How Dyslexia Changes at Different Ages [Premium]
With all of the advances in our understanding of early intervention, dyslexia in older students and young adults often gets short shrift. The paper by Dr. Kathleen Niesen and colleagues has some interesting findings that have important points for identification, accommodations, and understanding of both the challenges and strengths of adolescents and young adults with dyslexia. Importantly, the authors made this point: “…if dyslexia was not diagnosed earlier in schooling, young adults do not qualify for accommodations even if as adolescents and adults they meet research criteria for dyslexia on evidence-based assessment. Such assessment practices do not seem fair or sensible or consistent with the spirit of the Americas for Disabilities legislation.” The point made was that dyslexia missed in the early grades usually meant dyslexia […]
Thinking in 3D
"Spatial ability is not a simple matter. It is not just a picture-like memory for objects, places, and people. This kind of memory might be helpful in carrying out spatial tasks, but it is not at the core of what is meant by spatial ability. Spatial mechanical...
Strategies for Addressing Math Mistakes [Premium]
Working memory mistakes in math include mistakes such as losing place in problems, errors due to missed steps or key information, calculation errors like near-misses or reversed digits, directional errors, or procedural errors like errors of grouping or carrying. In the video below, teacher Leah Alcala shares how she decided to change how she graded math mistakes in her class. Instead of putting a grade, she highlights mistakes and then gives examples of mistakes and the correct answers in class. Students have a chance to retake their test and better their final scores. This clever approach takes advantage of memory as well as intrinsic motivation and boosts what students learn in math by the time they complete her class. Working memory is such a common […]
The Moral Harm of Dyslexia Unawareness [Premium]
Primum non nocere. – Latin Saying (First, do no harm) The Latin Saying Primum non-nocere may not have originated with Hippocrates, however the advice is also like a laser beam focused on the greatest harm that comes from dyslexia unawareness.It’s a tragedy that so many negative ripples can affect and direct a young person’s life when dyslexia is not recognized, students are accused of not trying, scolded, shamed, and worse. The reality is that a student isn’t getting an appropriate education or the positive encouragement that they should.
The truth about being dyslexic is that it comes with many strengths and advantages. Dyslexic adults outperform non-dyslexics in spatial reasoning, divergent creativity and problem solving, and incidental learning. The dyslexia legacy includes some of the […][PREMIUM] How to Talk About Dyslexia in Interviews
Although it’s not required to disclose one’s dyslexia in job interviews, many people make decisions to do so. Some want to be assured that they are joining a workplace that is welcoming to dyslexic employees. Others feel as if they want to be open with their prospective employer, while others choose to disclose for other personal reasons. Regardless of the reason, if you’ve decided to disclose, interview prep can only be be helpful. “If [the medical disability] is not obvious, unless it is germane for the actual job, I don’t think it’s necessary to discuss it during an interview.” – Roy Grizzard, Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy at the US Department of Labor. 1. HOW MIGHT OUR PROGRAM NEED TO BE MODIFIED TO […]
MATH: The Problem with Word Problems [Premium]
For dyslexic students, the problem with word problems isn’t just the fact that they have to be read without error – but that there are many aspects of the language commonly found in word problems that will frustrate many dyslexic students if they aren’t explicitly taught where confusions arise. Here are just a few language-based sources of difficult that arise in the reading of math word problems: #1. PASSIVE VOICE Many students need to be explicitly taught about passive voice in grammar. Math problems frequently lapse into passive voice without any attention to the differences that may occur in meaning. For example, consider the differences in 8 divided by 2, 8 is divided into halves, and 8 is divided by half. In the first case, […]
STRENGTHS MATTER: Intelligence and Dyslexia [Premium]
Parents and dyslexia advocates should beware – there are vocal proponents arguing against the importance of intelligence and / IQ in determining the educational needs of students with dyslexia. As far as it seems we have come with dyslexia (more states with dyslexia-specific laws, mandatory teacher training), there are areas where the concept of specific learning disability and the definition of dyslexia is coming under attack. SOME “EXPERTS” BELIEVE INTELLIGENCE IS IRRELEVANT FOR EDUCATING DYSLEXIC STUDENTS As surprising as it may seem, Past IDA Vice President Dr. Louisa Moats has argued through questionable selection of data there are “negligible cognitive differences between ‘LD’ and ‘Poor Reader’ ” groups. From her presentation online HERE, she states “Garden variety poor readers” are numerous and very much like […]
[PREMIUM] What Wild Guesses are Telling You on Read Aloud
After initial success with the basics of decoding, students may begin to flatten out in their progress as the words and sentences get longer and more complex. Many reading programs focus on monosyllabic words when teaching phonics, but the problem is by the 5th grade, more than 90% of new words are polysyllabic… and more variations can exist in how vowel sounds can be pronounced when they are surrounded by consonants. From a recent helpful article Helping Students with Dyslexia Read Long Words: When Nicholas read “advice” for “adventure,” he didn’t know how to break down the word “adventure” into syllables. The word “beautiful” was read as “beetle” because he could see the letters “b,” “t,” and “l,” but didn’t know how to figure […]
Spelling Difficulties as a Source of Dysgraphia
In an interesting study, researchers in France looked at the impact of spelling difficulty on the writing performance of students with dyslexia. From the study: "Dyslexia weakens spelling skills, even when the child presents no motor problems. By varying the degree of...
