We were asked: How can I modify the curricula for dyslexic students without compromising standards? MODIFICATIONS VS. ACCOMODATIONS Usually, when 504s or IEPs are discussed, accommodations are mentioned more often than modifications. Accommodations refer to...
Using CHATGPT as a Study Partner and Quiz Maker [Premium]
How can ChatGPT be used as a study partner? If you’re just getting started with ChatGPT and study, begin keeping a list of prompts that can help you prepare for exams. STUDY BUDDY, SELF-TEST, and QUIZMAKER FOR TEACHERS ChatGPT is very handy as a study buddy, especially if working from a knowledgeable source. For most dyslexics, making studying interactive, visual, and interesting can go a long way to making information easier to remember. Here are some examples of prompts and ChatGPT answers: Me: Provide partially worked examples to help me learn how to use transition words in complex sentences. Certainly! Understanding how to use transition words in complex sentences can greatly enhance your writing. Here are some examples with explanations: Despite the rain, we decided […]
Don’t Do This: Dyslexia in The General Classroom [Premium]
With all the demands that teachers face regarding classroom management, and the pressures getting students up to speed in reading and math, dyslexic students may find themselves experiencing additional stress from common classroom practices. We now know that as a group, dyslexic children are more emotionally reactive than their classroom peers (UCSF research). In addition, we know that over half of dyslexic adults experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder when returning to school settings as parents. In the the Dyslexia at School study from Dyslexic Advantage, 43% of parents surveyed reported that their student was punished because of dyslexia-related challenges. What were some the punishments recorded? – given extra homework – physical seclusion (work in hallway or closet) – singled out in classroom to do […]
Chat with College Coach Kara Matejka
"It is incredibly common for students to get to college and just question everything. That's when all the wheels fall off...What am I even doing here? " — Kara Matejka, College Coach When all the excitement of arriving at college for the first time, getting to know...
California Teachers Union Reject Dyslexia
“It is reprehensible that California is one of 10 states that doesn’t screen for dyslexia,” said Portantino. “The issue isn’t going away. Every year we don’t screen first-graders is another class lost. Shame on us.” Despite some high hopes this past year, a bill for...
How to Survive and Thrive at Parent-Teacher Conferences [Premium]
Some teachers find parent-teacher conferences the most stressful part of their job so it’s best to keep that in mind before you head off to the meeting. I remember we had “good” meetings and “bad”. The good ones seemed so easy – sit back and be presented with student work and positive comments. But there were also hard ones, frustrating ones, and depressing ones. People react to conflicts and crises in different ways – so that there can be psychological minefields for everyone involved in parent-teacher conferences – the parents, the teachers, and the students…and it all seems to go by so fast. BRING SOMEONE If you’re a single parent, bring someone with you – whether it’s a friend, fellow classroom parent, or relative. If […]
Question: Advice for a Student Who Does Not Want to Disclose in High School
It is very common for people to want to choose whether they want to formally disclose their dyslexia, and to whom. This may change over the years and of course depending on particular contexts. WHY DOES A STUDENT CHOOSE NOT TO DISCLOSE IN HIGH SCHOOL? Some...
Beyond Reading Aloud
Question: How can I tell that students are dyslexic if they're not reading aloud? Last week a high school teacher in my course asked how she might be able to tell that a student may be dyslexic if they don't read out loud in her class. Once a student moves into upper...
If Your Student Can’t Write [Premium]
If your student can’t write, no matter what age – prepare yourself for the long haul because so much of schooling and even many aspects of hiring and work can require writing. When writing is difficult for students with dyslexia, it may be that they are having difficulty converting feelings and images to words, trouble retrieving words, or putting them in the correct order, then writing them down with correct spelling and grammar. A significant proportion of dyslexic students will also have dyspraxia, so have trouble with sequencing and fine motor control required for handwriting automaticity. Any added difficulties may also swamp working memory, causing students to get lost in what they want to say. For many dyslexic people, dysgraphia will present a greater problem […]
My Pandemic Hack for Classes
Shelley Wear, a long-time volunteer on our Dyslexic Advantage editorial team shared these pandemic hacks for her classroom. Thanks Shelley! "The struggle is real to make sure students understand what you are saying with a mask on. I purchased a personal amplifier...
Math: Multiple Representations [Premium]
If you have a lot of ground to cover for the coming school year, consider the use of multiple representations to improve the efficiency of learning. First, as a person who is math-challenged herself and was tasked at one time with tutoring one of our kids with similar math difficulties, I am sympathetic to people who are tasked with teaching math. The truth is, I wasn’t good at it myself, so I found myself getting frustrated when my student didn’t understand. I had little flexibility between math representations – and as a result tended to teach math the way I was taught it…rote memory of sequenced steps – which I was to find was the last thing my student should have been trying […]
The Way of Resilient Readers: Vocabulary and Morphology [Premium]
There are many informal terms that have come into literature to describe “compensated” dyslexic readers. We coined the term stealth dyslexia to call attention to their pattern on psychometric tests; stealth dyslexics often had this compensated reading pattern where silent reading comprehension was much better than single word reading accuracy or oral fluency. It’s common to see a pattern of resilient reading by dyslexic students in college or those who have been successfully remediated. Dr. Fumiko Hoeft has found that activity in the left prefrontal region seems to predict reading resilience in children (see below). Interestingly, a study by Farris et al. in the Annals of Dyslexia this year has found that strong vocabulary predicted reading resilience among college students with dyslexia. From […]