Dyslexia what it feels like

Let's End the Stigma of Dyslexia - Understanding Dyslexia: A Guide for Everyone 

Dyslexia, what it feels like - How to explain dyslexia to someone who doesn't have it. 

When speaking to groups, I explain that being dyslexic is like running a 100-meter track race. In my lane I have hurdles, but no one else does. I have this feeling that it's unfair that I’m the only one with hurdles, but I don’t know how to explain it.  Soon, the feeling leaves me as the starting gun shoots, and I take off running.  I try running like the other classmates, because we have all had the same education on how to run. But then I hit the first hurdle and fall flat on my face. My parents and teachers are yelling at me from the sidelines “ try harder, the other kids are making it down the track ok, you must be lazy or slow”. Pulling myself up, I try running faster and fall even harder after hitting the next hurdle. Then someone takes the time to show me how to run hurdles and like an Olympic hurdler, I outrun the other classmates. The key, though, is that I have to do it differently, the way that works best for me. Learning is like a tailored suit; it takes a while and is unique to everyone.- DML

How shall we recognize him or her? Alfred said, "I can think okay." The dyslexic's intelligence, vision, hearing, motor control and physical development are from very good to poor but mostly around average, as with everybody else. He has no more problems with home life, school attendance and emotional life than anyone else - except as they result from the frustration and discouragement caused by failure. "It's just my word's," said Alfred.

"I forget them." He cannot learn and remember whole words by sight so he has trouble with reading in the regular class. Perhaps he cannot remember letters, so he gets them twisted - b for d, and so on. Often he cannot call up the words he wants to say, "Oh, you know that thing you use to write with…" "Yesterday - I mean tomorrow- sometime or other."

"And I can't manage them." The words come out wrong, "basgetti and cheese", or in the wrong order, "please up hurry!"

He may be clumsy in general, or he may have beautiful coordination except for the pencil so that his handwriting is irregular, slow, cramped, and hard to figure out.

Managing letters in spelling is even harder. He writes p for b, was for saw, left for felt, and many others. Even in high school, what we call nuclear may be unclear to him.

He may have trouble with math. It is another language and its numbers take a lot of remembering and managing.

The dyslexic finds organization, managing his life, difficult. His possessions, his homework instructions, his sense of direction or time may often get mixed up.

It is quite probable that some other members of his family, through the generations, have found language hard to master, one way or another.

Dyslexia is not a "disease" to "have" and "be cured of", but a kind of mind. Very often it is a gifted mind - there have been many famous, productive, creative dyslexics. Every one of us is unique and different from everyone else, and people's ways of coming to terms with language are some of their normal differences.

If you are a dyslexic, this is the kind of mind you have. It is yours for life. You can teach it to work better and better, and you can congratulate yourself on its strengths and creative abilities.

Dyslexia was the first general term used to describe it. Now over 70 names are used to describe various aspects of dyslexia.

The urgent need for more dyslexia research

- It is estimated that as many as 15 percent of American students may be dyslexic. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

- It is estimated that more than $2 billion is spent each year on students who repeat a grade because they have reading problems. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

- It is estimated that the cost of illiteracy to businesses and the taxpayer is $20 billion per year. United Way, "Illiteracy: A National Crisis"

- 50 percent of American adults are unable to read an eighth-grade level book. Jonathan Kozol, Illiterate America

- Approximately 50 percent of the nation's unemployed youth aged 16-21 are functionally illiterate, with virtually no prospects of obtaining good jobs. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

- 60 percent of America's prison inmates are illiterate, and 85% of all juvenile offenders have reading problems. U.S. Department of Education

- 15 percent of the population has specific reading disorders. Of these 15 percent, as many as 1/3 may show a change in the brain structure. Albert M. Galaburda, M.D., Beth Israel Hospital, Harvard Medical School.

Over 50% of NASA employees are dyslexic. They are deliberately sought after because they have superb problem-solving skills and excellent 3D and spatial awareness.

Questions often asked about Dyslexia

What is dyslexia? The term dyslexia simply means difficulty with words. The term "dyslexia" was coined more than a hundred years ago. Over the years, it has been defined in several different ways. As used here, "dyslexia" refers to intelligent children and adults who have no limiting physical or emotional problems but who, despite conventional classroom experience, do not learn to read, write, spell, and comprehend as expected. Such children, unless they receive appropriate instruction, become adults whose reading and related language skills fall significantly below their general intelligence.

What are the causes of dyslexia? The causes of dyslexia still escape the researchers, but we may be on the verge of some important discoveries. Within the last decade, there has been some stimulating research in this area. The emerging premise underlying much of the research is one of neurological origin. Neuroscientists have identified that brain cells have developed differently in persons with dyslexia. These differences do not affect their general intelligence but do make reading and related language processing more difficult.

How many dyslexics are there? Estimates of the number of dyslexic persons in the United States vary from 5% to 10% of the total population. Within this range, dyslexia varies in terms of degree of severity.

Is it True that dyslexics are often unusually capable in creative activities? Yes. Dyslexics are average or above average in intelligence. They tend to excel in architecture, engineering, science, music, art and sometimes math. They like, and are good at, hands-on activities. They often have the knack to see the "big picture" with comparative ease.

How do you identify dyslexia? Dyslexia is often referred to as "the hidden handicap." Most visible are reading, spelling, and writing difficulties. Common in oral reading and spelling are reversals, substitutions, omissions, and additions of letters, syllables, or words. Spelling is typically very poor and may be bizarre. There may be blending and sequencing problems: speech sounds cannot be put together; the days of the week or months of the year cannot be presented in order. There may be confusion in directionality (left-right, up-down, etc.) and in learning to tell time. Problems in remembering things are common, especially when it involves written language. The puzzling thing about all these characteristics is that they are found in children of average or above-average intelligence with no limiting physical or psychological problems that could explain these difficulties.

Are there any famous dyslexics? Yes. Thomas Edison, Hans Christian Anderson, Albert Einstein, Gustave Flaubert, General George Patton, Nelson Rockefeller, Erma Bombeck, athletic champions like Bruce Jenner and Greg Louganis, and actors like Susan Hampshire, Tom Cruise, and Cher, to name a few.

What is Dyslexia?

HERE ARE THREE DEFINITIONS-

The word dyslexia is made of dys - poor or inadequate (learning or master of), and lexia - verbal language. When Alfred was ten years old, he put this into plain English, "I can think okay. What's wrong with me is just my words. I forget them, and I can't manage them." A more formal definition has recently been proposed by the Orton Dyslexia Society and adopted by the National Institutes of Health (1994). This definition is:

"Dyslexia is one of several distinct learning disabilities. It is a specific language-based disorder of constitutional origin characterized by difficulties in single-word decoding, usually reflecting insufficient phonological processing abilities. These difficulties in single-word decoding are often unexpected in relation to age and other cognitive and academic abilities; they are not the result of generalized developmental disability or sensory impairment. Dyslexia is manifested by variable difficulty with different forms of language, often including, in addition to problems in reading, a conspicuous problem with acquiring proficiency in writing and spelling.

Some people have a talent for learning their native language. Early in life and almost without effort, they seem to learn to understand speech and to make themselves understood. They learn reading, writing and spelling in the early grades at school or before. They present their thoughts clearly by word of mouth or in writing.

Most of us must work harder and need more teaching to become as competent in these skills as we need to be.

For some people, one-tenth or more of us, this learning is excessively hard. It is so hard that it gets in the way of progress in personal growth, in school, and in work. If the difficulty is severe enough to become a problem and is out of line with the person's other abilities and his home and school opportunities, we can call it dyslexia or specific language difficulty.

