comprehension, good visual spatial awareness/artistic abilities. More and more dyslexic children could become talented and gifted members of our schools if we worked not only with their specific areas of difficulty, but also their specific areas of strengths from an early age (Patricia Lynn Hodge, A Dyslexic Child in the Classroom). To do this we have to let go of outmoded viewpoints that a dyslexic child must first fail, in order to be identified. Researchers are making great strides understanding the genetic and neurological causes of dyslexia. Educators and parents must take this information and convey it to children with dyslexia. Children with dyslexia need to learn facts based on sound scientific information to build accurate conceptions of their disability in their minds. Conceptions built on scientific facts provide empowerment, understanding, and self-esteem. Although we are still a long way from understanding the causes of reading deficiencies, collaboration between neuroscience, psychology and education does help further our understanding of the psychology of reading, its diagnosis and its intervention (Lopez, 2007). Though it may not be that easy, certainly it is possible to device curriculum and teach an eight year old child how to learn and read. References: British Dyslexia Association, What is Dyslexia. Available Online: Retrieved on 03 April, 2007 from http://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/whatisdyslexia.html Teaching Methods That Work, Bright Solutions For Dyslexia. Available Online: Retrieved on 03 April, 2007 from http://www.dys-add.com/teach.html (1978) Mattis, S. "Dyslexia Syndromes: A Working Hypothesis." (1982) Keys, M. P. "Reading Disabilities" (1969) Helveston, E. M. "Editorial - THE SIGHT SAVING REVIEW" (1999) BPS Dyslexia - Literacy and Psychological Assessment. Leicester: British Psychological Society. (2003) Reid, G. (2003) Dyslexia: A Practitioner's Handbook (3rd edition) (2007) Fawcett AJ, Dyslexia, learning, and pedagogical neuroscience. Available Online: Retrieved on 04 April, 2007 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgiitool=abstractplus&db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=abstractplus&list_uids=17285523 (2007) Lopez-Escribano C, Contributions of neuroscience to the diagnosis and educational treatment of developmental dyslexia. Available Online: Retrieved on 04 April, 2007 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgiitool=abstractplus&db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=abstractplus&list_uids=15573964 (2000) Patricia Lynn Hodge, A Dyslexic Child in the Classroom. A guide for teachers and parents. Available Online: Retrieved on 04 April, 2007 from http://www.dyslexia.com/library/classroom.htm Read More