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Chapter 4: Characteristics of Dyslexia by Age Group - Strengths and Weaknesses

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Chapter 4: Characteristics of Dyslexia by Age Group - Strengths and Weaknesses

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1. Dyslexia ranges from a student being mildly affected to being severely impaired.

2. Inability to sound out new words is a symptom known to be indicative of dyslexia. A way of assessing the ability to sound out unfamiliar words is to ask individual to decode nonword, which by definition are unfamiliar.

3. Limited sight-word vocabulary is a symptom known to be indicative of dyslexia. If sufficient number of words cannot be decoded automatically, fluency for reading connected text can be limited to the point that comprehension is disrupted. A good measure of limited sight-word vocabulary is to assess the accuracy and fluency of decoding common words once children have begun to learn to read.

4. When listening comprehension exceeds reading comprehension, that is a symptom known to be indicative of dyslexia. Individuals who struggle at reading words are often able to better comprehend material by listening to it rather than reading it. Although listening comprehension exceeding reading comprehension is a symptom indicative of dyslexia, it also has a functional significance: Assistive technology programs that convert text to speech can be a useful accommodation to help the student succeed in situations despite his decoding difficulty.

5. Another symptom known to be indicative of dyslexia is inadequate response to effective instruction and intervention. Factors that need to be taken into account include the possibility of limited exposure to reading instruction because of extensive absences form school, or exposure to poor instruction. Documenting inadequate response to effective instruction and intervention can help rule out these possibilities.

6. Research indicates that students exhibit difficulty with literacy skills as early as preschool. Preschool, frequent reading, and activities like songs and rhymes all play a part in a child's early literacy development. Children in preschool with dyslexia may show difficulty recognizing their own name in print, difficulty learning nursery rhymes or recognizing rhyming patterns, lack of interest in books, delayed language and vocabulary development, difficulty pronouncing familiar words, and more.

7. Formal reading instruction begins in kindergarten. students in kindergarten receive active instruction in developing phonemic awareness and in phonics. The ability to identify all letters of the alphabet by name and sound at the end of the first semester of kindergarten is a kay instructional goal. Students in kindergarten through first grade who have dyslexia may show inability to create a rhyme for a simple one-syllable word, inability to separate a compound word into two words, tendency to read words with no connection to the letters on the page, confusion over the letters "b" and "d," especially when writing, and more.

8. Second grade through third grade is when passages and words become longer, and grammar and use of different verb tenses are more complicated; there is an increased focus on comprehending and responding to reading. At this age, students are expected to write one or more paragraphs with mostly standard spelling. Students in second through third grade who have dyslexia may show omission of grammatical endings in reading and writing (-s, -ed, -ing, and so forth), avoidance of reading aloud of frustration with reading tasks, frequent confusion over words that look similar, such as "what/want" and "these/those", difficulty decoding single words, confusion over small words, and more.

9. In fourth through eighth grade, reading demands a dramatic increase from teaching student how to read to using reading as a tool for students to learn new information.This transition moves from "learning to read" to "reading to learn". Writing demands also increase dramatically and students are expected to compose multi paragraph essays. Fourth through eighth grade students who have dyslexia may have a history of struggling to read or poor reading skills, consistent choices in independent reading that are below grade level, avoidance of reading for pleasure or reading aloud, poor performance on written, timed tests and better performance on oral exams, difficulty with word problems in mathematics, and more.

10. Many individuals with dyslexia go undiagnosed or are diagnosed only once in high school or college. Common signs of dyslexia in young adults who have not been previously identified include a tendency to read with great effort and at a slow pace, difficulty with note taking in lecture-based classes, frequent mispronunciation of the names of people and places, difficulty remembering names of people and places and confusion over names that sound alike, and more.

11. Despite possible academic difficulties, individuals with dyslexia may also be gifted and talented in various areas. Dyslexia often exists in persons with aptitudes, talents, and abilities that enable them to be successful in many other domains.

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Chapter 3: Dyslexia as a Language-Learning Disability

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Chapter 3: Dyslexia as a Language-Learning Disability

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1. The disorder may involve the form of language, the content of language, and/or the function of language in communication, in any combination.

2. Students with dyslexia experience difficulties in reading and written expression. Although students with dyslexia may also experience difficulty with spoken language abilities, the most widely reported characteristics of dyslexia are problems in word-level reading of both real and predictable pseudo-words and spelling.