This is a very important problem which deserves our study and efforts. The disability which often results is hampering, but it need be only temporary. It can be mastered by appropriate education, suited to the inborn differences in people.

Voices of experience

A Column for Adults with LD by Veronica Lieb

Well into adulthood, Dr. James Russell discovered that he is intellectually gifted. He has known since childhood that he has a learning disability. Dr. Russell earned his Ph.D. from St. Louis University in 1996. He currently instructs undergraduate students at Webster University on assessment of exceptional students while maintaining a private practice in counseling and assessing adults and adolescents with learning disabilities. The misconceptions about people who are both gifted and learning disabled has personal and professional relevance for Jim. I asked Dr. Russell what the most difficult aspect is when working with the Gifted/Learning Disabled population.

Dr. Russell. This is a complex question. What comes to mind first is that being gifted and learning disabled (GT/LD) means being misunderstood. The difficulties that GT/LD people encounter in everyday living are overwhelming. For instance, they tend to experience perfectionism that all but "stops their progress." I wonder how many potential Einstein's have been lost because they were completely misunderstood,

People who are GT/LD tend to be super sensitive. It's as if they see a reality that is hidden from the conventional world. They march to the beat of a different drummer - one wherein they may have unrealistic self-expectations where they can experience a high level of frustration.

Experiencing chronically low self-esteem, they endure the callous remarks of uniformed others, such as, "If you are so smart, why can't you spell?" After hearing that statement several hundred times (actually, it's more like several thousand times), even the most gifted people begin to wonder if they are even marginally intelligent.

GT/LD people are the least likely group to receive special education support services during their school years. They can be "average" students because their areas of strengths pull up the areas of weaknesses. But at what cost to the person?

At this point, you may be thinking that I am jaded. I am. Recently a wonderful young GT/LD man, a potential Einstein, ended his life. His family is left with an absence that is surreal. His perfectionism, super sensitivity, unrealistic self-expectations, incapacitating frustration, and low self-esteem encumbered him. Even though burdened with so heavy a load, he was courageous, kind and good until the very end. I am angry because society didn't seem to understand him. I am sad for our loss because we couldn't nurture the "gifts" of this young GT/LD person. His life is over, but his essence may live on. Hopefully, the memory of this gifted person can serve as a beacon guiding us toward a road less traveled.

Learning disability: A respectable difference, not a deforming handicap

I wrote a column about first-hand accounts of what it was like to grow up with a learning disability. To find out what the experts had to say about learning disabilities, I contacted three psychologists who are nationally known for their work in this area: Frank Gresham at the School of Education, University of California at Riverside, Robert Brooks at Harvard Medical School, and George Nixon, a psychologist in private practice in Waco and Austin, Texas.

Accurate assessment and appropriate help. In the school system, learning disability is a term used to describe a child who has unexpectedly underachieved in the classroom and who is not mentally or emotionally disabled. In 1975, landmark federal legislation was passed with special funding to help learning-disabled children have equal opportunities in our educational system. To qualify for special help, a learning-disabled child has to have a discrepancy between IQ and achievement in the classroom. A lot of the professional debate relates to what is the best discrepancy formula. There are 15 categories of disability. Learning Disabilities (LD) is the largest, with 52 percent of the total. Gresham points out that from 1977 to 1993, the diagnosis of LD increased nationally by 198 percent, while mental retardation fell by 41 percent. His main point was that LD is becoming a catchall umbrella category for all underachievement. The truly learning-disabled child is mixed in with a garden variety of low achievers, children with emotional and behavioral problems, and mental retardation. Decisions are made based on where the money is, availability of teachers and space, budget, and other political/legal considerations. Over-identification and over-labeling of LD hurt the genuine LD student. Fifty percent of LD students also have Attention Deficit Disorder. LD children often have significant emotional and behavioral problems. Some children may have more than one problem. Gresham emphasizes that learning disability programs need to address social skill deficits, acting out behavior, attention problems, and academic goals simultaneously. These problems have reciprocal effects. He recommends programs that teach phonics, skills based on direct instruction techniques. California's misguided experiment with a whole language method to address learning disabilities actually made learning more difficult. He likes the Distar reading program developed by the University of Oregon. Choral reading, choral feedback, teaching of lending skills, and repetition are key components.

A more humane environment. Brooks has studied the self-motivation and resilience of LD children. He analyzed the stories they wrote of their lives and experiences. Brooks is impressed with how despairing these children are. They are made to feel foolish, accused, or judged when they don't understand something. LD children describe how different and ill at ease they feel. They internalize labels of "dumb" and "stupid" and often feel like giving up. Brooks recommends helping LD students to feel like they really belong, are welcomed, and are special in some way. They should be greeted by name with a nice smile and recognized with nice notes of appreciation. An extra 10 minutes of special attention has a big effect. LD students need to help or contribute to the school. They need to feel competent and have their areas of strength displayed (artwork, special recognition) for others to see. LD students need to have feelings of autonomy and self-determination - to be listened to and given choices to be involved in their own education. For example, on a homework assignment of eight problems, they might be asked to do five or six of their own choices. Brooks feels that LD children benefit by being open about their strengths and difficulties. The problem is not motivation or low intelligence. It is a hidden disability that needs accommodation and special help in the classroom, along with a focus on strengths. According to Brooks, "The least fair thing you can do is treat each child the same." These children need caring and support, not humiliation and intimidation. They need accountability and reasonable expectations. They need accurate assessments and respect for their learning style.

Rights of children. Nixon is an outspoken advocate for children with learning disabilities. He experienced this situation as his own daughter went through the school system. He urges parents to become familiar with their rights and aggressively assert them. The biggest mistake he sees is that parents ignore the problem, and the child suffers in high school or college because their learning disability was never adequately addressed. He recommends diagnosing the problem early and treating it early. Special assistance can make a difference. If an LD child can't do the work, find out why and address the issues. Individual education plans (IEP visit http://theglp.info/resources/sec-504iep) need to be modified to take into account problems with discipline, impulsiveness, and lack of attention. Too often, these problems are dealt with positively. Nixon believes that LD children should be mainstreamed unless they are working on a specific skill such as spelling, math, or a developmentally specialized reading program. Classroom teachers need to be aware of the IEP and make allowances for exams, audiovisual materials, and the child's style of learning. Students should have the self-confidence to call their disability to the teacher's attention when necessary. A learning disability means a respectable difference and not a deforming handicap. It is a good message for educators, parents, and the children themselves. For those with Internet access, visit Farmer at Http/www.threadimages.com/vfarmer.htm

A Dyslexia Primer By Tracy L. Tanner, Columbus State University, Research in Learning Disabilities, Abstract

The definition of dyslexia was investigated. In brief, it is a non-curable, life-long disorder that affects an individual’s ability to process information as applied to reading, spelling, writing, and math. There exists a discrepancy between what the individual does and what the individual is capable of doing. Dyslexics are a heterogeneous group and no two are affected the same by the many characteristics associated with dyslexia. Treatment for dyslexia is only possible after the strengths and weaknesses of the dyslexic are assessed. Assessment types vary, but cognitive skills and processing skills must be assessed. Early intervention is critical to overcoming deficiencies and tests exist to identify those children at risk as early as the age of 4. Strategies for teaching dyslexic children include building self-esteem, identifying strengths and encouraging the child to capitalize on those strengths, teaching phonologically processing skills, and varying teaching styles to include using multi-sensory approaches.

