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California Dyslexia Guidelines (California Department of Education Sacramento, 2017)

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-The definition of dyslexia was adopted by the US National Institution of Child Health and Human Development.

-A learning disability (neurobiological).

-When individuals have a hard time with word recognition, poor spelling and decoding.

-Due to deficit phonological component.

-Individuals can have problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience.

-When this disability is present individuals do not grow their vocabulary.

-What/Who does dyslexia affect?

Affects reading, spelling, speaking

Affects reasoning, critical thinking, problem solving

Affects different cultural, ethnic, socioeconomic backgrounds

Can be heritable

Can occur with other conditions

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-Dyslexia is a neurobiological disorder with brain patterns that reflect poor phonological and orthographic processing.

- These neural signatures of dyslexia can be seen in student before they have been taught to read.

- Neurological research shows that dyslexia is a real observable condition.

- Neurological research has also identified chemical imbalances that indicate dyslexia.

- Some of these neural signatures can change with reading intervention and become similar to students with out dyslexia.

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 the average range, resulting in misdiagnosis as not having dyslexia.

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Dyslexia as a Language-Learning Disability

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-Dyslexia negatively affects an individual’s written language skills (reading and written expression).

-What is language? form (phonology, morphology,
and syntax); content (semantics); and use (pragmatics). All 5 systems are interrelated.

-Spelling is almost always affected.

-Students with Dyslexia can also struggle with their spoken language.

-Struggle with decoding and blending speech sounds which impacts reading.

-Because of deficits in phonological processing, students with dyslexia have significant difficulty acquiring the sound–letter and letter–sound correspondences which affects spelling and decoding.

-What is phonological processing? includes phonological memory, phonological awareness, and speed of naming.

-Simple end of phonological awareness is rhyming, complex end are that words are made up of chunks.

-Difficulty in phonological awareness, is a key predictor of dyslexia.

-Students with dyslexia may have a history
of...

Delayed speech or language development

Impairment in articulation or phonological production

Impairment in receptive or expressive spoken language skills

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Characteristics of Dyslexia by Age Group—Strengths and Weaknesses

Dyslexia is not just having it or not having it but rather a spectrum from mild to severe.

It affects how a person processes language and can show in different ways.

Main Signs of Dyslexia

Trouble sounding out new words: Difficulty sounding out unfamiliar words, even made-up ones.

Struggles to recognize and remember common words by sight.

Understands spoken words better than written words.

Learning difficulties aren't due to poor teaching or lack of effort.

Dyslexia Signs by Age Group

Preschool Age: Trouble learning rhymes, nursery songs, or the alphabet, delayed speech and difficulty pronouncing words, difficulty recognizing their name in print or learning letters

Kindergarten to 1st Grade: Struggles to create rhymes or sound out simple words, confused about letter sounds and names, difficulty remembering basic sight words

2nd to 3rd Grade: Avoids reading aloud or shows frustration or difficulty with spelling, especially common words; trouble remembering facts, dates, or sequences

4th to 8th Grade: Still struggles with reading fluency and comprehension, difficulty with longer words, spelling, and writing assignments, avoids reading for pleasure, and struggles with independent reading tasks

High School to College: Reading is slow and requires effort, mispronounces names or words, struggles with organizing ideas, time management, and studying

Each age group shows certain typical signs, but it's normal for children to show some dyslexia-related behaviors as they grow and develop

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When screening for or attempting to identify individuals with dyslexia, it is important to look at multiple symptoms and indicators.

Four areas should be assessed

1. If individual is having issues with accurate and fluent word recognition. If they have poor spelling and decoding difficulties.

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

Universal Screening should be implemented to find students who need support

Universal screening should be done by someone who knows the students well and should use evidence-based and user-friendly tools.

These screenings should begin in kindergarten and take place every year.

These screenings allow us teachers to create individualized instructions at an early stage of development.

Universal screening tools should be evidence-based and user-friendly to be useful for early intervention.

MTSS, Intervention, & Instruction

MTSS is a school-wide approach to help all students, especially those struggling or with disabilities, using multiple instruction and support levels.

