[PREMIUM] DYSLEXIA AND MATH: Error Analysis

Some 60% of dyslexic students have problems with math (10% excel at math). Reasons for math difficulties include math facts retrieval, difficulty remembering formula and multi-stepped procedures, sequencing issues, symbol confusion, and difficulty with the language of math. These problems, in addition to timed tests and impossible-to-complete homework assignments, contribute to math anxiety and frustration. In a collaborative study from the University of Houstin, University of Texas, and Vanderbilt University (Raghubar et al., 2009), researchers looked at the different categories of math mistakes in 3rd and 4th grade children with or without math and reading disabilities. On the following page, look at the 4 types of math errors that they examined. Studies of this type are valuable because they also identify which types of errors are […]

Bookmark

Please login to bookmark
Close
To access this post, you must be a Premium subscriber. log in

Bookmark
Please login to bookmark Close
read more

[PREMIUM] TEST-TAKING: DYSLEXIA and MULTIPLE CHOICE

At the secondary and university level, many students with dyslexia may prefer short answer questions to multiple choice. There are many reasons why the multiple choice question format may not be a good estimator of a student’s knowledge. It is very common for the questions and choice answers to be ambiguous. From Biochemical Education: “Writing good multiple choice questions is hard, a fact not appreciated by all teachers and examiners. There is a tendency to use imprecise terms, and even when apparently precise terms such as always and never are used (for example in true/false type tests), it seems that not everyone agrees these are indeed absolutes….In a survey of medical examiners, Holsgrove and Elzubeir found that of 63 respondents, 51 considered that always means […]

Bookmark

Please login to bookmark
Close
To access this post, you must be a Premium subscriber. log in

Bookmark
Please login to bookmark Close
read more

[PREMIUM] Don’t Require COPYING From the Board

DON’T REQUIRE COPYING FROM THE BOARD Dr. Kirkby: “Copying text…is psychologically complex. It involves a series of sequential visual and cognitive processes, which must be co-ordinated: these include visual encoding, mental representation, an written production.” Long after students have begun to crack the code of reading, note-taking and copying from the board remain very difficult if not impossible for some students. Note-taking from lecture adds the additional challenging of listening to words, translating them into a visual representation, then retrieving these images and motor sequences to get them down on a page. Moderate to severe dysgraphia is not uncommon among dyslexic students. For these students, not only will copying from the board be impossible, but also significant modifications (decreased written work) and accommodations (extended time, […]

Bookmark

Please login to bookmark
Close
To access this post, you must be a Premium subscriber. log in

Bookmark
Please login to bookmark Close
read more

[PREMIUM] Reading and Spelling: When Sights and Sounds Don’t Match

TRICKY WORDS: WHEN SIGHTS AND SOUNDS DON’T MATCH Spotlight: Inflectional Suffixes Because many dyslexic students don’t have a visual imprint of words, there are common spelling or pronunciation errors that occur when word endings seem to vary. In most cases, being explicitly taught the different patterns can reduce a great deal of distress later. The technical term “inflectional suffixes” refers to word endings that change a word to make it grammatically correct, but don’t fundamentally change the meaning or the class of words that they are. For example, in the following sentences, the suffixes are shown in red: The dog barks. The dog barked. The endings may reflect whether a noun is singular or plural (e.g. dog or dogs) or whether the action is happening […]

Bookmark

Please login to bookmark
Close
To access this post, you must be a Premium subscriber. log in

Bookmark
Please login to bookmark Close
read more

Dyslexia and Sailing [PREMIUM]

Paul Elvstrom is often recognized by many in the racing world as the greatest sailor who ever lived. Severely dyslexic, Elvstrom struggled greatly in school, but found sailing intuitive. His success in winning four consecutive Olympic gold medals involved not only intuition, but also strategic thinking, serial innovation, and intense physical training.   In the beginning, Paul studied the rules of racing fastidiously in order to create clever tactics that could give him an advantage. His interpretations of rules in his Racing Rules of Sailing remain a must-read for elite racers. He visualized his races the nights before to be better prepared, but also was constantly inventing new equipment and physical and mental training methods to be more efficient on the water. Some of his […]

Bookmark

Please login to bookmark
Close
To access this post, you must be a Premium subscriber. log in

Bookmark
Please login to bookmark Close
read more

Why a NICHE is Important [PREMIUM]

In Michael McNulty’s clinical research looking at the life stories of dyslexic adults, one thing became clear – finding a niche in adolescence or young adulthood had the dramatic potential to improve the course of people’s lives. Here (in abbreviated form) are some of the subjects of his life study. Tommy (38 yo highly successful industrial designer) – ‘Why doesn’t Tommy speak?’ (diagnosed at age 8). Difficulty reading, writing, spelling resulting in low grades through high school, but “self-esteem from success in part-time jobs, athletics, and art.” Although reluctant to go to college, “he found a niche in industrial design and was eventually ranked number one in his prominent university program.” Jeanine (25yo customer services supervisor) – reading, writing, and attention problems from grade school […]

Bookmark

Please login to bookmark
Close
To access this post, you must be a Premium subscriber. log in

Bookmark
Please login to bookmark Close
read more

The Curious History of Mirror Writing [PREMIUM]

“As a researcher, working over two decades with hundreds of children and adults with dyslexia, I’m convinced that Leonard Da Vinci was dyslexic.” – Dr Maryann Wolf, author Proust and the Squid Mirror writing occurs commonly in dyslexic and non-dyslexic children between the ages of 3 and 7 years, however a subset of children will have persistent difficulties with letter reversals – and these children (or adults) will be more likely to have significant dyslexia or other LD. It at least one study, mirror writing was thought to occur in only ~ 10% of dyslexics, but its been estimated to be 30% of lefties. Even if mirror writing is only a significant problem in a minority of dyslexics – this rate is 16-fold higher than […]

Bookmark

Please login to bookmark
Close
To access this post, you must be a Premium subscriber. log in

Bookmark
Please login to bookmark Close
read more

Meet Yvette Blaess

I recently had a chance to chat with Yvette Blaess, a lovely young woman who is a model and actress and recent finalist in the Miss World America Pageant. She has also been an advocate for dyslexia and ADD and her personal story is one of gutsiness, perserverance, and...

read more

Music and Dyslexia [PREMIUM]

For our last book, it was when we were getting ready to wrap up our interview with compact disk inventor James Russell, when the question “But when are you going to ask me about music?” came up. Music, we learned was a huge part of Jim Russell’s life (and still is) and interest in inventing that eventually lead to his electronic work (Jim was an audiophile who helped set up a complete commercial radio station before he graduated high school). Since that time, we often had folks mention how important music was to them either recreationally or professionally and we recognized the talents in children as well. One need not look far back into music history to find suggestions that some of the most famous […]

Bookmark

Please login to bookmark
Close
To access this post, you must be a Premium subscriber. log in

Bookmark
Please login to bookmark Close
read more

Speak

To listen, select text and click sound button

WATCH NOW

OSPI STEM Course – STEM for Diverse Learners

Dyslexia and Gifted: Course for Psychologists

Dyslexia for Teachers Course

SPONSORS

    Discover Your Dyslexic MIND Strengths
                                    Free

 

 

 


Amazon Affiliate Notice

Dyslexic Advantage is an Amazon Affiliate. If you click on a link that takes you to the Amazon store, Dyslexic Advantage may earn money on qualifying purchases. Clicking HERE to enter Amazon and making a purchase may support Dyslexic Advantage. Thank you!