What is Dyslexia? Dyslexia is a brain-based learning difference with a strong genetic basis. It characterized by unexpected difficulties in fluent reading and specific patterns of difficulty with writing, spelling, and sometimes math as well as strengths in...
![Q & A: Can Someone Be Both Dyslexic and Autistic ? [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/dyslexia-autism.jpg)
QUESTION: Is it Possible to Have Both Dyslexia and Autism? The short answer is yes, but it’s likely not very common and in general many of the features of dyslexia and autism are opposite. By strict criteria, low IQ and autism are excluded from the diagnosis of dyslexia. However, it is not difficult to speculate that a child with family dyslexia could also have autism either through inheritance or through some environmental factor. The main thing to consider is that it may be much more common that a child with dyslexia has social factors unrelated to autism or a child with autism has reading and writing problems unrelated to dyslexia. In fact, typically dyslexic and autistic children have different cognitive, memory, and perceptual patterns although they […]
![Why It’s Hard to Proofread and Read Fluently [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Screen-Shot-2017-10-07-at-1.49.34-PM.png)
It can be maddening. You look and look you just don’t see it. Later you pass your work along, you see all the thing you hadn’t seen the first time round. What’s going on ? You’ve experienced a ‘trick’ of perception. In our clinic, when trying to explain the phenomenon to children, we often use the analogy of optical illusions…when you see something that’s not there or you miss something – that later you can’t believe you could see at the start. These tricks of perception are what adds to the time needed for many dyslexic students on classroom and standardized exams. It accounts for why some teachers may be flabbergasted by a student’s need for extended time, when they seem so quick with problem solving […]
![How They Did It: Dyslexia, Gifted Ed, and SAT and ACT Accommodations [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Screen-Shot-2019-09-10-at-1.59.16-PM.jpg)
Today I had a chance to catch up with a member of our Dyslexic Advantage community who had just heard the great news that her 17 year old son had been granted accommodations for both the SAT and ACT, including the calculator-free section of the new SAT. This family navigated several difficult transitions: private school to public gifted school, middle to high school, and now college entrance exams. Accommodations granted this student included: Double time for reading, computer for essay, extra breaks between test sessions, reader, double time for math, double time for essay, record answers in test book, 4-function calculator on non-calculator active sections Hooray! Mom sent all the previous evaluations from All Kinds of Minds (Mel Levine’s old system), but also old speech […]
![Dyslexia at Middle School [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Screen-Shot-2019-09-10-at-1.17.18-PM.jpg)
Middle school is hard. It’s not elementary school any more. There’s more students, more classes and teachers, increased pressure to self-advocate and perform (i.e. make decent grades) while showing greater independence and self-sufficiency. Add to that, a perfect storm of puberty and social instability. One study of 410 7th graders found that just 1 percent of 7th-grade friendships lasted until the 12th grade. “The reason the friendships ended is not so surprising: It seems the kids’ differences eventually drove them apart…What mattered, the researchers found, was the differences between the friends — in other words, friendships between the unpopular and popular, or straight-A students and C-students, or boys and girls, were more likely to end. ” So some children who may have immunized a bit against the social […]
In breaking news, the US Department of Education and Office for Civil Rights have released their a letter from Asst Secretary Catherine Lhamon and its Students with ADHD and Section 504 Resource Guide HERE. For your convenience, we also include them below -...
![Best Early Dyslexia Screeners for Schools – Elementary [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Screen-Shot-2019-09-15-at-4.30.16-PM.jpg)
With new legislation moving schools toward early identification of students with dyslexia, teachers, classrooms, and districts are having to decide on which screener would be best for identifying students “at-risk.” For dyslexic students, presence of a reading gap has been detected as early as the first grade and early intervention is well-recognized to be beneficial. Universal screening in schools is a great idea – parents, teachers, and students should just be aware of the limits that a brief screening tool can have. Most early screeners will not include cognitive or intelligence tests (e.g. working memory, reasoning, ‘giftedness’) nor will they assess non-reading academic tasks such as math, writing, or spelling. They are a start, however, and will definitely be valuable for helping kids get the […]
![Dyslexia and IQ: What You Must Know [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/iq-graphic-scaled.jpg)
Here are 4 of the Most Important Things You Should Know About Dyslexia & IQ: #1. It Can Be Used to Identify Strengths and Talents. In our minds, one of the best reasons that dyslexic students benefit by IQ testing is that it can quickly establish their intelligence and strengths. There are many strengths that aren’t measured by IQ testing, of course, but also many that it can find – and it provides an objective standard with schools and other institutions wil accept. For dyslexic students in particular, it tends to trump traditional ‘achievement’ assessments because the best tests are given one-on-one (we do not like group IQ tests) and tests of higher order thinking are for the most part untimed (the verbal tests) involve […]
![Are Standardized Tests Making Kids Anxious? [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/our-shutterstock.jpg)
Florida Department of Education just released results of their Florida Standards Assessment or FSA Test. 46% of all of the public school children who took the test were below standard and 20% are at risk for being held back in the 3rd grade. What are these tests that can force 3rd graders to repeat a year? A sample 3rd grade reading passage (with questions and answers) is provided by the Department. The passage was clearly developmentally appropriate for 3rd graders – and ridiculous for dyslexic 3rd graders who are likely to make up 15% of every classroom. But don’t take just our word for it. When we put the 3rd grade FSA practice reading passage through a readability tool, What was the passage appropriate for? […]
Things are changing. From ABC: "Fortunately for Christa Hills, her dyslexia diagnosis came when she was in primary school. She was able to access appropriate help from a young age. Now studying for her Year 12 exams, she regards dyslexia as a gift. 'It's really great....
