Dyslexia Definition - Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological
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. (IDA 2002)

 Specific Learning Disability- disability in one or more of the basic psychological processes which includes isten, attention, visual processing,
auditory processing, phonological processing, sensory-motor skills, cognitive
abilities including association, conceptualization and expression

Other disabilities for specific learning disabilities includes perceptual
disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental
aphasia

Specific Learning disabilities does not include the following: visual,
hearing, or motor disabilities, of intellectual disability, of emotional disturbance, or of
environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.

Understanding of dyslexia in this chapter and what is classified as dyslexia

Dyslexia can include difficulty reading

Dyslexia can include difficulty with word recognition

Dyslexia can be heritable

 It is important to identify dyslexia at a young age to avoid achievement gap

Dyslexia can affect those from different cultures, ethnic backgrounds and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Dyslexia is a neurobiological disorder with neural signatures that reflect bad phonological and orthographic processing.

 Neural signatures include function and structure of the left hemisphere language regions- left temporo-parietal region related to phonological processing-left occipito-temporal region related to orthographic processing.

Students can show signs of high risk for developing dyslexia even before being formally taught how to read.

 Neural signatures for dyslexia can be changed with reading intervention.

Findings that show predictions for developing dyslexia has been supported with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Something that shows the same neural signatures as dyslexia is gifted students with reading ability lower than cognitive capacities.

Brain imaging should never be prescribed for psychoeducational evaluation as well as neural signatures for dyslexia can not be used to determine an instructional plan.

Neuroscience has demonstrated the following findings: neural signatures of dyslexia are reliable, neural signatures of dyslexia are predictive of dyslexia risk and outcome, neural signatures of dyslexia change with intervention, and neural signatures of dyslexia are present even in gifted students whose discrepant reading may be masked.

 Neurological research is showing advances that align with identifications for developing dyslexia, just from basic family history or weakness in critical prereading skills.

Scientists discovered the structure of some genes that can be important for dyslexia vs people without dyslexia.

Dyslexia is a language-learning disability that affects reading and written expression, linked to deficits in phonological processing.

1. Phonological processing includes:

   • Phonological memory

   • Phonological awareness

   • Speed of naming

Language consists of three major components:

1. Form (phonology, morphology, syntax)

2. Content (semantics)

3. Use (pragmatics)

The most commonly reported characteristics of dyslexia include:

1. Difficulties in word-level reading - involves accurately and fluently identifying and decoding both real words and predictable non-words

2. Challenges with spelling

Students can be identified as having dyslexia when they exhibit a deficit that affects their ability to decode and spell.

Dyslexia affects decoding skills rather than reading comprehension, this differentiates it from other reading disabilities.

Phonological awareness, specifically phonemic awareness, is a key predictor of dyslexia.

• Affects the ability to associate sounds with letters

Students with dyslexia have significant difficulty acquiring:

1. Sound–letter - phoneme–grapheme

2. Letter–sound - grapheme–phoneme

3. Correspondences - phonics

   • These are foundations for accurate or fluent spelling and decoding skills.

Rudimentary ability to blend, segment, and manipulate phonemes within words and syllables is a prerequisite for understanding phonics (grapheme–phoneme association for word identification and phoneme–grapheme association for spelling).

• These basic skills of blending, segmenting, and manipulating phonemes facilitate students’ understanding of the “place value” of the sequence of graphemes and phonemes within words.

Individuals with deficits in both rapid naming and phonemic awareness tend to struggle more with accurately and fluently learning to read words than those who have a deficit in only one of these skills.

• This is frequently considered the primary cause of most cases of dyslexia.

Students with dyslexia may have a history of delayed speech or language development. These students may have a history of impairment in:

1. Articulation/phonological production

2. Receptive/expressive spoken language skills

Dyslexia exists on a spectrum, with some students experiencing mild difficulties while others face more severe challenges.

Symptoms that are known to be indicative of dyslexia:

• Inability to sound out new words

• Limited sight-word vocabulary

• Listening comprehension exceeds reading comprehension

• Inadequate response to effective instruction and intervention

When students are promoted through grade levels and academic demands increase, different struggles can arise that parents, teachers, and students can recognize.