Many feel that dyslexia is the most misunderstood word in the educational realm

(Richards, 2000). Because of this, identification of and strategies toward “curing” create a diagnostic and treatment conundrum.

The advice provided in this article is based on the research I have gathered and attempts to make the definition of dyslexia more clear. Additionally, common signs found in those who are dyslexic will be discussed. And finally, assessments used to diagnose and instructional strategies that aid individuals with dyslexia will be reviewed.

Literally translated, dyslexia means a “dysfunction with words” (the Latin prefix dys means “difficult” or “faulty” and the Greek root lexia refers to “words”) (Barr, Blachowicz, Katz, Kaufman). This breakdown of the word seems fairly straightforward, and the misunderstanding of its meaning seems ridiculous. If a person has difficulty with words, he or she is dyslexic. End of story? Not quite. To what type of difficulty with words does this definition refer?

Dyslexia Discovered

In its November 7, 1896 edition, the British Medical Journal published the first description of the learning disorder that came to be known as developmental dyslexia. The author, W. Pringle Morgan, B.B. Seaford, Sussex, (England), wrote “A Case of Congenital Word Blindness” (BDA).

Percy F., … aged 14, … has always been a bright and intelligent boy,” wrote Morgan. “… quick at games, and in no way inferior to others of his age. His great difficulty has been – and is now – his inability to learn to read” (Shaywitz).

Morgan’s description of Percy F. continued, “ … in spite of his laborious and persistent training, he can only with difficulty spell out words of one syllable.” “The schoolmaster who taught him for some years says that he would be the smartest lad in the school if the instruction were entirely oral” (BDA).

“Symptoms” experienced by Percy F. over 100 years ago as documented by Morgan are among those prevalent in individuals who are labeled as dyslexic today. He had difficulty learning to read – be damned his perseverance. Additionally, he had difficulty spelling words of only one syllable. Despite his inability to read or spell, his schoolmaster thought him capable of being at the top of his class if all instruction were given orally. Percy F. didn’t have a problem understanding spoken language; it was the laborious job of deciphering words in print that gave him trouble.

When Percy F. wrote words, he made curious mistakes. For example, he wrote scone for song, senig for shilling, seasow for seashore, and Precy for Percy. When Percy read aloud, he was unable to read a single word correctly, with the exception of a, the, of, that, etc. Other words seemed to be quite unknown to him and he could not even make an attempt to pronounce them (Garfield).

Dyslexia Today

Percy F.’s experience with learning, parallels the difficulties shared by children and adults who are diagnosed with dyslexia today. Transposing letters and recognizing those words that don’t follow phonological reasoning – sight words – but being unable to decipher phonemes are among the common traits known to dyslexics today.

A modern-day dyslexic, explains his feelings: “… being dyslexic is like running a 100-meter race. In your lane, you have hurdles, but no one else does. You feel that it’s unfair, but you try running like the other competitors anyway. Then you hit a hurdle and fall flat on your face. Your parents and teachers are yelling at you to try harder, so you run faster and faster and fall even harder. Then someone takes the time to show you how to run hurdles, and, like an Olympic runner, you outrun the others. The key, though, is that you have to do it differently, the way that works best for you.”

For Percy F., doing it differently would have meant that all instruction was given to him orally and that his responses during assessment would have also been given orally.

International Dyslexia Association 1994 Definition

Despite the 100 years that separate them, Percy F. shares common components of the definition adopted by The International Dyslexia Association in 1994. It states: Dyslexia is one of several distinct learning disabilities. It is a specific language-based disorder of constitutional origin characterized by difficulties in single-word decoding, usually reflecting insufficient phonological processing abilities. These difficulties in single-word decoding are unexpected in relation to age and other cognitive and academic abilities; they are not the results of generalized developmental disability or sensory impairment. Dyslexia is manifested by variable difficulty with different forms of language, often including, in addition to problems reading, a conspicuous problem with acquiring proficiency in writing and spelling.

IDA Definition Revised

A more recent IDA definition attempts to explain the disability in more concrete terms stating what it is and what it isn’t and even points to the ever-arguable cause of dyslexia. However, many of the components of the 1998 definition mirror that of the earlier definition, but in more easily understood terms.

What Dyslexia Is

Dyslexia is a learning disability characterized by problems in expressive or receptive, oral or written language. Problems may emerge in reading, spelling, writing, speaking, or listening.

Dyslexia describes a different kind of mind, often gifted and productive, that learns differently. Dyslexia is not the result of low intelligence. Intelligence is not the problem. An unexpected gap exists between learning aptitude and achievement in school.

The problem is not behavioral, psychological, motivational, or social.

Their problems in language processing distinguish them as a group. This means that the dyslexic has problems translating language into thought, as in listening or reading, or thought into language, as in writing or speaking (Lerner).

What Dyslexia Isn’t

The addition of four components to the newest definition is the result of ongoing research aimed at “clearing up” some of the inaccuracies surrounding the public’s perception of dyslexia. Below, the additions are bulleted with explanations from various researchers and institutions following.

Dyslexia is not a disease; it has no cure.

Regina G. Richards, an educational therapist in Riverside, CA, wrote: “Our culture likes “fast” – fast food, fast freeway speeds, microwave cooking, faxes, e-mail, and the list goes on. As an extension, people also want fast cures. We recently had a parent ask if she put her dyslexic son in our school for three months, could we fix his dyslexia and teach him to read. The answer – unequivocally – is NO!”

No, a cure in three months for this young man is not in the cards. However, he can learn to do it differently – the way that works best for him.

Dyslexia is a life-long condition. With proper help, people with dyslexia can learn to read and/or write well. Early identification and treatment is the key to helping dyslexics achieve in school and in life. If children who are dyslexic get effective phonological training in kindergarten and first grade, they will have significantly fewer problems in learning to read at grade level than children who are not identified or helped until third grade. (IDA).

It is not a problem of vision; people with dyslexia do not “see backward.”

Oftentimes, stories or conversations about dyslexia result in it being described as a problem with visual or perceptual processing. This part of the IDA’s definition feeds off the fact that many studies have found that dyslexic individuals have no greater incidence of eye problems than do individuals with normal reading ability. Such parameters as visual acuity, stereo acuity, ocular alignment and motility, fusion status, and refractive error have not been shown to be significantly different in poor versus normal readers. (Evans).

Because research on brain functioning has not found evidence to support the notion of a visual basis for most reading difficulties, it is important to understand that what often appears to be a perceptual problem (reading words backwards, skipping words, etc.) usually seems to be directly related to sequential/rational information processing (Garfield).

This includes poor sequencing of numbers and/or letters in words when read or written, e.g., b-d; sing-sign; left-felt; soiled-solid; 12-21 (IDA).

In other words, when students experience difficulty sequencing and organizing detailed information, they often have difficulty with the sequence of letters and words as they read (Cite).

Dyslexia and the Brain

Dyslexia results from differences in the structure and function of the brain.

For nearly a century, scientists have speculated that there was a brain-related basis for dyslexia and that an inability to learn to read was caused by abnormal brain functioning. Samuel T. Orton, an American neuropathologist, suggested in the 1920s a theory based on the fact that the brain is divided into two hemispheres. He said that in most people, the left hemisphere regulates language functions. A few people have language functions dominated by the right hemisphere. Orton suggested that in dyslexics neither hemisphere dominates language functions (Cite newspaper article).