Breaking Research : Dyslexia in Adolescents and Adults [Premium]
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 […]
The Visual Life of Photographer CLARK JAMES MISHLER
"I believe that not being able to read has offered me some fabulous opportunities to see the world differently. " Clark Mishler Clark Mishler is one of the most sought-after photographers in Alaska and one of the top assignment photographers in the country. Thanks to...
Connecting the Dots
"It’s refreshing to read about someone else so successful that thinks like me because of how their brain is wired, which has often only been seen as a learning disability. I’ve always known I had a different way of seeing the world which became more apparent when I...
[PREMIUM] The Auditory Friendly Classroom
ENVIRONMENT – Reduce background noise as much as possible (carpeted, tennis balls on chair legs, closed doors) – Preferential seating for students – away from doors, windows, noisy heaters, overhead projectors, pencil sharpeners, noisy classmates – Allow students to wear musicians earplugs while doing quiet work. – FM Speaker or Headset FOR STUDENTS – Sit at the front of the room with a good view of the teacher. – Request a classroom note-taker and or ask whether you can record classes. – Many students don’t realize how much they may miss by ear alone. – Choose seats away from noise sources like open doors, noisy classmates, heaters, or overhead projectors. – Use an FM speaker or headset which is known to improve classroom learning […]
Getting the Facts Straight About Test Accommodations
A few months ago, the news has been filled with details about a college admissions scandal committed by wealthy families and celebrities to boost their children's admission rates to select colleges and universities. Parents apparently paid up to $6+ million dollars to...
Dyslexic Advantage Premium TECH Guide 2019-2020
This issue features our largest Premium TECH Guide ever at 54 pages! Become a Premium subscriber at just $5 per month. Individual issues can also be purchased through Dyslexic Advantage apps in iTunes or Google Play. Dyslexic Advantage Premium Apps review includes the best dyslexia apps for iOS and Android in the areas of basic reading, phonological awareness and spelling, reading fluency, free and low cost resources for audiobooks and ebooks, ways to listen including podcasts, read to me books, scanning pens, best apps for writing, note-taking, scanning, and spelling for adult users, best apps for organization and productivity, math, and social and emotional health. Bookmark Please login to bookmark ClosePlease login to access.
Q: Why Doesn’t My Dyslexic Student Like Audiobooks?
You're not alone. Some dyslexic students may prefer to read silently rather than 'read' all their books by ear. Reasons for this vary, but usually these students have significant auditory processing weakness or trouble with sustained auditory attention. At younger...
The Belief of Fathers
This post is for all those great fathers who never lost sight of the young men or women their children could become. Here's a story from the past - some of the experiences will sound familiar: "Several of my uncles and aunts had tried to teach me to read, and because...
Dyslexia and Accommodations – ADA Guidelines for School and Work
The US Department of Justice just released final regulations regarding the implementation of the American for Disabilities Act. "These rules clarify and refine issues that have arisen over the past 20 years and contain new and updated requirements." Direct link to the...
Blooming in Middle School [Premium]
In our one of our Premium magazine issue, we wrote about the scientific basis of late blooming and why dyslexics students – and gifted dyslexic students in particular are likely to be this way. Shelley Wear, a long-time Dyslexic Advantage volunteer and teacher of dyslexic students shared this note in which we thought we’d share with you because it raises a very important issue for students in middle school: “Fantastic article on “The late Bloom”! I have seen some of my middle school students with LD jump 2-3 grade levels during 6th-8th grades. I find that students who need decoding skills don’t seem to get taught it after about 4th grade, unless they are being assisted by a parent, sibling, speech pathologist, or other professional […]
Dyslexia and College – Are You Ready? [Premium]
Dyslexia at College Crash Course Strategies for Success in College, Grad School and Medical School Tips from a Science Major at College In the following videos, check out these helpful strategies, tips, and tricks about course selection, sending your documentation and request for accommodations to the learning center / disability office, understanding the most common accommodations, and how to be strategic about your school life. If you have any questions, ask away in the comments and we’ll answer them. Dyslexic Advantage | Dyslexia at College Crash Course from Dyslexic Advantage on Vimeo. Download HERE [/wcm_restrict] Bookmark Please login to bookmark ClosePlease login to access.
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