17-D

DYSLEXIA

General definition

Dyslexia is a neurologically based specific learning difficulty that is characterised by difficulties in one or more of reading, spelling and writing. Accompanying weaknesses may be identified in areas of language acquisition, phonological processing, working memory, and sequencing. Some factors that are associated with, but do not cause, dyslexia are poor motivation, impaired attention and academic frustration. (Dyslexia Association of Singapore, 2008)

Range of conditions (if any)

Characteristics

Adopted from Dyslexia Association of Singapore (2008) and The Teaching Assistants' Guide to Dyslexia (2007):

Literacy Difficulties

1. Difficulties associated with reading

· Reads below grade level

· Hesitant and laboured reading, especially when reading aloud

· Has difficulty tracking words along a line of print

· Skips or re-reads a line of words in a passage

· Leaves out words/inserts words that are not there

· Has difficulty remembering/understanding what has been read

· Has difficulty extracting the most important points from a passage

· Ignores punctuation, e.g. not pausing for commas etc.

· Complains that words or lines of text on page seem to move, yet standard eye examinations do not reveal a problem

2. Difficulties associated with writing

Poor handwriting:

· Spelling errors occur frequently even when copying

· Spelling the same word several different ways in the same passage

· Poor standard of written work compared to oral ability

· Messy, badly organised work

· Cannot write in a straight line

· Has trouble copying from the board in class

· Mixes capital and small letter within words e.g., dyslexia

· Poorly organised compositions

· Lack of punctuation, or totally inappropriate use of punctuation

· Letters, syllables and words omitted, inserted or placed in the wrong order

Common errors in reading and spelling:

· Confuses with letters that look alike e.g. b/d, p/q

· Confuses between similar sounding words e.g. "one" and "won" when spelling

· Substitutes words of similar meaning e.g., road for street

· Reads and/or spells some words backwards e.g. "was" for "saw", "on" for “no”

· Makes anagrams of words e.g. "tired" for "tried", "wives" for "views"

· Mixes up words that start with the same letters e.g. there, that, those, then, the

· Misreads little words, such as a for and, the for a, from for for, then for there, were for with

· Omits or adds letters in words e.g. lip for limp

· Omits or repeats little words like the, and, but, in

· Unable to write down a word even when the letters are dictated

· Unable to identify the appropriate letter when given a sound

3. Short-term and/or Working Memory

Many dyslexics are 'quick forgetters'. They may learn and understand how to do something but they will need frequent reminders before they remember. It is not uncommon to have to keep repeating something over and over to dyslexics to try and ensure they remember it. For example, they may have excellent long-term memory for movies, experiences, locations and faces, but poor memory for sequences as well as unfamiliar facts and information

4. Sequencing

A lot of dyslexics have difficulty sorting or ordering information. This means that the dyslexic individual may have difficulty in Mathematics, remembering a list of instructions or giving a good verbal explanation.

Speech:

· Delayed speech

· Finds it difficult to express thoughts

· Communicates more with gestures rather than words

· Has difficulty findings the words he/she wants to use

· Has difficulty reporting events in their correct order

· People who do not know the child well have difficulty understanding what he/she says

· Has difficulty putting thoughts into words

· Mispronounces long words, or transposes phrases and words when speaking

· Has trouble attaching names to things and people

Time/Math:

· Has difficulty telling time, managing and being on time

· Can count, but has difficulty counting objects and/or dealing with money

· Can do arithmetic, but has problems with problem-solving questions

· May have a problem with numbers and calculations involving adding, subtracting and time tables

· May be confused by similar-looking mathematical signs; e.g., + and - ; < (less than) and > (greater than)

· May be confused by terms, e.g., deduction, minus and subtraction; adding versus find the total

· May reverse numbers, and read or write 17 for 71

· May transpose numbers i.e., 752 for 572

· May have a difficulty with mental arithmetic

General:

· Disorganized

· Easily frustrated or emotional about school, reading, writing, or math

· Appears bright and articulate but performs unexpectedly poorer than expected in the academic areas

· Performs much better when tested orally, but not in written form

· Has difficulty sustaining attention

· Has a poor sense of direction and/or confusion between left and right

· Has difficulty remembering the days of the week, months of the year etc

Common signs of dyslexia

Preschool

· Later than expected speech development

· Poor vocabulary development

· Enjoys being read to but shows little interest in letters or words

· Hesitant and effortful reading especially when reading aloud; may lose place in text and miss out words, add extra words or substitute words

· Difficulty in learning the names of letters or sounds in the alphabet; difficulty in writing or saying the alphabet in order

· Difficulty in learning days of the week

· Difficulty in learning nursery rhymes and playing rhyming games

· Confusion of similar letters such as “b” and “d”, “p” and “q”

· Confusion of words that look alike such as “on” and “no”, “was” and “saw”