This was never proven. In fact, current findings show that the left hemisphere does specialize in the language function and the right hemisphere controls nonverbal functions. However, the two hemispheres of the brain do not work altogether independently; there are many interrelating elements and functions. Inefficient functioning of either hemisphere reduces the total effectiveness of individuals and affects their acquisition and use of language (Lerner).

Famous Dyslexics

With growing knowledge about the brain and its relationship to reading, there is now convincing evidence that the brains of people with dyslexia do differ in structure and function from the brains of normal persons (Lerner).

People with dyslexia are unique, each having individual strengths and weakness. Many dyslexics are creative and have unusual talent in areas such as art, athletics, architecture, graphics, electronics, mechanics, drama, music, or engineering. Dyslexics often show special talent in areas that require visual, spatial and motor integration.

The list of famous people with learning disabilities is long, and their talents are diverse. As shown by the following three examples, many successful people are dyslexic, and many dyslexic people are successful.

George S. Patton Jr. didn’t learn to read at all until he was 12-years-old and continued having difficulty reading all his life. He got through school by memorizing his teachers’ entire lectures. But not being able to read didn’t stop him. He is thought to be one of the greatest strategists in military history and gained fame as a four-star general in World War II (Drew, Hardman, Egan).

Albert Einstein was thought to be “simple-minded.” He didn’t speak until the age of 3, and even as an adult found searching for words laborious and was unable to express himself in written language. He discovered that he could achieve through visualizing rather than using oral language. His theory of relativity was developed in his spare time. Time magazine named him the most important person of the 20th century (Drew, Hardman, Egan).

Tom Cruise has never learned to read due to severe dyslexia and was unable to finish high school. As one of today’s most accomplished actors, he memorizes his lines from an auditory source, such as a cassette tape or someone reading to him (Drew, Hardman, Egan).

Early Detection Crucial

these three famous individuals with dyslexia had to find a way that worked best for them. Unfortunately, none of these individuals ever learned to read, which, despite their fame, could prove to be humiliating.

According to the statistics, they are not alone. The International Dyslexic Association reports that 74 percent of the children who were poor readers in the third grade remained poor readers in the ninth grade. And, of course, this followed them into adulthood. Today, one big push is early detection of dyslexia. But what does an individual with dyslexia look like? Dyslexia strikes all groups, regardless of age, race, or income (IDA). The fact is he or she will look just like any other young child anxious to begin his or her school career. As stated earlier, a person with dyslexia may even appear brighter than the normal child.

Educators owe it to these young minds to become aware of traits exhibited by dyslexics so that early assessment and intervention can take place.

How Dyslexia Looks

Mr Sagmiller, who has provided much information for this paper, is one of those successful dyslexics. He spends much of his time appearing on radio and television shows, trying to help people understand dyslexia. He speaks about what it’s like growing up dyslexic. In his autobiography, “Dyslexia My Life,” he speaks candidly about overcoming being told he was incapable of functioning in school. He completed his Master’s Degree in Business Administration, and today, at 36, travels internationally as a computer consultant for a worldwide organization. He moonlights as a model and actor for such well-known companies as Levi Strauss and Anheuser-Busch Inc.

When answering the questions, “What is dyslexia like,” and “How shall we recognize a person with dyslexia,” he recalls how a young dyslexic, Alfred, explained it to him.

“I can think okay,” Alfred said.

The dyslexic’s intelligence, vision, hearing, motor control and physical development are from very good to poor, but mostly around average, as with everybody else. He has no more problems at home, attending school, or with his emotions than anyone else – except as a result of the frustration and discouragement caused by failure.

“It’s just my words,” Alfred said. “I forget them.”

He cannot learn and remember whole words by sight, so he has trouble with reading in the regular class. Perhaps he cannot remember letters, so he gets them twisted – b for d, and so on.

Often he cannot call up the words he wants to say. “Oh, you know that thing you use to write with …” “Yesterday – I mean tomorrow – sometime or other.”

“And I can’t manage them” The words come out wrong, “basgetti and cheese,” or in the wrong order, “please up hurry!”

Like Alfred, many dyslexics have trouble getting their words out orally, and when they try to write them down often they are jumbled. This results in their difficulties with spelling. However, reading and writing letters in the wrong order is just one manifestation of dyslexia and does not occur in all cases (IDA).

Discrepancies Will Exist

It is important to realize that dyslexics are a heterogeneous group. No two dyslexics are exactly alike, and it is not necessary that a child demonstrate all of the symptoms that follow to be tested for dyslexia.

One of the strongest clues that something is wrong is when a child, who attends school on a regular basis, appears to be average or bright when talking, but struggles to read, spell or cope with math. It is common for dyslexic children to be quite able, especially in the areas of creativity (art, drama, drawing, etc.) and physical coordination (physical education, swimming, sports, model making, etc.). However, there are differences in the neural links in their brain that makes it hard for them to deal with text (and often with numbers) without extra support. A reading age or grade level of two years below where the child is expected to be is a sign of possible dyslexia (Dyslexia Teacher).  If a discrepancy between the pupil’s ability and his/her actual achievement exists, it is necessary to look at other possible symptoms associated with dyslexia as they apply to the child, and assessment is needed.

Reading, Writing, Spelling Difficulties

Following are detailed possible symptoms of dyslexia associated with reading, writing, and spelling:

Difficulties with reading

In reading, the symptoms include an inability to remember letters, words, or numbers. When attempting to read, the dyslexic will have a tendency to skip over or scramble letters, words, and sentences. He/she may demonstrate a poor, slow, fatiguing reading ability prone to compensatory head tilting, near-far focusing, and finger pointing. As stated earlier, reversals of letters such as b and d, words such as saw and was, and numbers such as 6 and 9 or 16 and 61 will occur. Additionally, the dyslexic reader will have poor concentration and be easily distracted, he/she will be sensitive to light, have tunnel vision, and delayed visual and phonetic processing (Dyslexia Online).

Difficulties with spelling

Spelling is the activity that causes the most difficulty for dyslexic children. The observation of spelling errors in short, simple words is the way in which most dyslexic children are first identified. Examples of words which cause particular difficulty are: any, many, island, said, they, because, enough, and friend. Other words will sometimes be spelled in the way they would be expected to be spelled if the spelling system were rational, for example: does/dus, please/pleeze, knock/nock, search/serch, journey/jerney, etc.

Dyslexic children also experience difficulties with jumbled spellings. These are spelling attempts in which all the correct letters are present, but are written in the wrong order. Examples include: dose/does, freind/friend, siad/said, bule/blue, becuase/because, and wores/worse. Jumbled spellings show that the child is experiencing difficulty with visual memory. Non-dyslexic children and adults often use their visual memory when trying to remember a difficult word: they write down two or three possible versions of the word and see which spelling “looks right.” They are relying on their visual memory to help them, but the visual memory of a dyslexic child may not be adequate for this task (Dyslexia Teacher).

Writing letters or numbers backward

Children who are learning to write invariably will write letters backward. This is not a cause for alarm. However, the dyslexic child often mixes up “b” and “d” or “p” and the number 9. These letters are the same in their mirror image and cause regular confusion for them. Some pupils make a point of always writing the letter “b” as an upper case or capital “B,” because it is much easier for them to remember in terms of the direction it faces (Dyslexic Teacher).

Non-reading Traits

All characteristics of dyslexics do not include symptoms related to reading, writing or spelling. Following is a list of non-reading traits persons with dyslexia may experience:

A family history of learning difficulties

Dyslexia is frequently found in families, and is often accompanied by left-handedness somewhere in the family. This does not mean to say that a dyslexic parent will automatically have a dyslexic child, or that a left-handed child will necessarily be dyslexic. But where dyslexia does occur, of the children and adults diagnosed, more than 80 percent have a history of learning difficulties in their family, and more than 60 percent have a family member who is left-handed (Dyslexia On-line Magazine).

