Dyslexia TrainingPresented by: Rebecca McKeever

Charlotte Murdock

Sarah Gabrielson

Randolph Township Schools

Randolph, NJ

What do these creative, successful people have in

common ?

Introduction—pre assessment activity

Legislation/Definition

Simulation Activity 1

Screening

Myths

Characteristics of Dyslexia

Simulation Activity 2

Interventions

Accommodations

Technology for use with students with reading disabilities, including dyslexia

Post assessment activity/share

Introduction

• On December 8, 2008, legislation was

introduced by the Senate in New Jersey

authorizing the establishment of the New

Jersey Reading Disabilities Task Force.

Introduction (con’t.)

The Reading Disabilities Task Force enabling legislation declared that:

1) Approximately 85% of all children who receive special education services have basic deficits in language and reading;

2) Many students with reading disabilities are never properly diagnosed and do not receive the necessary specialized educational programs, and

3) It is in the public interest for the State to establish a “Reading Disabilities Task Force” to study instructional practices and strategies that benefit students with reading disabilities and examine the way in which current NJ State policies affect this population.

Adopted Definition“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”Source: International Dyslexia Association, 2002

Screenings• It is possible to identify boys and girls at a high risk for dyslexia BEFORE they fall

behind.

• Two methods of screenings: large population screenings to determine at risk

students, and individual in-depth evaluations of children with specific concerns

• Large population screenings include:

- DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills)

is designed for PreK through grade three students,

and helps identify students at risk for reading difficulties

• Individual evaluations include:

- tests to evaluated phonologic skills and reading readiness for grade K-adult

© Source: Shaywitz, S. (2003) Overcoming Dyslexia, Random House, Inc.

Simulation Activity #1

• Comprehension questions:

• 1) Why are images good for Web

accessibility?

• 2) Who would be negatively impacted by a

text-only site?

The Unmodified Paragraph

• “Would a text-only site be ideal for someone

with a reading disorder? Hardly. Images are

not bad for accessibility. They actually

increase comprehension and usability for

most audiences.”

Unmodified Paragraph (Con’t)

• What many people do not know, though, is there is

much more to the accessibility of an image than just

its alt text. Some people wrongly assume that images

are bad for accessibility, since alt text essentially

replaces the image with a text-only version of that

image.”

• By Paul Bohman

http://webaim.org/simulations/dyslexia-sim.html

Early Warning Signs/ Characteristics of a Dyslexic

Preschool Age:

- Trouble learning nursery rhymes (Humpty

Dumpty, etc.)

- Difficulty learning/remembering names of letters

- Difficulty knowing letters in own name

- Lack of appreciation of rhymes

Characteristics, cont.

Kindergarten/ 1st Grade:

- Failure to understand that words come apart into sounds

(phonemes)

- Failure to associate letters with their sounds

- Difficulties sounding out simple one-syllable words (cat, map)

- Reading errors that show no connections to the sound of the

letters

- Family history of reading struggles

Characteristics, cont.

Second Grade through Middle School:

Speaking:

- Speaks with pauses, umms

- Can’t come up with specific words, uses “thing” or

“stuff” frequently

- Confuses words that sound alike (ocean-lotion)

- Requires extra “think time” to respond

Reading• Very slow in acquiring reading skills. Reading is slow

and awkward

• Trouble reading unfamiliar words, often making wild

guesses because he cannot sound out the word.

• Doesn’t seem to have a strategy for reading new

words

• Avoids reading out loud

General School & Everyday Life:

- Trouble remembering names, dates

- Pronounces names incorrectly

- Messy handwriting

- Trouble finishing tasks on time

Strengths of People with Dyslexia

• Creative, “out of the box” thinkers- great imaginations

• Strong comprehension of stories told/read to them

• Good at puzzles, building models

• Able to get the “big picture”- good conceptual skills

• Able to link abstract ideas together

• Often good at math, visual arts©source: http://dyslexia.yale.edu/PRNT_signs.html

Interventions

• Poor phonological awareness is associated with

dyslexia.

• Phonological awareness is the ability to perceive

and manipulate the sounds that make up the

words in a person’s language.

• For most children, development of phonological

awareness is automatic.

The 44 Phonemes of English

• A phoneme is a speech sound. It is the

smallest unit of sound that distinguishes one

word from another.

• The 44 English phonemes are represented by

the 26 letters of the alphabet individually and

in combination.

Phonemic Awareness abilities

Blending (Decoding)

• “If I put these sounds

together, what word am I

saying?”

• /f/ /i/ /sh/

Segmentation (Encoding)

• “Tell me the three sounds

you hear in the word fish?

Accommodations

Accommodations and modifications are designed to “level the playing field” and provide equal

opportunity to students with dyslexia, not to provide an unfair advantage. Students with dyslexia are provided with extra time because they need this

extra time to demonstrate their knowledge.Source: Mather & Wendling, 2012

Accommodations

TIME

EXTRA TIME, EXTRA TIME, EXTRA TIME!

Accommodations

NOISE

Many dyslexic students find background noise

helps them to concentrate. In the classroom

noise from other students or a very quiet

classroom can be distracting. Using an MP3

player or IPOD may be helpful.

Accommodations

TESTING

• Test orally if handwriting is slow or difficult to read.

• Permit use of a computer for written assignments.

• Design questions and assignments around a given

conclusion or fact. Dyslexic students think in concrete

wholes.

Accommodations

WRITING

• Do not base grades on spelling, grammatical

errors or punctuation.

• Do not expect the dyslexic student to use a

dictionary.

• Look for ideas and concepts.

Andrew Says:

Andrew is a 13 year-old student with dyslexia.

When asked what modifications have helped

him, he responded with the following:

• Extra time. “But I really don’t like being singled

out for extra time and have refused it going into

high school. It was OK in elementary school.”

Andrew says:

• Notes ahead of time. Copying from the board is

difficult and takes a lot of time.

• Assignments available on line. Not unusual to

get home and not be able to read the assignment

or it might be incomplete.

• Extra set of books at home. Reading ahead and

practicing is very helpful.

Andrew says:

• Math assignments on vertical lined or graph

paper helps.

• Steps highlighted. Step one is always a

specific color, step two always another color,

etc.

What can you do to help the dyslexic student?

• Encourage – build self esteem.

• Answer questions often – precisely and

specifically.

• Chunk assignments.

• Turn written assignments into projects.

• Talk about a subject, rather than requiring the

student to read about it.

• When they look like they are day dreaming,

they may be learning by listening.

• Use as few words as possible to explain a

concept.

• Try to keep lessons short and to one concept.

• Use concrete pictures and diagrams.

Resources• International Dyslexia Association :

http://www.interdys.org

• The Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity :

• http://www.dyslexia.yale.edu