Dyslexia "brite but soe hrd to rede an rite" - Marotiri School

Dyslexia

“brite but soe hrd to
    rede an rite”

Dyslexia is a term used to describe a range of persistent
  difficulties with reading and writing, and often including
  spelling, numeracy or musical notation. Students with
dyslexia do not make expected progress in these areas in
 spite of good teaching and the type of extra support that
           would be helpful for most other children.”

  “Literacy is the foundation of all learning so identifying
                  dyslexia early is critical”
                  (est.10% of population)

From the Ministry of Education Website 2012

• Dyslexic students generally have average or above General
  Intellectual Ability (GIA)
• They usually have good oral language ability
• Their reading and/or writing ability is significantly lower (-
  1.50 SD) than would be predicted their GIA and/or oral
  language ability
• Generally 2 or more years behind peers in expected
  achievement level in reading and written language
  Dyslexics are not globally “slow” however they have a
                specific learning disorder

  With the correct interventions they can achieve to their
                     academic potential

Cognitive Strengths
•   Abstract thinking / problem solving
•   Visual spatial ability/ visual memory
•   Comprehension /Knowledge
•   Oral Language
•   Ability to learn new information presented
    verbally/visually
           NASA actively recruits Dyslexics

Dyslexic children will usually have one or more of the
                       following:

• difficulty processing visual symbols such as letters and
  numbers (visual processing/perceptual speed)

• difficulty processing speech sounds in the brain (auditory
  processing and phonemic awareness)

• difficulty in storing and retrieving previously learned
  words

• may have difficulty with Short Term/Working Memory

Cognitive Weaknesses
   Auditory Processing/Phonemic Awareness

• Identifying sounds in words “f” “p”, rash/trash
• Blending sounds to make words “sh” “th”
• Attaching correct sounds to letters and letters to
  sounds
• Identifying words against background noise
• “Mashing up” words –spaghetti/bisketti (BB)
       Makes word decoding (reading) and
        encoding(spelling) very difficult

Cognitive Weaknesses
      Visual Processing/Perceptual Speed

• Quickly and accurately discriminating between
  symbols such as letters and numbers, may
  reverse letters (b,d)
• Remembering spelling patterns, what words
  “look” like (word blindness)
• Tracking a line of print or numbers,
  letters/words may “move”, “fall off the page”
  Makes reading, spelling and copying from the
                board very difficult

Cognitive Weaknesses cont.
         Speed of Lexical (word) Access
• Quickly retrieving specific words or
  information from memory (Rapid Naming)
 Makes reading and writing tasks difficult, and
          answering questions in class
  Makes it difficult to keep up with speed that
        information is being presented
          Great difficulty completing
reading/writing/maths tasks in set timeframes
                (tests and exams)

Cognitive Weaknesses
       Short Term/Working Memory

• Keeping new information in memory
    Impacts on reading comprehension,
   spelling, sentence structure, ability to
  follow instructions, ability to recall and
        manipulate new information

Dysgraphia
    Dysgraphia is difficulty in integrating the various
   aspects of writing such as retrieving words, letter
 formation, writing legibly, writing on the line, spelling,
       structure, capitalisation and punctuation.
Characteristics
• Poor legibility – scratchy, unfinished letters
• Mixture of upper and lower case letters
• Irregular letter size and shapes
• Poor use of space
• Reluctant writer
• Poor fine motor skills

Why?

Dyslexia is a specific learning disorder that
comes from the basic psychological learning
           processes in the brain

Analysing of words area

Articulation/word analysis

                                               Whole word storage area

Word analysis and whole word
                          areas are not being used

Right brain activated

Brain activity when engaged in reading
        from: ‘How the brain learns to read’ by D. Sousa

Struggling reader                      Good reader

Dyslexic students generally have
average or above general intellectual
    ability and oral language ability
 however, despite their best efforts,
many classroom tasks are extremely
difficult and cognitively exhausting
                for them.

• Dyslexia can prevent able students from
   accessing information in written form
• Dyslexia can prevent able students from
    demonstrating their knowledge and
       understanding in written work
• Dyslexia is very resistant to remediation

    We need to remove the barriers.

How can we help?
Assessment to gain diagnosis and data to assist
              in the classroom.
Classroom help
• Use technology such as a device with voice to text,
  text to voice, spelling app
• Audio books
• Extra time to complete reading/writing tasks
• Different types of assessment e.g. power point,
  model, diagram
• Reader/Writer/Extra time for Examinations
• Programmes such as Lexia, Multilit, Stepsweb

At Home
• Encourage practical reading (recipes,
  directions etc)
• Encourage any reading they enjoy
• Help your child – read/write for them, write
  lists of words they might need
• Understand that they are exhausted by tasks
  that are manageable for those who are not
  dyslexic
• Understand that they are exhausted by the
  end of the school day

I took my son “kicking and screaming” to
the assessment”. The experience was like a
    light switch had been turned on – he
    realised he had the potential to go to
     university, worked hard and has just
        graduated and has a great job.
       The assessment changed his life .
                   (Parent)

“After his assessment the student went from
being a major behavioural problem to a model
student as his teachers could understand and
meet his needs in the classroom” (Principal)

“I stopped feeling like a bad parent” (mother of
                     student)

Local Organisations
• Central Plateau REAP – assessments, subsidies for
  assessments, information evenings, support and advice
  73 Titiraupenga St   07 378 8109 ext 5    joce@reap.org.nz

• Taupo Dyslexia Support Trust – advocacy, information
  evenings, resources, subsidies for assessments
  taupodyslexia@gmail.com 021 901 593

Useful Websites

• www.speldnz.org.nz
• https://www.dyslexiafoundation.org.nz
  http://www.4d.org.nz/edge/
Resources
• http://www.ghotit.com/home.shtml

Finally
• some of the world’s most successful people and
   innovative thinkers have been/are dyslexic :
      John Lennon, Mozart, Leonardo da Vinci, Richard
 Branson, John Britten, Whoopi Goldberg, Albert Einstein,
  Agatha Christie, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Winston Churchill,
    Tom Cruise, Prince Harry, Jamie Oliver, Benee, pretty
much everyone at Weta workshop and a lot of the people
                           at NASA
• up to 10% of the population may have some degree of
   dyslexia
• dyslexia is a life-long condition and resistant to
   intervention however with proper help and
   accommodations dyslexics can perform to their
   potential

Joce Moyle
BA Dip Tchng
NZCER Registered A, B, Csp and C Tester
SPELD NZ Registered Assessor
021 201 1105
joce@reap.org.nz