This has been found to be more common in boys than girls and is thought to be due to an excess of the male hormone testosterone during pregnancy. If there is a history of learning difficulties among one or more members of the family, it might be significant (Dyslexia Teacher).

Confusion over left and right

Often children with dyslexia experience confusion when asked to raise their right hand, pick the object on the left, etc. Other difficulties may include determining east from west, or following directions like, “Go to the end of the hall and turn left; it is the first door on the right ” (Dyslexia Teacher).

Difficulties with math

One feature of dyslexia is difficulties with sequencing – getting things in the right order. Math depends on sequences of numbers. While many people are aware that dyslexic children and students have problems with reading and spelling, they do not realize that math can also be a real challenge (Dyslexia Teacher).

Difficulties with organizing themselves

While most children live their lives in a mess, it is particularly true for dyslexic children who may have genuine difficulties with planning and thinking ahead to when a book or pen might be needed next (Dyslexia Teacher).

Difficulty following 2- or 3-step instructions

If a dyslexic child were asked to go to another teacher’s room and ask if a particular student was absent and to borrow a dictionary from the teacher, chances are it would be too much for them to follow through on. This is because it requires both sequencing and memory skills. Although dyslexic children enjoy helping their teachers out as much as non-dyslexic children, the messages need to be less complicated. Simply asking the dyslexic child to go to another teacher’s room and borrow a dictionary would probably result in that child’s successful completion of the mission (Dyslexia Teacher).

Poor speech

Speech disorders such as slurring, stuttering, minor articulation errors, poor word recall, and auditory-input and motor-output speech lags can be symptoms of dyslexia (Dyslexia Online).

Delay in learning to tell time

Impaired concentration and activity

This could include an inability to concentrate and easy distractibility, hyperactivity, or overactivity.

Psychosomatics

Some children with dyslexia experience difficulties with headaches, nausea, dizziness, vomiting, motion sickness, abdominal complaints, excessive sweating, and bed-wetting (Dyslexia Online).

The Gift of Dyslexia

In reading the above characteristics, it would seem that all characteristics of the dyslexic are negative. That is truly not so. Ronald D. Davis, author of “The Gift of Dyslexia,” is dyslexic. Once as a guest on a television show, he was asked about the “positive” side of dyslexia. As part of his answer, he listed some famous dyslexics. The hostess of the show commented, “Isn’t it amazing that all those people could be geniuses in spite of having dyslexia.”

Davis said she had missed his point. The genius of these famous people didn’t occur in spite of their dyslexia, but because of it, he insists.

Of course, having dyslexia won’t make every dyslexic a genius, but it is good for the self-esteem of all dyslexics to know their minds work in exactly the same way as the minds of great geniuses. It is also important for them to know that having a problem with reading, writing, spelling, or math doesn’t mean they are dumb or stupid. The same mental function that causes dyslexia is a gift in the truest sense of the word: a natural ability, a talent. It is something special that enhances the individual. Dyslexics don’t all develop the same gifts, but they do have certain mental functions in common (Davis).

Here are the basic abilities all dyslexics share:

They can utilize the brain’s ability to alter and create perceptions (the primary ability).

They are highly aware of the environment.

They are more curious than average.

They think mainly in pictures instead of words.

They are highly intuitive and insightful.

They think and perceive multi-dimensionally (using all the senses).

They can experience thought as reality.

They have vivid imaginations (Davis).

Assessing Strengths and Weaknesses

Although there are positive sides to dyslexia, before a dyslexic person can fully realize the positive side, the negative side should be addressed, and learning strategies that allow the dyslexic to get past the problems should be employed. The first step in doing this is assessing the individual’s difficulties. The critical issue in the diagnostic process is to provide an adequate description of the student’s processing strengths and weaknesses, as a thorough description leads to the appropriate prescription (Richards).

In diagnosing dyslexia, the range of areas that must be considered include the child’s cognitive ability, language, reading, and writing skills, and processing components (Richards).

Cognitive Skills

Richards asserts that children’s cognitive skills are efficiently assessed using a number of well-standardized tests such as the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (KABC) or The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III).

The KABC has been around since 1983, and revised in 2004. It assesses intelligence (sequential and simultaneous processing) and achievement in vocabulary, arithmetic, and reading for age/grade levels 2.5 through 12.5 years. The K-ABC can be helpful in determining general intellectual ability and overall achievement in vocabulary, arithmetic, and reading. However, the K-ABC should be used cautiously with students who have diverse backgrounds because some test items may be biased (Cohen, Spenciner).

The WISC-III was published in 1991 to assess intellectual ability and areas of strength and weakness for age/grade levels 6 years through 16 years, 11 months. The WISC-III can be used when conducting a psychoeducational assessment, diagnosing special needs, determining eligibility for services, and during clinical and neuropsychological assessment (Cohen, Spenciner).

In addition to these tests, any of the wide range of standardized tests for language, reading, and writing can be used to identify skills in these areas, according to Richards. However, in identifying dyslexia, the student’s performances must be analyzed and compared. For example, reading of real words in a list may be compared to reading of nonsense words in a list. Does the child make the same types of errors or different errors? Are there more or fewer errors in one task? (Richards).

Processing Skills

The assessment of processing skills is a more complex area, but more standardized tests are coming on the market, according to Richards. She selects from and uses six standardized and two neurodevelopmental tests to analyze the processing pattern of dyslexics, depending on age and developmental level. One example is the 1999, Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing, now includes the second edition, which assesses 12 areas arranged in categories of:

Phonological Awareness: analysis and synthesis of the sound structure of oral language. The order of progression of phonological awareness starts with syllables and moves toward smaller units of speech sounds. Phonological awareness provides individuals with the ability to break words into syllables and component phonemes, synthesize words from discrete sounds, and to learn about the distinctive features of words (Lennon, Slesinski)

Phonological memory: coding information phonologically for temporary storage in working or short-term memory. Phonological short-term memory involves storing distinct phonological features for short periods of time to be “read off” in the process of applying the alphabetic principle to word identification (Lennon, Slesinski).

Rapid naming: efficient retrieval of a series of names of objects, colors, digits, or letters from long-term memory. Rapid naming of verbal material is a measure of the fluid access to verbal names in isolation or as a part of a series, and related efficiency in activating name codes from memory (Lennon, Slesinski).

The CTOPP provides important information regarding processes that underlie beginning reading skills and, when used in conjunction with curriculum-based measures, trial teaching, and other formal assessment information, is likely to aid in understanding the problems some children have learning to read (Lennon, Slesinski).

There are two versions of the CTOPP, which are intended to provide a reliable, valid, and standardized measure of phonological coding for kindergarteners and first graders, ages 5 and 6, and the second version for second graders through college students, ages 7-24 ( Lennon, Slesinski).

Strategies for Teaching Dyslexics

As stated throughout this paper, dyslexia is a life-long condition. Formal evaluations are needed to discover if a person who is having problems with reading, writing, or spelling is actually dyslexic. Once the dyslexia determination is made, strategies can be employed to help them overcome the deficiencies.

Mr. Sagmiller, who has provided much information for this paper, answered the question: What strategies, possibly introduced to you by an educator during your school years, helped make the difference that allowed you to realize you could succeed despite dyslexia? His answer:  “I was given HOPE and understanding that I could make it and (the fact) that I could do other things well. I also learned to read by phonics.”

