![Strengthening Executive Function Skills [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Strengthening-Executive-Function-Skills-Premium-Dyslexic-Advantage-400x250.png)
"Reading isn't the most challenging part of dyslexia. It's the executive function..." Executive function consists of different sets of processes in the brain that act like executives in business. Executives supervise all the activities and resources - organizing and...
![Getting Started: Dyslexic Cognition – Procrastination, Daydreaming, Working Memory Overload [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Screen-Shot-2022-11-20-at-9.21.53-AM.png)
“What is the best way to start working if you’re dyslexic? It’s not always what you think. For parents supervising homework, the “starting to work” process for their students can look maddening. You may clear away distractions, put them at an empty dining table, make sure they have everything they need – then peek in an hour or even two later…and nothing has happened. They may be looking up at the ceiling, twiddling a pencil, or surfing on the internet. Is there a better way? Or maybe this is you as an adult. You know you have to do something, but you can’t seem to get started. Is it procrastination or something else? Without completely getting into the weeds of how the brain works, I […]
Just over 1/3 of the U.S. adult population has a 4-year college degree, but as tuition rates skyrocket, many dyslexic families with young people might reasonably ask - "Is it worth it?" or even "Do I even want it?". Even if we know in theory that we want our children...
![Breaking Research : Dyslexia in Adolescents and Adults [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Screen-Shot-2019-10-08-at-4.23.50-PM.jpg)
An important paper was published this month from the University of Washington, entitled “Evidence-Based Reading and Writing Assessment for Dyslexia in Adolescents and Young Adults.” The paper is especially important guiding testing professionals who assess teens and adults for dyslexia or see gifted or twice-exceptional students. This paper also takes a more systematic look at the roles of individual factors like working memory and executive function on dyslexia and reading and spelling performance. The data will be helpful in targeting educational interventions and can also guide requests for testing accommodations. There are interesting observations too in that paper that will help with characterizing the strengths that occur among adolescent and adult dyslexics, with implications for twice-exceptional or gifted students with dyslexia. In several areas, adolescent / adult […]
![[PREMIUM] Latest Research: Dyslexia, Sequential Memory, and Seeing the Big Picture](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/calendar-sequential-memory-shutterstock-400x250.jpg)
“My mind doesn’t work like a train track. It’s more like a web page with lots of hyperlinks.” – dyslexic honors college student. It’s refreshing to see that more researchers take an interest on dyslexia beyond reading. In this recent paper from Belgium and Missouri, the challenges of remembering sequential information for dyslexics and non-dyslexics was reviewed. Both working memory and sequencing were examined. Working memory is a type of short-term memory necessary for keeping information ‘in mind.’ Sequencing is remembering the order that things are said. It’s activities such as this that that can make something like following classroom instructions or remembering computer passwords easy or hard. Several interesting observations were made from their review of the research literature: – Dyslexic children and adults tend […]
![Question: Does Note-Taking with Spellcheck Help or Hinder Students with Dyslexia ? [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2019-09-09-at-10.45.17-AM.jpg)
It’s a question that arises commonly – does spellchecking for students help or hinder when it comes to students and spelling? The concern is that allowing students to use spellcheck on a regular basis in the long run may prevent them learning correct spellings. Should age matter or the presence of dyslexia? What about working memory overload or ADD/ ADHD? The issue is not a trivial one especially because of recent efforts to The issue is not a trivial one especially because of recent efforts to put laptops away in college during lectures based on computer-based vs. traditional note-taking by hand (N.B. this study did not specifically assess dyslexic students – see the NPR story also below). A recent paper by Hiscox and colleagues (see below) […]
![Understanding Processing Speed and Dyslexia [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/shutterstock_111687563.jpg)
When families come together to discuss test scores, no group of scores surprises them as much as “Processing Speed.” Processing Speed scores on psychometric exams might mean Coding and Symbol Search scores on the WISC intelligence exams or Visual Matching and Paired Cancellation on the Woodcock Johnson. Processing Speed scores on these subtests are typically lower for dyslexic students, but on other tasks like Decision Making and in real life, these students may be quite quick and even quicker than their peers at various tasks such as insight-based problem solving or situational awareness (helpful for athletics, for instance). Understanding the true significance of Processing Speed Difference in Dyslexia, then is important not only for recognizing when accommodations may be appropriate school, but also for identifying […]
![Can Gifted Kids with Dyslexia Fly at School? – When Tests and Schools Fall Short [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/shutterstock_281110997.jpg)
I recently came across Bobby Gilman’s article on the critical issues facing twice-exceptional or Gifted LD students at school. It’s an ambitious paper for sure, but provides a solid big picture view of the challenges that 2E students face in their pursuit of an appropriate education. The challenges include states drastically scaling back services for students with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLDs) of which dyslexia is considered a part. Sometimes the issue is that the threshold for students to qualify for services is so prohibitively low (e.g. 5 or 12th percentile), that many students are missed and fall off any radar. Regarding Response to Intervention or RTI: Gilman et al. states: “RTI was not developed with gifted children in mind, and adaptation of its rules for gifted children […]
Are you a good multi-tasker? If you answered ‘yes’, scientists at Stanford might disagree with you. When students from Stanford participated in a multitasking experiment with color bars, those who multitasked with more media had more trouble ignoring irrelevant stimuli. Multi-Tasking Has Its Costs From the report: “Heavy Media Multitaskers have greater difficulty filtering out irrelevant stimuli from their environment..and they are less effective in suppressing the activation of irrelevant task sets (task switching). Dyslexics as a group are more sensitive to visual and auditory distractions As a group, dyslexic people are more likely to be sensitive to distractions (both visual and auditory) which is why some students request and receive small group testing accommodations for high stakes tests. To learn more about trouble […]