Early signs of dyslexia in pre-school aged children include:

• Delay in speech

• Difficulty to recognize their own name in print

• Difficulty learning rhymes or patterns

• Lack of interest in books

• Turning books right-side up or other directionality

• Difficulty reciting the alphabet

• Difficulty in learning numbers, days of the week, colors and shapes

Signs of dyslexia in kindergarten-third grade children include:

• Inability to create a rhyme for one-word syllables

• Inability to remember the names of the letters of the alphabet

• A tendency to read words with no connection to the letters on the page

• Avoidance of reading aloud or frustration with reading tasks

• Frequent confusion over words that look similar, such as “what/want” and “these/those”

• Difficulty remembering dates, phone numbers, names, and random facts

Signs of dyslexia in fourth-eighth grade children include:

• A history of struggling to read or poor reading skills

• Consistent choices in independent reading that are below grade level

• A lack of awareness of word structure and knowledge of prefixes and suffixes to support reading

• Difficulty learning new vocabulary

• Difficulties organizing ideas for writing

• Difficulty with word problems in mathematics

Signs of dyslexia in high school-college aged students include:

• A tendency to read with great effort and at a slow pace, although reading skills have developed over time

• An avoidance of reading for pleasure and of reading aloud

• Difficulty with note-taking in lecture-based classes

• Frequent mispronunciation of the names of people and places

• A tendency to struggle to retrieve words; the student has the “It was on the tip of my tongue” moment frequently

• An avoidance of saying words that might be mispronounced

• Difficulty with organizing projects and time management

Strengths in students with dyslexia could be gifted in other areas or talents and abilities. This could include special aptitudes in visual spacial thinking, or three-dimensional awareness

Students with dyslexia may also have strong technical and mechanical aptitude and succeed in science, medicine, or law.

Strengths that individuals with dyslexia may exhibit (not exhaustive):

• Curiosity

• An advanced maturity level

• An eagerness to embrace new ideas

• A strong imagination

• Problem-solving abilities

• Strong thinking skills: conceptualization, imagination, and reasoning

• Good listening comprehension

• A strong understanding of vocabulary through listening comprehension

• Experiential learning

Dyslexia can have a range of severity, and may look different in various stages of life and education, for this reason some people are not identified as having it until their teenagers or adults, or even never identified. Pg.42

 For each grade level is important screenings target the following areas: phonemic awareness, letter naming, sound symbol correspondence, single word decoding for real and pseudowords, sight word recognition, rapid naming letters & numbers, spelling listening comprehension, oral expression, reading comprehension, oral reading fluency, and written expression. Pg. 54

- screening can be conducted with a process involving Response to Intervention and Instruction (RtI2) or a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) by using tools that are already in place for most California school districts.

-Pre- and post-assessments must be used to determine whether the provided supports are CALIFORNIA DYSLEXIA GUIDELINES

 Federal Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) defined a multi-tiered system of support as a “school-wide approach that addresses the needs of all students, including struggling learners and students with disabilities, and integrates assessment and intervention within a multilevel instructional and behavioral system to maximize student achievement Pg. 55

In California, MTSS focuses on [the Common Core State Standards], core instruction, differentiated learning, student centered learning, individualized student needs, and the alignment of systems necessary for all students’ academic, behavioral, and social success. Pg. 55

-MTSS also relies on problem solving teams, data-driven decision making, evidence-based practices, and a continuous improvement process to provide a comprehensive system of initiatives, supports, and resources. Pg. 57

Response to Intervention,” is designed to be a collaborative, comprehensive, multi-tiered system for identifying students who are struggling academically and providing them with appropriate interventions before referral for special education. Pg. 56

-Tier 1 Universal Screening. A universal screening applies to all students. All students should be screened in kindergarten and no later than first grade. Subsequently, students should participate in high-quality, research-based reading instruction in the general education setting.

-Tier 2 Progress Monitoring: Targeted Small-Group Intervention. Students with targeted skill needs in the areas of reading, spelling, and writing (approximately 15 percent of the student population) receive more intensive instruction—for example, small-group instruction in up to three of the foundational reading skills, three to five days per week, 20 to 40 minutes per session, in addition to core curriculum instruction.

-Tier 3 Individualized Intervention with Intensified Progress Monitoring. Students with the most intensive needs (approximately 2 to 5 percent of the student population).

Difficulty in phonological awareness, especially phonemic awareness, is one of the best predictors of dyslexia and a key predictor of early literacy acquisition. Rudimentary ability to blend, segment, and manipulate phonemes within words and syllables is a prerequisite for understanding phonics (grapheme–phoneme association for word identification and phoneme–grapheme association for spelling).