Self-esteem Building Strategies

Mr Sagmiller didn’t express whether his hope came from within or whether an individual or individuals were responsible. However, parents and educators can ensure they are always in their dyslexic’s corner by following some advice “successful” dyslexics provide.

One piece of advice targets the fact that oftentimes children with dyslexia become the butt of jokes and are ridiculed by their peers. He suggests saying, “I love you,” to the child with dyslexia every day. Often people with LD are singled out daily. This is especially true in a school setting. Many kids are targeted by peers and are laughed at for making mistakes or being “stupid.” Those three words of comfort should come from those who love the child unconditionally.

He also suggests keeping labels to a minimum and trying not to use them at all except for diagnostic purposes. Once the diagnosis is made, the label is not what’s important; it is the strategies used to overcome that make the difference.

Also, include the child's opinions in family discussions and take their suggestions to heart. Knowing that they have contributed to the family's well-being improves self-esteem and helps the family, too.

Educators should compliment the child for trying something difficult, no matter what the grade. “Emphasize to the child that their worth as a person is not related to their test scores or how well they did on a particular assignment,” he suggests.

At All Costs – Avoid Humiliating

In giving hope, there are things to avoid as well. Things not to say include:

This is easy.

Get your act together and learn to do it right.

You’re just not applying yourself.

Try harder.

Everyone is dismissed except for _________ .

If you never learn to read or write, you will never make it.

Additionally, avoid humiliating the child in front of the entire class and putting unhappy faces on their paper. These are unnecessary tactics when dealing with any child, but more so with dyslexic children because they experience negativity from those around them on a daily basis.

In the first chapter of his book, “The Gift of Dyslexia,” Davis shares a totally personal, humiliating experience he suffered at the hands of a teacher. He describes it as a scene from his life in 1949.

The clock on the classroom wall ticks slower and slower. Tick … tick … tick … “Please hurry! Please hurry! Please … please … please hurry!”

The words are whispered barely aloud by the young boy. Every muscle in his body is tense. His fingers twitch and tremble. His knees, pressed tightly together, quiver and touch the walls of the corner. He rocks slowly back and forth, but is careful not to dislodge the folded white handkerchief, his label of unworthiness, draped like a flag across the top of his head.

“Please … please!” he whispers again. Then he sucks in his breath and winces. But it doesn’t help, nothing can. Within minutes it starts, a trickle at first, then all of it. He silently hopes there isn’t so much that it makes a puddle on the floor. He hunches over, pressing his face tight into the corner. His wrists cross into an X in his lap, hoping to hide the wet spot. Now he is glad he won’t be leaving the school when the other kids do. Maybe they’ll all be gone when he leaves, and nobody will see; nobody will tease him.

He has hoped this hope at least a hundred times before, but maybe this time he won’t hear those awful words: “Retard! Retard! Look at the retard. Retard pissed his pants again.”

He is startled by the bell that signals school is out for the day. In the corner, amidst the clatter and clamor of the kids leaving, the boy sits motionless, hoping nobody looks in his direction. If he could be invisible he would be. Not until the room is quiet does he dare move, does he dare make a sound.

As the noise fades, the ticking of the clock accelerates. Tick … tick, tick!

Barely aloud, the boy whispers something that only he should hear.

“What did you say?”

The loud voice booms right behind him.

If he hadn’t already done it, he would be wetting his pants now. He presses into the corner as tightly as he can and tries to be as small as he can be. One of the hands that put him in the corner grabs his shoulder and pulls him around.

“What did you say?” the voice demands.

“I asked God not to make me sit in the corner anymore.”

Davis explains that a child’s prayer, his own prayer as it is, is the sole reason he wrote the book. Whether educators are aware or not, their treatment of the dyslexic child is important. In Davis’ case, failure and ridicule made him stronger. However, in just as many cases, as proven by the statistics of people in jail who are dyslexic, poor treatment can cause them to quit, to retreat inside themselves, to believe they are unworthy human beings without “HOPE.”

“Remember, your worst day as a teacher or parent of a child with learning disabilities is still better than the average day a child with LD will have in school.

“Successful” Dyslexic Strategies

In allowing the dyslexic individuals to experience success, let them do whatever they do best – running, skating, drawing, etc. – every day. This will boost their self-esteem and provide them with enjoyable experiences to share with family and friends.

There is no simple formula for treating a dyslexic child. Each one requires his or her own individualized program. Thelma Good is an adult dyslexic writer. In her article, “Finding My Own Solutions,” she muses over how she has managed to become a writer while continuing, of course, to be dyslexic.

Computers with their spell checkers have helped her. She also said voice dictation software helps. She uses a split keyboard because it gives her a better sense of which hand is which. She was taught to type 10-fingered and said she thinks that helps to keep the sense of where the letters are on the keyboard (Good).

To distinguish left from right, Good taught herself that a wristwatch means left, and no watch means right. To aid her organizational deficits, she files by color and style of folder (Good). Another dyslexic 9-year-old girl uses her wristwatch, which has hands, to remember which way to write her numbers. Three, five and seven are the hardest for her. All she has to do is look at her watch and copy them down. According to her father, it doesn’t always work, but it’s another little trick to use.

Form of Dyslexia Linked to Chromosome Region

 NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Finnish researchers have found a region of DNA in a single chromosome they believe is linked to an inherited form of the learning disorder dyslexia. The discovery comes from a study of the chromosomes of Finnish families in which several members are dyslexic.   Dyslexia is a developmental language disorder characterized by problems in reading, writing, and spelling despite normal intelligence. Previous research has identified possible locations for dyslexia genes, as well as areas of the brain that are affected by the disorder.   Dr. Jaana Nopola-Hemmi of the University of Helsinki and colleagues report on their discovery in the October issue of the Journal of Medical gennetics.   The investigators evaluated 140 families for dyslexia.  Extensive testing and genetic analysis identified dyslexia in  21 people and, of that group, 19 shared similar genetic sequences in a region of chromosome 3.

 According to the researchers, this chromosome region where the new dyslexia gene is believed to be is associated with deficits in certain ``essential components'' of the reading process.  These include awareness of speech sounds and short-term memory.  ``The results implicate a previously unreported chromosomal region linked to dyslexia in chromosome 3,'' Nopola-Hemmi and colleagues write.

 Experts believe that finding the genes linked to dyslexia may  help them identify children at high risk for the learning disorder. If the condition can be spotted earlier in life,  therapy might prevent the development of dyslexia or at least reduce the severity of the condition.

 SOURCE: Journal of Medical Genetics 2001;38:658-664.

Dyslexia and Decoding words.

Dyslexia can mean a specific reading disability of a person with an average or higher IQ, as described in “Reading Problems: Consultation and Remediation” by Dr. P.G. Aaron and R. Malatesha Joshi, 1992, Guilford Press, 285 pages. In that book, the authors advise school psychologists and reading specialists how to help teachers identify and remediate their students’ specific reading disabilities (SRD). The authors state that the reading skill consists of two major components. A component of the reading skill is an “elementary” psychological process that has sufficient “independence” from other processes and “operates upon internal representations of objects and symbols.” The two major components of the reading skill are the process used by the brain to decode written language and the process used to comprehend the meaning of the written or spoken words when they appear individually and when they are combined into phrases, sentences and paragraphs.