· Difficulty in learning spelling

· Unusual spellings; a word can be spelled in different ways in one piece of work

· Confusion between upper and lower case letters

· Difficulty in breaking words into syllables and putting syllables back in correct order; for example, “bisghetti” for “spaghetti”

· Short-term memory limitations

· Mirror writing

· Difficulty copying

· Poor organization of materials

· Slow at reacting at some tasks

Primary School

· Slow to learn the connection between letters and sounds

· Confuses basic words (run, eat, want)

· Makes consistent reading and spelling errors including letter reversals (b/d), inversions (m/w), transpositions (felt/left), and substitutions (house/home)

· Transposes number sequences and confuses arithmetic signs (+, -, x, /, =)

· Slow or poor recall of facts

· Slow to learn new skills, relies heavily on memorization

· Impulsive, difficulty planning

· Unstable pencil grip

· Trouble learning about time

· Poor coordination, unaware of physical surroundings, prone to accidents

· Slow to learn prefixes, suffixes, root words, and other spelling strategies

· Avoids reading aloud

· Has difficulty with handwriting; may have awkward, fist-like, or tight pencil grip

· Avoids writing assignments

· Substitution of words when reading for example 'bus' for 'car'

· Frustrations and inconsistencies in performances

Secondary School

· Usually reads below grade level

· May reverse letter sequences e.g., solid for soil, left for felt

· Slow to learn prefixes, suffixes, root words, and other spelling strategies

· May have difficulty with spelling; spells same word differently on the same page

· May avoid reading aloud

· May have trouble with word problems in math

· May avoid writing

· Has difficulty with handwriting; may have awkward, fist-like, or tight pencil grip

· Slow or poor recall of facts

· May have difficulty with comprehension

· May have trouble with non-literal language e.g., idioms, jokes, proverbs, slang etc.

· May have difficulty with planning, organizing and managing time, materials and tasks

· Difficulty copying from books

· Relies on others to tell him or her information

College

· May read very slowly with many inaccuracies

· Continues to spell incorrectly, frequently spells the same word differently in a single piece of writing

· May avoid reading and writing tasks

· May have trouble summarizing and outlining

· May have trouble answering open-ended questions on tests

· May have difficulty learning a foreign language

· May have poor memory skills

· May work slowly

· May pay too little attention to details or focus too much on them

· May misread information

· May have an inadequate vocabulary

· May have an inadequate store of knowledge from previous reading

· May have difficulty with planning, organizing and managing time, materials and tasks

Causes of Dyslexia (adapted from Dyslexia Association of Singapore, 2008)

There has been no known cause for dyslexia now. The following serves as a guide to some factors that maybe the cause of dyslexia.

1. Inherited and Neurological factors

The difficulties experienced by the dyslexics are most likely due to the small differences in the brain, which are most likely inherited from their parents. However, this only means that there may be a higher probability of a dyslexic having dyslexic parents.

2. Cognitive factors

Differences in the brain affects the way one thinks, learns and process information. Dyslexics may face difficulties in all or some of the following areas:

Phonological processing difficulty - Dyslexics may have particular difficulty learning the relationships between letters and sounds (phonics). Most children learn phonological skills automatically without ever being taught but dyslexics need to be taught these skills explicitly.

Working memory - many dyslexics have a poor ability to hold information in their short-term memory and then manipulate or do something with that information. This can lead to memory problems, for example complicated mental arithmetic or remembering a long list of instructions may be difficult. But a poor working memory is also likely to contribute to the difficulty dyslexics experience learning phonics and developing vocabulary.

Language acquisition - there is evidence to suggest that some dyslexics have difficulty learning additional languages. This is a particular problem in Singapore where most children are expected to be able to read and write at a high level in more than one language (if a child has difficulty speaking a language he/she is likely to have difficulty reading and writing in that language). In addition English is the primary language used in Singaporean schools but it may not be a child's first language.

3. Environmental Factors

Effectiveness of Teaching - The teacher needs to know the learning styles and the learning preferences of her dyslexic student in order for the student to learn best. Research has indicated that dyslexic children generally learn best when they are taught in a structured, multi-sensory manner.

Orthography of the language - some languages' reading and writing systems are more difficult for dyslexics to learn than others.

Quality and Quantity of exposure to the language in which the child is trying to develop literacy - A child who has difficulty speaking a language is likely to have difficulty reading and writing in that language. Consequently the amount of time they spend listening to and speaking a language is important in determining their competency in both speaking and reading and writing in that language.

Negative responses from others - Lack of self-esteem will result from the negative responses from his or her peers. This will cause the student to lose motivation and thus, effort in learning.

The general impact of the special need or disability on a student in terms of development and learning

References

Reid, G. & Green, S. (2007). The Teaching Assistant's Guide to Dyslexia. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group.

Dyslexia Association of Singapore. (2008). www.das.org.sg.