Dyslexia &  Other Reading Challenges

Spotting the signs of Dyslexia

Parenting a struggling student can keep you awake at night.  As we meet with families of children experiencing learning challenges, we are reminded daily of just how hard it is for parents to know how to react when their child isn’t a strong reader.  The first thing we want to make parents aware of is what we call the, “Let’s just give him or her more time to catch up,” excuse.  When a parent has the feeling that something isn’t quite right, but is persuaded by a well-meaning teacher to take a “wait and see” approach, we say, “Be Careful! Don’t watch for too long!”  We have tested many children who have fallen several grade levels behind before anyone has truly reacted to the situation. Research from the National Institutes of Health report that the longer a child struggles with reading, the harder it will be for that child to catch up.  In other words, time is of the essence!

Once parents understand when to react, how to react is the next question.  Children with reading challenges like dyslexia can be identified earlier than one might expect with a strong degree of accuracy. However, dyslexia identification is more of a process than a test.  Students are usually given several different tests that indicate specific strengths and weaknesses, eventually leading to a diagnosis and appropriate intervention strategies. 

So, what is dyslexia, and what are the warning signs?

We have been studying dyslexia identification and treatment for years, and we have seen many definitions.  This one is a combination of thoughts from The International Dyslexia Association website and Dr. Sally Shaywitz’s book, Overcoming Dyslexia:  Dyslexia is a language-based, often familial learning disability.  People with dyslexia frequently have difficulty with language skills, particularly reading. Dyslexia varies in severity, and is manifested by difficulties with receptive and expressive language, including phonological processing. In addition to reading challenges, dyslexic students often experience difficulty with spelling and writing. According to the International Dyslexia Association, the core difficulties of dyslexia are with word recognition, reading fluency, spelling, and writing.

Here are some Common Signs of Dyslexia in Students

• Delayed Speech

• Difficulty mixing up sounds in multi-syllabic words (aminal for animal, bisghetti for spaghetti)

• Difficulty learning the alphabet

• Difficulty learning the names and/or sounds of letters

• Reversing letters, such as a d for b

• Difficulty learning to read

• Reversing words, such as tip for pit

• Inserting or leaving out letters, such as could for cold

• Can read a word on one page, but can’t recognize it on another

• Slow, labored, inaccurate oral reading

• Misreading or omitting common short words

• Becoming very tired after reading for only a short time

• Poor reading comprehension unless read to

• Misreading function words such as to, the, are, of

• Difficulty with spelling.  May be able to memorize words on a spelling test, but can not spell the same words the next day

Keep in mind that is not unusual for students to have one or two of the characteristics listed above.  However, if three or more of the these warning signs exist, especially if there is dyslexia in the family, your student should be monitored closely and possibly tested for dyslexia by a skillful professional specializing in dyslexia identification and treatment.

Dyslexia Facts

Did you know :

• Dyslexia is the most common learning disability.

• One out of every five children is dyslexic.

• It is now possible to identify dyslexic tendencies in preschool and kindergarten.

• There are lots of early clues to dyslexia that can be seen in young children.

• Dyslexia can run in families and is often an inherited trait.

• If one child in the family is dyslexic, there is close to a 50 percent chance that a sibling will also be dyslexic .

• We can see dyslexia in the brain with brain imaging technology (functional MRIs).

• Some people still claim that dyslexia doesn’t exist, even though dyslexia affects 18 to 20 percent of the population.

• It is a misconception that children who are dyslexic see letters backwards.

Reading Challenges 

So, your child doesn’t like to read or is experiencing reading challenges. Many parents who call for the first time, say things like, “The school says my seven year old is fine, but I just feel that something isn’t right,” and, “My child hates to read so much that he doesn’t want to go to school.”  Parents of younger children may be told that their struggling child has a developmental lag and that he or she will probably catch up soon. Some parents report that they were persuaded by well-meaning teachers to wait to seek professional help because the problem was probably temporary. It’s hard for parents to know how long they should wait before seeking professional advice. Most children are excited to learn to read and pick up the skill rather easily. But for some, the process can be difficult, and almost painful as they watch their classmates begin to read, with little effort. These children may feel sad or frustrated. Teachers often wonder why a child, who seems smart in many other ways, can’t seem to grasp the concepts.

Knowing when and how to react can be key to academic success. We know that there is a wonderful window of opportunity to react and deliver intervention during the first few years of school. Children can be identified with reading challenges early on with a strong degree of accuracy. It is very possible to help older students with reading challenges, but they may need more intensive help. The longer a child struggles with reading, the harder it is for that child to “catch up.” For many children, the best approach is to take immediate action.

* The National Institutes of Health report that:

• 90% of struggling readers can be brought up to grade level if they receive effective intervention strategies by the first grade.

• 75% of children who don’t begin with intervention until the age of nine or later, continue to struggle throughout schooling

As you can see, early identification can be key to academic success. It is important for parents to understand that there are risks when you delay getting help for your struggling student. However, identification of a child’s needs is only the beginning of the process. Intervention strategies that are proven to be effective should be offered and administered by skilled practitioners and therapists.  Even if your child is older, he or she can make impressive gains. It’s never too late to become a strong student.

A Few Words About Comprehension

Reading requires the combination and integration of several skills.  Well developed phonemic awareness and decoding skills are important since it is difficult for children to derive meaning from text without a strategy to figure the words out.  However, this is only the beginning.  Once children learn to decode words, they need to read quickly and accurately to gain understanding of the text.  For some children, fluency comes naturally. For others, however, it must be taught directly using materials slightly below their instructional levels.  Research has shown that repeated oral reading practice can increase reading fluency skills.

Vocabulary development, knowledge of figurative language, and critical thinking skills are also directly related to comprehension.  Visualization strategies like Nanci Bell's Visualizing and Verbalizing strategies can enable children to recall facts, make inferences, and identify main ideas.

Strong reading comprehension is the result of the integration of many  skills.  As a parent, it is essential to understand that a weakness in any of these skill areas can result in poor reading comprehension and a 'glitch' in the reading process.

Spell Checker Poem

Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight for it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rare lea ever wrong.

Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew. 

(Printed in the Summer 2010 Bowdoin Alumni Magazine)

Resources

The following books and websites may be helpful and informative:

Overcoming Dyslexia, A New and Complete Science-Based Program for Reading Problems at Any Level, by Sally Shaywitz, M.D.

Your Child’s Growing Mind, by Jane M. Healy, Ph.D.

Straight Talk About Reading and Parenting A Struggling Reader, by Susan Hall, Ed.D.   Louisa C. Moats, Ed.D.

All Kinds of Minds, by Mel Levine, M.D.

Basic Facts About Dyslexia Louisa Cook Moats, Karen E. Dakin

Visualizing and Verbalizing for Language Comprehension and Thinking,
Nanci Bell

Jan Baumel, M.S., Comprehension, Contributor to Schwab Learning
  
The International Dyslexia Association, www.interdys.org

Reading Rockets, (PBS) www.readingrockets.org

Schwab Learning  www.schwablearning.org

LD On line www.ldonline@weta.com

• Schwablearning.org, Susan Hall, Ed.D, contributor

• Overcoming Dyslexia A New and Complete Science-Based Program for Reading Problems at Any Level, Sally Shaywitz, MD

• National Center for Learning Disabilities, The NICHD Research Program in Reading Development, Reading Disorders and Reading Instruction

• G. Reid Lyon, Ph.D, Former Chief of the Child Development and Behavior Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Behavior (NICHD), Converging Evidence-What it Takes to Read.