Decoding is the ability to independently recognize and pronounce the written word. “Findings of experimental, neuropsychological , genetic, and developmental studies indicate that these two components (decoding and comprehension) are more or less insulated from each other and, therefore, modular and independent”. Id, at 56. Some persons decode very well but show poor comprehension, described as having a “Nonspecific Reading Disability.” (NSRD) (at 85). Others poorly decode but show average or above average comprehension. Those are categorized as having a Specific Reading Disability (SRD) (id.). Others decode poorly and poorly comprehend. Those are categorized as low ability readers (LAR). (id.) The book focuses on how to help teachers dealing with the SRD population.

Those in the SRD population may have trouble with processes factors, such as decoding, inference making, and metacognition, or they may have trouble with content factors, such as vocabulary size and schemata of the reader. The authors state that “Comprehensive assessment of the reading skill of any individual involves the evaluation of both process and content factors.” (at 86).

The authors distinguished between reading disabilities and reading defects and stated that “reading defects that arise from visual-optical processes are not considered reading disabilities.” (at 87).

The authors used the term reading disabilities for reading problems that are attributable to “intrinsic factors (which) include deficient phonological processing skill, comprehension deficit and peculiar cognitive learning styles”. They recognized that teachers and school personnel need to distinguish reading disabilities from reading deficits that are caused by extrinsic factors such as poor motivation, limited reading experience and an environment not conducive to learning. The distinction between the intrinsic and the extrinsic factors has clear implications for selecting the appropriate corrective instruction. (id at 88).

The authors state that “The most fundamental deficit of SRD is poor word-recogniation skills. Skill at recognizing words is strongly correlated to the speed of initial reading acquisition (Stanovich, 1991). A major source of deficient word-recognition skills is weak phonological-processing skills. The phonological skills deficit theory of SRD (or dyslexia) can successfully account for the many symptoms individuals with this type of reading disability display, an accomplishment which neurological and percep[tual explanations of dyslexia cannot match.” Id. At 89. The authors state that the symptoms of SRD include

a slow rate of reading relative to others their own age in spite of years in school, often with average comprehension in untimed tests

erratic oral reading, often from overdependence on sight word reading strategy, using minimal cues such as the first few letters of the word leading to misreading words and making oral reading errors, with more than the normal amount of errors in substituting function words, e.g. a for the, is for was, on for above. Frequent omission and substitution of suffixes in oral and written _expression. “The fact that function words and suffixes are semantically empty and therefore, have to be kept in the working memory in a phonological form appears to be a good explanation of the misreading of such common words.” Id. At 91.”Word reading errors are as prevalent when these subjects read a list of isolated words as when they read sentences or passages…..The fact that subjects with SRD commit a significant number of errors when they read a list of unrelated words suggests that their problem can be tracked down to the word recognition level.” Id.

spelling errors, incorrect use of suffixes and function words in reading and writing. The authors state that “spelling-to-sound relational rules are used both in reading and spelling and because readers with SRD are deficient in grapheme-phoneme conversion skills.” Id. At 91.They state that “spelling as a skill may not be as much dependent on visual memory as it is on phonological skills. Genetic studies also report that phonology and spelling skills are highly heritable whereas orthographic (visual-shape) memory is not…Without exception, all the college students with SRD studied by the authors of this book are poor spellers. Even though some adults with SRD manage to acquire adequate reading skill, probably by using a whole-word reading strategy and by building up a substantial sight vocabulary, they fail to make similar progress in spelling. The reason for this difference between spelling and reading may be due to the fact that reading is primarily a recognition task, whereas spelling is a recall task. Careful testing usually reveals that these so-called “good readers” but poor spellers” have residual reading deficits (Joshi & Aaron, 1991). This phenomenon also brings up another point, that is, even though reading skill can be expected to improve in individuals with SRD, a corresponding degree of grain does not occur in spelling.” Id at 92.

“Spelling errors indicate an accompanying weakness in phonological skill. Sometimes the presence of spelling errors in a student’s writing may be the only residual symptom of a hidden reading disability. Therefore, an excessive number of spelling errors seen particularly in the writings of mature students, should alert the teacher to the possibility of an associated reading deficit.” Id. At 92. SRD causes spelling errors among homophonic words such as one and won, were and where, there and their, meat and meet, read and reed as well as errors of suffix and grammar. The authors reported that an underlying phonological deficit can cause spelling and suffix errors even though a person’s knowledge of grammar rules is “normal”. The problem appears to be with the excessive load put on the “working memory” of a person with SRD. “A recent study by Crain (1989) assessed the syntactical skills of normal and poor second grade readers. When the memory load created by the questions used in the study was reduced by utilizing pictures instead of written sentences, it was found that children with SRD performed as well as normal readers did. This led Crain to conclude that spoken language comprehension failures by poor readers arise from limitations in phonological processing involving working memory rather than defective syntactic skill.” Id at 94. Many SRD subjects tend to rely on their stored knowledge and depend on contextual cues to recognize words. …Readers with SRD, being weak in decoding, depend excessively on context”. Id. At 94..

below average comprehension on timed reading tests.

Usually accompanied by the following:

normal listening comprehension. The authors state that: “There is no discernable deficit in the listening comprehension of individuals with SRD, when comprehension is evaluated in terms of normal, oral communication or exchange of information….The fact that the reading comprehension of college students with SRD tends to be close to normal when assessed by untimed tests indicates that the poor reading comprehension seen in these subjects under certain testing conditions is more apparent than real. It is highly probable that in these subjects, the phonological processing factor becomes a bottleneck during reading and operates as a limiting factor. In skilled readers, decoding has become a highly automatic task, thus releasing attention to be directed as comprehension. In the case of subjects with SRD, decoding remains an attention-demanding operation, preventing them from directing attention entirely to comprehension. This may be why subjects with SRD tend to do much better in tests of listening comprehension (which do not require the grapheme – hpneme transformation) than in tests of reading comprehension. Thus, poor reading comprehension is not a primary deficit but is secondary to the phonological processing deficit.” Id at 95.

poor phonological skills

excessive reliance on a compensatory strategy to recognize written words.

Id. At page 89. One such excessive effort is to guess the word from the “context”. “Mitchell (1982) after reviewing the relevant literature, concluded that word recognition is not guided or helped by contextual information, the main reason being that word recognition is simply too fast an operation to rely on context. There is also evidence to show that even skilled readers can guess correctly only one word in four and that guessing from context invariably leads to errors. (Gough, Alford, & Houlley-Wilcox, 1981). We may, therefore, conclude that subjects with poor decoding skills are likely to rely on context for word recognition more than skilled readers do. One of the goals of many early reading instruction programs is to help students learn to recognize words correctly, not to play guessing games.” Id at 95.

The authors state: “Because individuals with SRD differ in the extent of their decoding deficit, past reading experience, and amount of remedial instruction previously received, a certain degree of variability in symptoms can be expected among disabled readers.” (id. 89).\

Seeking The Biological Basis Of Dyslexia

Neuroscientists in the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences are adding fuel to the debate over dyslexia.

Most researchers agree that the reading disability stems from an inability to link specific sounds to written letters and words. But any consensus quickly breaks down when scientists discuss the underlying biological causes that lead to those difficulties.

In work presented at a meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Zhong-Lin Lu, Frank Manis and Anne Sperling showed that dyslexic children have a harder time than non-dyslexics filtering out a signal from background “noise” during tests of visual perception.

The team, which also includes the University of Wisconsin ’s Mark Seidenberg, speculates that the deficit may affect the whole brain.

If confirmed, the research could lead to a better understanding of the physical basis of the learning disability as well as improved identification of children with dyslexia. That could lead to earlier interventions.