-These basic skills of blending, segmenting, and manipulating phonemes facilitate students’ understanding of the “place value” of the sequence of graphemes and phonemes within words. Pg. 60

Difficulties in grapheme–phoneme and phoneme–grapheme association are hallmark signs of dyslexia. There is a direct relationship between difficulties in phonological processing and development of grapheme–phoneme and phoneme–grapheme associations. Pg. 61

Many students with dyslexia have difficulty with phonological memory. Also known as verbal short-term memory, phonological memory is the capacity to store small amounts of phonological information for brief periods of time. It is distinguished from verbal working memory, verbal long term memory, or spatial short-term memory. Pg. 62

To make an accurate identification of dyslexia, the evaluator or evaluation team must also consider a student’s developmental and medical history (including vision and hearing screenings as well as medications), family and school history, teacher reports, self-reports, parent reports, social and emotional status, and current classroom performance. Pg. 65

Because dyslexia is defined as a reading disability in relationship to oral language skills, if a student speaks a language other than English at home, her English language proficiency level should be considered when an assessment in English is being conducted. State and federal law require that local educational agencies administer a state test of English language proficiency (ELP) to eligible students in kindergarten through grade twelve. Educators should consider the student’s results on the California English Language Development Test (CELDT) or the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC). Pg. 67

Students with dyslexia, may not need special education services, but can still receive support in the general education classroom. For instance, the teacher can use evidence-based strategies to support students with dyslexia. Students who benefit from these effective strategies will allow them to be successful in the general education setting so that only students with dyslexia in severe cases need special education. Pg. 65.

 Structured literacy refers to the approaches to teaching reading related to the International Dyslexia Association (IDA). Example approaches include:

• Simultaneous Multisensory- using oral and written sensory skills.

• Direct and Explicit- teaching concepts directly, practiced, and the teacher provides feedback.

• Structured- using step-by-step instructions to introduce, review, and practice instruction while assessing.

• Sequential and Cumulative- scaffolding instruction beginning from simple to more complex concepts. Pg. 65-67.

Effective teaching teaches students the different levels of language. These different levels are phonology, orthography, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics (IDA 2010). Pg. 67.

 When determining what instructional content will be taught to students and their special needs, the instructor must consider their developmental stage, cognition, and evaluate results from formal and informal examinations. Teachers and parents can provide the student with tools to improve memorization, encourage higher-level thinking, and encourage reasoning for educational purposes. Pg. 68.

Evidence-based strategies for structured learning include:

• Phonology- the study of sounds in spoken words (pg. 68)

• Orthography- a language's spelling system including letter-sound associations (pg. 69)

• Phonics- the alphabetic principle where students use letter-sound associations to spell and pronounce words (pg. 69)

• Syllables- units or pronunciation where one vowel with or without consonants (pg. 69)

• Morphology- meaningful elements in a word (pg. 71)

• Syntax- word order and roles for sequencing words (pg. 71)

• Semantics- word meanings (pg. 71)

• Pg. 68-71

The goal of syllables is for students to divide long words into chunks to decode a word so it can be pronounced correctly. There are 6 syllable types:

• Closed syllable

• Vowel-consonant-silent e

• R-controlled: seen as vr, i.e. smARt.

• Open-syllables: vowels at the end of a stressed or unstressed syllable

• Vowel team: i.e. crEAm

• Final stable syllable: with -le or suffixes

• Pg. 70

It takes a wide range of professionals across multiple disciplines to support students with dyslexia. Each professional has a different approach and considers different factors. Examples include general and special education teachers, reading specialists, speech-language pathologists, and technology specialists. Pg. 71-72.

Accommodations refers to the utilization of teaching strategies to ensure that students with disabilities have equal access to and participation in a general education curriculum. Accommodations can occur during homework, exams, mathematics, spelling, writing, reading, etc.. Pg. 72.

While utilizing interventions, the teacher should monitor their student's progress to adjust their next instruction. Pre-assessments and post-assessments should also occur. Such progress monitoring can be done by the students support team.

As a student progresses into the next grade, they encounter different and more complex challenges. At this time, the teacher should continue scaffolding and using guided practice as well as providing extra accommodations. Pg. 74.