1. When a picture is worth a thousand [ unreadable ] words Pearland ISD Office of Special Programs Snapshots of Dyslexia

2. A Brief Description Imagine feeling different compared to your friends or siblings. Imagine hearing that you are just lazy or that you need to try harder. Picture yourself when you are very, very tired and you cannot "think straight," or remember important things like names, dates, facts or even words. Now imagine feeling this kind of "brain fog" every day, especially when reading. These feelings are common to someone with dyslexia. Dyslexia is a brain-based condition that makes it extremely difficult to read, write, and spell in your native language—despite at least average intelligence.

3. What is Dyslexia? The term dyslexia comes from the Greek words  "dys" -- which means difficulty with  "lexia" -- which means language or words. Difficulty with language  Auditory processing  Reading  Written expression and spelling  Speech

4. 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. International Dyslexia Association Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experiences, both of which can limit a person's vocabulary and background knowledge.

5. What is Dyslexia? (cont.)  inherited (family history in 40% of cases)  brain difference; language is processed differently  memory difficulty  rapid naming speed (word retrieval) difficulty  directionality difficulty  unexpected for student’s age, educational level, or cognitive abilities  affects 1 in 5 across all socioeconomic groups, (exists on a spectrum from mild to severe)  slow readers/learners who otherwise are quite intelligent oral learners Dyslexia is…

6. Dyslexia is NOT  simply a problem of letter/word reversals (b/d, was/saw, reversals can often be seen thru 2 nd grade)  caused by poverty or limited educational opportunity  caused by developmental delay or speech/hearing impairments  caused by learning a second language  caused by left-handedness  caused by ADD/ADHD  caused by visual perception problems  a condition that will be outgrown (dyslexia persists)

7. Common Misunderstandings  writing letters backwards is a flag for dyslexia  reading difficulties are caused by visual perception problems  if given enough time, students will outgrow it  more boys than girls are dyslexic  only affects English speakers  colored overlays will benefit dyslexics  dyslexia can be cured (it persists; typically, dyslexic readers will always read more slowly than non-dyslexic readers)

8. What Makes it Unexpected?  A weakness in decoding, surrounded by a sea of strengths

9. Strengths of Dyslexia These strengths are what make the reading disorder of dyslexia so unexpected compared to the person's abilities:  good at understanding new concepts; very intuitive, ability to learn orally  exhibits curiosity; always asking "why, why, why"  has great imagination and creativity/great artists/designers  often very good at athletics  has surprising maturity  excellent comprehension of stories read or told to him/her  a large oral vocabulary  enjoys solving puzzles and building models; good 3D visualization and mechanical skills

10. Students may have difficulties with:  reading real words in isolation  decoding of unknown or nonsense words  slow, inaccurate and labored oral reading (fluency)  rapid naming (memory and retrieval difficulties)  written spelling  written expression  weaker reading comprehension due to a phonological weakness (good listening comprehension)  reading for a sustained period of time

11. Causes of Dyslexia most common cause is genetic larger right hemisphere, 10% larger in some cases unusual "wiring." Neurons are found in unusual places compared to non-dyslexic brains Non-dyslexic readers consistently use the left rear side of their brain when they read. People with dyslexia store language in other locations such as the right side of the brain. A dyslexic brain often works about 5 times harder when reading than a non-dyslexic brain.

12. Characteristics Reading  difficulties in visual short-term memory (including near- and far-point copying)  real word recognition (can read a word on one page fine but not on another)  won’t try to sound out an unknown word  labored reading rate  poor reading comprehension (demonstrates higher comprehension during oral discussion)  misreading of words (accuracy, substitutions: gril for girl, form for from, horse for pony, water for ocean)  need to re-read several times to get meaning

13. Characteristics (cont.) Spelling  phonetic  inconsistent, often no vowels Writing  weak written expression  poor sentence structure  Poor punctuation  difficulty planning of essays  difficulty sequencing / transitioning between ideas

14. What to look for… Pre-School  may talk later than most children  may have difficulty with rhyming  may have difficulty pronouncing words (i.e., busgetti for spaghetti, mawn lower for lawn mower)  may have poor auditory memory for nursery rhymes and chants  may be slow to add new vocabulary words  may be unable to recall the right word  may have trouble learning numbers, days of the week, colors, shapes, and how to spell and write his / her name From The Dyslexia Handbook – Revised 2010

15. What to look for… K – 3 rd grade  fails to understand that words come apart; for example, that snowman can be pulled apart into snow and man and, later on, that the word man can be broken down still further and sounded out as: /m/ /ă/ /n/  has difficulty learning the letter names and their corresponding sounds  has difficulty decoding single words (reading single words in isolation)—lacks a strategy  has difficulty spelling phonetically  reads dysfluently (choppy and labored)  relies on context to recognize a word From The Dyslexia Handbook – Revised 2010

16. What to look for… 4 th grade – high school  has a history of reading and spelling difficulties  avoids reading aloud  reads most materials slowly; oral reading is labored, not fluent  avoids reading for pleasure  may have an inadequate vocabulary  has difficulty spelling; may resort to using less complicated words in writing that are easier to spell From The Dyslexia Handbook – Revised 2010

17. What if I Suspect a Reading Disorder? Pearland ISD follows a tiered process for struggling students in this order:  Preventive programs – strong classroom instruction in phonics, writing, spelling, language arts, and a literature-based reading program  Response-to-Intervention (RtI) Committee – parents, teachers, counselor, and administrators meet to review student data and recommend research-based interventions  Interventions – targeted interventions are tailored to address student weakness. Data is collected over a period of time to document student response or lack of it. Interventions include intensive small group sessions, tutoring, pullout reading programs, summer school and bilingual programs  Testing – if student does not respond to interventions, he / she can be referred by RtI Committee for formal testing. Written parental permission is required; testing is completed within 30 days of consent, committee and parents meet within 15 days of completed testing to discuss results and possible program placement

18. Aspects of Instruction In reading  Multisensory  Systematic and cumulative  Explicit  Teaching to automaticity  Synthetic (how parts work together to form the whole)  Analytic (how the whole word can be broken into parts) From The Dyslexia Handbook DRAFT– Revised 2014

19. Examples of 504 Accommodations for Dyslexia  copies of charts, notes, and note-taking assistance  extra time for written response  chunking, reducing assignments  preferential seating  oral reading of directions or written materials  From The Dyslexia Handbook DRAFT– Revised 2014

20. For more info … Overcoming Dyslexia, Dr. Sally Shaywitz –http:dyslexia.yale.edu www.neuhaus.org (Bellaire, TX)www.neuhaus.org Learning Ally (formerly RFBD, books on tape) “Could it be Dyslexia” video –www.brightsolutions.uswww.brightsolutions.us