The most common reading disability, dyslexia affects between 5 and 15 percent of Americans, with an estimated 14 million suffering from a severe form of the reading disability. Dyslexia may show itself as problems in learning to read, writing legibly, spelling or calculating math problems.

Even in reading a simple word like “cat,” the brain must recognize the three distinct sounds represented by each letter (“cah,” “ah” and “tuh”); recognize the sounds in the proper order (cat vs. tac vs. act); blend the sounds into a word; and mentally map the sounds onto the letters written on the page.

People with dyslexia may run into trouble during any of these steps that, in strong readers, become automatic, said Manis, a professor of psychology and a dyslexia expert.

Its results can be devastating, especially in the Information Age, when reading is critical to success in school and careers.

Although most dyslexics can and do learn to read with special training, many dyslexic children and adults are never identified.

A number of studies have suggested that people with dyslexia have a deficit in one of the brain’s visual processing pathways, the M (magnocellular) pathway that processes motion and brightness.

The same studies showed no deficits in the overlapping but distinct P (parvocellular) visual pathway, which processes colors and fine details.

The M processing deficit explanation of dyslexia, however, lately has come under increased scrutiny by scientists.

In the study, the USC team recruited 55 children aged 8 to 12, with 28 identified as dyslexics and 27 as non-dyslexics. The children were asked to complete a series of tasks testing their language and reading skills before completing a number of visual tasks. The children hit a button when they saw a rectangle of black-and-white stripes appear on a computer screen.

Adjusting how much the stripes contrasted with the background, the team compared the ability of the children to detect two different patterns, a flashing pattern that stimulates the M pathway and a stationary one processed by the P pathway.

The team found that dyslexics and non-dyslexics were equally able to detect both M- and P-type patterns. It was only when researchers added visual noise—in the form of TV “snow”—on top of the pattern that a difference emerged.

Under the “noisy” conditions, both the M- and P-type patterns had to be 10 percent more contrasting for children with dyslexia to detect them compared with non-dyslexics.

“People with dyslexia may have a harder time distinguishing a signal from the noise—not because they can’t perceive the signal, as had been thought, but because they are not as adept as filtering out the background, non-essential sensory information,” said Lu, associate professor of psychology and an expert on vision and attention.

“In fact, the deficit we found is not specifically visual—we think of it as a sign of a basic problem in sensory perception. Next, we want to look for this same deficit in the brain’s auditory pathways,” said Sperling, whose doctoral dissertation was based on the study. She earned a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the college in August and is now a postdoc in neurology at Georgetown University.

In terms of impact on reading, poor filtering ability could distort speech perception in infancy, complicating the development of categories of phonemes [speech sounds] and later, letter recognition and the child’s appreciation of spelling-sound links, Sperling said.

The team has planned a number of follow-up studies to further test the hypothesis.

“The study needs to be replicated with different kids, different types of vision tasks, and with auditory processing tasks. I’d like to do this in younger kids as well—if it’s there, we should be able to pick up on this difference even in kindergartners,” Manis said.

“The biggest gain that we who work on dyslexia could get right now would be identifying children with dyslexia as early as ages 4 to 5 before the reading problem becomes acute,” he said.  

“If a student is failing to learn to read by the end of first grade, to me that’s an emergency. Early identification would allow us to begin aggressive interventions for those at-risk.”

 Imaging Study Reveals Brain Function Of Poor Readers Can Improve

A brain imaging study has shown that, after they overcome their reading disability, the brains of formerly poor readers begin to function like the brains of good readers, showing increased activity in a part of the brain that recognizes words. The study appears in the May 1 Biological Psychiatry and was funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), one of the National Institutes of Health.

"These images show that effective reading instruction not only improves reading ability but actually changes the brain's functioning so that it can perform reading tasks more efficiently," said Duane Alexander, M.D., Director of the NICHD.

The research team was led by Bennett Shaywitz, M.D., and Sally Shaywitz, M.D., of Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut. Other authors of the study were from Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York ; Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee; and the NICHD.

According to Dr. Sally Shaywitz, the results show that "Teaching matters, and good teaching can change the brain in a way that has the potential to benefit struggling readers."

Along with testing the children's reading ability, the researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a sophisticated brain imaging technology, to observe the children's brain functioning as they read.

In all, 77 children between the ages of 6 and about 9 and ½ took part in the study. Of these, 49 had difficulty reading, and 29 children were good readers. Of the 49 poor readers, 12 received the standard instruction in reading that was available through their school systems. The remaining 37 were enrolled in an intensive reading program based on instruction in phonemic awareness and phonics.

In the study, the 37 poor readers in the intensive reading program outpaced the 12 poor readers in the standard instruction groups, making strong gains in three measures of reading skill: accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. These gains were still apparent when the children were tested again a year later. Moreover, fMRI scans showed that the brains of the 37 formerly poor readers began functioning like the brains of good readers. Specifically, the poor readers showed increased activity in an area of the brain that recognizes words instantly without first having to decipher them.

The intensive reading program the 37 children took had strong components in phonemic awareness and phonics. Phonemic awareness refers to the ability to identify phonemes, the individual sounds that makeup spoken words. The word "bag," for example, is made up of three such elemental units of speech, which can be represented as bbb, aaa, and ggg. The brain strings together the 40 phonemes making up the English language to produce hundreds and thousands of words. In speech, this process is unconscious and automatic.

Beginning in the 1970s, NICHD-funded researchers learned that developing a conscious awareness of the smaller sounds in words was essential to mastering the next step in learning to read, phonics. Phonics refers to the ability to match spoken phonemes to the individual letters of the alphabet that represent them. Once children master phonics, the NICHD-funded studies showed, they could make sense of words they haven't seen before, without first having to memorize them. Further NICHD-supported research found that instruction in phonemic awareness was an essential part of a comprehensive program in reading instruction that could help most poor readers overcome their disability.

In the 1990s, the Shaywitzes had used fMRI to learn that reading ability resides in the brain's left half, or hemisphere. Within the hemisphere, three brain regions work together to control reading. In the left front of the brain, one area recognizes phonemes. Further back, another brain area "maps" phonemes to the letters that represent them. Still another brain area serves as a kind of long-term storage system. Once a word is learned, this brain region recognizes it automatically without first having to decipher it phonetically.

Poor readers, the researchers had learned in the earlier studies, have difficulty accessing this automatic recognition center. Instead, they rely almost exclusively on the phoneme center and the mapping center. Each time poor readers see a word, they must puzzle over it as if they were seeing it for the first time.

In the current study, the researchers discovered that, as the 37 poor readers progressed through their instruction program, their brains began to function more like the brains of good readers. Specifically, the brains of these children showed increased activation in the automatic recognition center.

"This study represents the fruition of decades of NICHD-supported reading research," said G. Reid Lyon, Ph.D, Chief of NICHD's Child Development and Behavior Branch. "The findings show that the brain systems involved in reading respond to effective reading instruction."

The NICHD is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the biomedical research arm of the federal government. NIH is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The NICHD sponsors research on development before and after birth, maternal, child, and family health, reproductive biology and population issues, and medical rehabilitation. NICHD publications, as well as information about the Institute, are available from the NICHD Web site, http://www.nichd.nih.gov, or from the NICHD Information Resource Center, 1-800-370-2943; e-mail NICHDInformationResourceCenter@mail.nih.gov.

"hope is what most dyslexics/LD people need,, hope they can make it, hope of a future, hope that other people can understand them and be OK with it." From DML The author of the book DYSLEXIA MY LIFE

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