3. Some students without dyslexia may struggle to read for various reasons such as lack of interest and motivation, inadequate or insufficient instruction, low general intellectual ability, less exposure to language within home environment, or weak English language skills when learning English as a second language.

4. Majority of people with dyslexia have a core deficit in the phonological (speech sounds) processing component of language. Phonological processing includes phonological memory, phonological awareness, and speed of naming.

5. Phonological awareness refers to an individual's awareness of an access to the sound structure of oral language. it is understanding that spoken language can be divided into smaller units and that those units can be identified and manipulated. Difficulty in phonological awareness is a key predictor of dyslexia.

6. Phonemic awareness is a subset of phonological awareness that refers specifically to the understanding of and ability to manipulate the discrete, individual sounds of language and the understanding that it is possible to create words with different meanings by adding, deleting, or substituting individual sounds within a word.

7. Phonological memory refers to coding information in working or short-term memory (storing a phone number temporarily in working memory as you walk toward the phone to dial the number by storing a phonological representation of the sounds of the digit names rather than a visual representation of the numbers).

8. Phonological coding in working memory is important when attempting to decode unfamiliar words, especially multisyllabic words when intermediate phonemes and syllables need to be stored during the process of applying decoding strategies.

9. Rapid naming refers to the ability to quickly name digits, letters, objects, or colors. It requires efficient retrieval of phonological information from long-term memory, the same type of ability that is the foundation of word identification-decoding.

10. Students with dyslexia may have a history of delayed speech or language development.

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Chapter 11: Effective Approaches for Teaching Students with Dyslexia

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Chapter 11: Effective Approaches for Teaching Students with Dyslexia

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1. Teachers must be familiar with evidence-based strategies that have proven to be effective in supporting students with dyslexia.

2. According to researchers at the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development, for 90 to 95 percent of poor readers, prevention and early intervention programs that combine instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency development, and reading comprehension strategies—provided by well-trained, linguistically informed teachers—can increase reading skills to average reading levels or above (Lyon 1997).

3. Simultaneous Multisensory (Multimodal):The nature of every oral and written language task requires integration of at least two sensory pathways: Copying: visual to kinesthetic-motor (for writing), silent reading: visual to auditory (inner), oral reading: visual to auditory to kinesthetic-motor (for speech), speaking: auditory (inner) to kinesthetic-motor (for speech)

4. Research has shown that dyslexia is almost always the result of deficits in multiple processes and that weak phonological processing is the most important causal factor (Peterson, Pennington, and Olson 2013).

5. All concepts, skills, and procedures are deliberately taught and practiced with teacher guidance and feedback.

6. Teachers must individualize instruction (even within groups) based on careful and continuous assessment using both informal (e.g., observation) and formal (i.e., standardized) tools

7. Instruction is scaffolded and begins with teaching of the simple, most basic language concepts and elements and progresses systematically to more difficult and complex concepts and elements. Instruction in every lesson moves from teaching of skills to functional use and application of skills.

8. Phonology is the study of the sound structure of spoken words within a single language (e.g., English).

9. Students must learn to associate the sounds (phonemes) with the letters (graphemes) that represent them, and then form the letter or letters (grapheme) that spell that phoneme.

10. Below are some examples of accommodations grouped by task for students with dyslexia: Accommodations for homework assignments may include reducing homework, allowing students to dictate their answers, allowing typewritten work, and allowing extended time to complete assignments, accommodations for spelling may include the teacher reducing the number of items on spelling lists, providing access to spell-check and word prediction software, and not deducting points for spelling errors.

11. Progress Monitoring: The following questions should be considered: 1. Did the strategy help the student in achieving the academic goal? 2. Did the accommodation allow the student to produce or access grade-level products and materials? 3. Will the strategy or accommodation need to be included in the student’s academic portfolio in the future?

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-Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin.
-It is characterized as difficulties with accurate and/or fluent recognition and poor decoding abilities and spelling.
-Dyslexia is part of the California regulations that involves students who qualify for special education services.
-Specific learning disability is a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or using language.
-Specific learning disabilities do not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual,hearing, or motor disabilities, of intellectual disability, of emotional disturbance.
-Dyslexia is an unexpected difficulty in reading for and individual who has the intelligence to be a much better reader.
-Dyslexia is a paradox, an individual with it may have weakness in decoding that results in difficulties in accurate and fluent word recognition.
-Great progress has been made in understanding dyslexia on a scientific level.
-Early diagnosis is especially critical for narrowing the achievement gap, which is present as early as first grade.
-Dyslexia often occurs in combination with other handicapping conditions (e.g.,dysgraphia, dysxalculia, oral language impairment, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder).

