Characteristics of Dyslexia

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Characteristics ofDyslexia

• Presented by
• Leisa Ramirez
• Lori Ward

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Goals

• To help you better understand dyslexia
• To recognize common signs of dyslexia
• To know the services available for dyslexic
  students
• To know accommodations available

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Dyslexia means

• a disorder of constitutional origin
• manifested by a difficulty in learning to read,
  write or spell,
• despite conventional instruction, adequate
  intelligence, and sociocultural opportunity. TEC
  38.003

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Dyslexia isInternational Dyslexia Association,
2002

• A specific learning disability that is
  neurological in origin
• It is characterized by difficulties with accurate
  and/or fluent word recognition and by poor
  spelling and decoding abilities.

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Dyslexia isInternational Dyslexia Association,
2002

• These difficulties typically result from a
  deficit in the phonological component of language
  that is often unexpected in relation to other
  cognitive abilities and the provision of
  effective classroom instruction.

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Dyslexia isInternational Dyslexia Association,
2002

• Secondary consequences may include problems in
  reading comprehension and reduced reading
  experience that can impede growth of vocabulary
  and background knowledge.

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Deficit in Phonological Components of Language

• Phonological Awareness is the attention to the
  sound structure of language.
• It is the ability to focus on sounds in words,
  syllables, and phonemes.
• It need not even involve written letters.

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Phonological Processing Model

• (Wagner McBride-Chang, 1996 Wagner
  Torgesen, 1987)

Phonological Awareness
Phonological Memory
Rapid Naming
Awareness of sounds in words
Storage of sound bits
Retrieval of letter name for a sound
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Common Signs

• Signs may be associated with dyslexia if
• unexpected for the individuals age,
• educational level, or cognitive abilities.

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Pre-school

• May talk later than most children
• May have difficulty with rhyming
• May have difficulty pronouncing words
• May have poor memory for rhymes
• May be unable to recall the right word
• May have trouble learning numbers, days of week,
  colors, shapes, how to spell or write name

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Kindergarten -Third Grade

• Has difficulty learning the letter names and
  corresponding sounds
• Fails to understand that words come apart
• Has difficulty decoding single wordslacks a
  strategy
• Relies on context to recognize a word
• Reads dysfluently (choppy and labored)
• Has difficulty spelling phonetically

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Fourth Grade High School

• Has a history of reading and spelling
  difficulties
• Avoids reading aloud
• Reads most materials slowlyoral reading is
  labored
• Avoids reading for pleasure
• May have an inadequate vocabulary
• Has difficulty spelling

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Dyslexia Instruction

• BRAVO specialist delivers the K-5 Dyslexia
  Program
• SRS specialist delivers the 6-12 Dyslexia Program
• Special Education teachers delivers reading
  instruction based upon the ARD committees IEP

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Dyslexia Service

• Direct Service is usually a couple of years of
  intensive multisensory phonics
• Monitoring is usually one year of monitoring of
  classroom progress by the dyslexia specialist
  with appropriate classroom accommodations
• Exiting from program is usually after one year of
  monitoring and evidence of success without direct
  service.

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Classroom Accommodations

• Reading
• Reduce reading requirements
• Extend time for completion of reading tasks
• Allow taped books or a reading partner (listening
  center, taped novels)
• Voluntary reading aloud of passages
• Allow place markers to be used

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Classroom Accommodations

• Writing
• Substitute oral work for written work
• Accept work dictated by student /or written by
  parent, tutor, or peer
• Allow student to use computer whenever possible
• Allow student to copy from teacher copy
• Avoid assignments requiring copying or timed
  writing

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Classroom Accommodations

• Spelling
• Avoid penalizing for spelling errors
• Provide tactile aids to spelling
• Shorten spelling lists

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Classroom Accommodations

• Study Skills
• Use assignment notebook
• Break assignments into small steps
• Provide memory aids (visual reminders, matrix
  charts)
• Allow student to highlight materials

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Classroom Accommodations

• Test Taking
• Test student orally whenever possible
• Reduce length of test/exam
• Grade verbal performance in addition to written
• Allow more time for completion

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TAKS Accommodations

• Eligible for oral administration of Math,
  Science, or Social Studies test (504 Plan
  Required)
• Eligible for bundled accommodation of Reading
  test.
• Student routinely receives the accommodation in
  classroom instruction

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Bundled Accommodations2004 study by Fletcher,
Francis, Copeland, Young, Kalinowski, and Vaughn

• Orally reading all proper nouns associated with
  each passage before students began individually
  reading
• Orally reading all questions and answer choices
  to students
• Extending the testing time over a two-day period

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Bundled AccommodationsEligibility

• Dyslexic students in grades 3-8 who meet the
  eligibility requirements.
• Check the students Classroom Accommodation form
  (for assistance ask SRS teacher or BRAVO teacher)

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Parental Requests

• Dyslexia assessment may be requested by a parent
  (complete a Care team referral form)
• Accommodations are determined by the dyslexia
  committee (see Classroom Accommodation form)

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Additional Information

• http//www.birdville.k12.tx.us/instruction/CurcIns
  truction/dyslexia.html
• BISD Home/Departments/ Instruction/ Language
  Arts/Links/Dyslexia