It identifies at-risk students and provides interventions, where support is based on how students respond.

In California, MTSS focuses on core standards, differentiated learning, and meeting the needs of all students.

Response to Intervention helps ID students with learning difficulties and gives them necessary interventions before special education referral.

Response to Instruction and Intervention in California is an approach that integrates general and special education to support every student's learning needs

Comprehensive Language-Literacy Assessments for students with disabilities are important to determine eligibility for special education or other dyslexia support

Students with abnormal difficulties with phonological or orthographic processing or have difficulty reading, spelling, or writing

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Eligibility for Special Education: Students with dyslexia are not automatically eligible for special education. According to California law, a student must be supported through regular education resources first, and only if these are insufficient or not effective should special education be considered (pg. 60) .

Dyslexia as a Specific Learning Disability (SLD): Dyslexia is considered a specific learning disability under federal and California law. It is categorized under difficulties with oral expression, reading, writing, or math (pg. 60) .

Use of the Term Dyslexia in IEPs: Schools are encouraged to use the term “dyslexia” in Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). This specific identification helps with developing tailored instructional strategies for students (pg. 62) .

Accommodations through Section 504: Students who do not qualify for an IEP may still receive accommodations through a 504 Plan. These accommodations can include things like extended test time, text-to-speech technology, and modified instructional materials (pg. 62) .

Referral and Assessment Process: A referral for special education must consider if regular education interventions can address the student's needs. If these do not show progress, the next step is a formal evaluation to determine eligibility for special education services (pg. 60) .

Collaboration for IEP Development: The creation of an IEP is a collaborative process that involves parents, general and special education teachers, as well as other service providers to make sure that the student receives enough support (pg. 61) .

Assistive Technology: Assistive technology, such as audiobooks, text-to-speech programs, and speech recognition tools, are important in supporting students with dyslexia who struggle with reading (pg. 63) .

Monitoring Progress: Progress monitoring is important in assessing the effectiveness of interventions. Educators use continuous data collection to adjust instructional strategies as needed (pg. 63) .

Federal Guidance: Federal guidance encourages states to review their policies to make sure that terms like dyslexia are not prohibited in evaluations, eligibility determinations, or IEP documents (pg. 62) .

Parental Involvement: Parents are encouraged to participate in developing and updating both IEPs and 504 Plans. They play an important role in ensuring that the supports align with their child’s specific needs (pg. 62) .

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Effective Approaches for Teaching Students with Dyslexia

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1. Educational services for students with dyslexia: evidence-based, multisensory, direct, explicit, structured, and sequential approach called Structured Literacy

2. One quality of evidence-based instruction is that it shows a statistically significant effect on student outcomes, with either strong evidence at least one reputable experimental study, moderate evidence from at least one reputable quasi-experimental study, or promising evidence from at least one reputable correlational study with statistical controls for selection bias

3. Another quality of evidence-based instruction is that it demonstrates a rationale based on high-quality research findings or positive evaluation that it is likely to improve student outcomes and includes efforts to continue assessments

4. Simultaneous multisensory approaches use more than one modalities of instruction at the same time

5. All language tasks require at least two pathways: copying (visual to kinesthetic), silent reading (visual to auditory), oral reading (visual to auditory to kinesthetic), speaking (auditory to kinesthetic)

6. It is important to teach concepts,skills, and procedures directly and explicitly for students teacher guidance and feedback,, with a goal of independent functional use

7. Instruction for students with dyslexia should be structured with step-by-step procedures for introducing, reviewing, and practicing concepts

8. Instruction should also be sequential and cumulative in the sense that skills and ideas follow logical order of structure of language, is scaffolded, begins with simple language concepts and progresses systematically.

9. The content of teaching needs to emphasize the structure of language through phonology (the speech sound), orthography (the writing system), morphology (parts of words), syntax (structure of sentences), semantics (relationships among words and sentences), and pragmatics (organization of communication)

10. Many professionals can support students with dyslexia, including general ed teachers, reading specialists, speech-language pathologists, special education teachers, and assistive tech specialists. These professionals can provide support and accommodations for class and homework