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-Dyslexia is a neurobiological disorder with brain patterns that reflect poor phonological and orthographic processing.
-Neural signatures of dyslexia are often seen in students with dyslexia, even before they are formally taught to read.
-A child at high risk for developing dyslexia may have a related family member with dyslexia.
-Neural signatures for dyslexia are likely to change with reading intervention.
-Neural signatures of dyslexia are reliable.
-Neural signatures of dyslexia are predictive of dyslexia risk and outcome.
-Neural signatures of dyslexia change with intervention.
-Neural signatures of dyslexia are present even in gifted students whose discrepant reading may be masked because it is within average range.
-Neurological research shows that dyslexia is a real condition and that scientists have been able to locate unique identifiers.
-Neuroscience is showing new evidence that aligns with earlier work of the importance and possibility of early identification.

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Chapter 10: Special Education and 504 Plans 

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Chapter 10: Special Education and 504 Plans 

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1. A student who has dyslexia does not necessarily need special education and is not automatically eligible to receive it.

2. California law states that “A pupil shall be referred for special educational instruction and services only after the resources of the regular education program have been considered and, where appropriate, utilized” (Education Code Section 56303).

3. Although dyslexia falls under the special education eligibility criteria of specific learning disabilities, there is nothing in the IDEA that would prohibit the use of the terms dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia in IDEA evaluation, eligibility determinations, or IEP documents.

4. there could be situations where the child’s parents and the team of qualified professionals responsible for determining whether the child has a specific learning disability would find it helpful to include information about the specific condition (e.g., dyslexia) in documenting how that condition relates to the child’s eligibility

5. Some other examples of items that might be included in a Section 504 plan for a student with dyslexia are as follows: Individual or small-group instruction, written materials that are read to the student by the teacher, provision of outlines, study guides, or organizers, audio recordings of books, text-to-speech technology, recordings of lectures, use of highlighters to organize written information

6. Determining a Specific Learning Disability: The student has a severe discrepancy between intellectual ability and achievement in oral expression, listening comprehension, written expression, basic reading skill, reading comprehension, mathematical calculation, or mathematical reasoning.

7. Determining a Specific Learning Disability: The student does not achieve adequately for his age or to meet state-approved grade-level standards in one or more specified areas when provided with learning experiences and instruction appropriate for the student’s age or state-approved grade-level standards

8. Determining a Specific Learning Disability: the student exhibits a pattern of strengths or weaknesses in performance, achievement, or both, relative to age, state-approved grade-level standards, or intellectual development, that is determined by the group to be relevant to the identification of a specific learning disability, using appropriate assessments

9. The school team should partner with families to address the student’s academic concerns regardless of the eligibility decision that is made

10. A student who does not qualify for an IEP, including a student with dyslexia, may nevertheless be entitled to protection under Section 504.

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Chapter 9: Screening and Assessment for Dyslexia

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Chapter 9: Screening and Assessment for Dyslexia

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1. Universal Screening means that all students are screened

2. MTSS may be used to identify children suspected of having a SLD

3. RTI (Response to Intervention) as a multi-tiered system is also used to identify children with LDs

4. With regard to the assessment and identification of students with dyslexia, the assessments administered through a tiered intervention process can be completed in the general education setting, before referral for a special education assessment,

5. MTSS and Tier 1: Universal Screening for all students

6. MTSS and Tier 2: Monitoring progress in a small group setting for students with targeted skill needs in the areas of reading, spelling, and writing

7. Tier 2 and Tier 3 assessment might include resource professionals such as speech-language pathologists

8. MTSS and Tier 3: Individualized intervention for even smaller groups with most intense needs monitor continuously

9. An evaluation for dyslexia includes assessment in written language areas (e.g., reading, spelling, handwriting, written expression) that are characteristic of dyslexia: letter identification; letter–sound (grapheme–phoneme) associations; word identification-decoding of real and pseudo-words; reading fluency (i.e., accuracy, automaticity, and prosody); reading comprehension (sentence and passage levels); spelling (real and pseudo-words); and written expression (sentence and passage levels).

10. To be identified as having dyslexia, 1) Difficulties with accurate and fluent word recognition, and poor spelling and decoding abilities, 2) Deficits in the phonological component of language 3) Difficulties that are unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities 4) Difficulties that are unexpected in relation to the provision of effective classroom instruction

11. Information should be collected as to family history of dyslexia and other learning disabilities