The Myths Behind Dyslexia and How This Influences Classroom Instruction

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The Myths Behind Dyslexia and How This Influences
Classroom Instruction

• Libby Caldwell
• Reading First Facilitator
• Suzette Carter-Saulnier
  Theresa Dyson
• Reading First Literacy Coach
  Reading First Literacy Coach

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Key Concepts

• Phonological awareness is a language skill that
  is critically important and a deficit in that
  area could be a sign of dyslexia.
• Explicit instruction must be a part of all
  phonological awareness training.
• Early intervention is essential.

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Myths and Facts

• Myths

• Facts

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Myths and Facts

• Myths
• Dyslexics see letters and words backwards, and
  reversals are an invariable sign of the disorder.
• Left-handedness, difficulties with spatial
  orientation, trouble tying shoelaces, and
  clumsiness are associated with dyslexia.
• Children outgrow dyslexia.
• Dyslexia is a visual problem.

• Facts
• Difficulty accessing correct phonemes in spoken
  language is a sign of dyslexia.
• Difficulty producing a word on command is one of
  the challenges that dyslexics encounter.
• Dyslexia is a language-based disorder.
• Dyslexia is a specific learning disability.

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Myths and Facts (cond.)

• Myths
• Dyslexia affects four times as many boys as
  girls.
• Dyslexic children will never learn to read well.
• Dyslexia only affects children who speak a
  language that utilizes an alphabetic code.

• Facts
• Difficulty in learning the names and sounds of
  letters is a sign of possible dyslexia.
• In dyslexics there is a specific weakness in the
  phonologic system in the brain.
• Receptive vocabulary is stronger than expressive
  vocabulary.

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What Do These Numbers Have To Do With Dyslexia?

• 1/5
• 70 - 80
• 21 51

• 10,000,000
• 1676
• 1905

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Dyslexia

• is a specific learning disability that is
  neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by
  difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word
  recognition and by poor spelling and decoding
  abilities. 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.
• 
  IDA, 2002

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Observed Behaviors

• Difficulty learning nursery rhymes
• Mispronounced words
• Difficulty learning letter names
• Unable to remember letters in name
• Unable to pull words apart
• Inability to break words into parts
• Inability to associate letters with sounds

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Observed Behaviors (cond.)

• Inability to read simple words
• Inability to blend sounds
• History of family reading problems
• Unable to find pleasure in rhymes
• Delayed speech
• Anxious about learning skills

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Phonological Awareness Continuum

• 
  Phonemes
  
  
• 
  Onset-Rime Rhyming
• Syllables
• Words in a Sentence

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Phonological Continuum

• Words in a sentence
• Segment sentences into words
• Clap or walk out the number of words in a
  sentence
• The/boy/baked/a/cake.
• Syllables
• Segment words into syllables
• Clap the syllables in a word
• Spa/ghet/ti
• Onset Rime
• Segment onset from rime
• Segment consonant or consonant cluster from the
  vowel and everything following the vowel
• m/an, r/ich, c/at, th/ink
• Rhyming
• man-can-?, eat-seat-?, glue-two-? run-sun-?
• Phonemes
• /c/ /a/ /t/, /s/ /i/ /t/, /b/ /r/ /i/ /k/, /b/
  /l/ /a/ /k/

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Phoneme Continuum

• Isolation
• Find pictures that begin with a target sound.
• What is the first sound you hear in cat?
• Identification
• What sound is the same in man, mitt, and mud?
• Categorization
• Sort words by initial sound.
• Which word doesnt belong? Cat, car, or mop?
• Segmentation
• What sounds do you hear in dog?
• Blending
• What word is /c/ /a/ /t/?
• Deletion
• Say the word cat. Now say it without the /c/.
• Addition
• Say eye. Add /s/ to the beginning. What word is
  it now?
• Substitution
• Say the word cat. Now change the /c/ to /p/. What
  is the new word?