What Reading Speed Has to Do With Leadership: Nothing
Many leaders succeed because of their dyslexia, not in spite of it. President Trump stirred up a hornet’s nest when he suggested that Governor...
Storytelling as a Dyslexic Strength
Storytelling is not simply a language skill. It is a form of reasoning. Recognizing these strengths helps shift how we think about writing instruction and creative expression.
Rethinking Auditory-Only Phonemic Awareness Training for Reading in the Early Grades Does Not Work
A new study reported on in Education Week found that a widely-used phonemic awareness program (the oral-only Heggerty curriculum) did not improve gains in word reading or oral reading fluency, although it did significantly improve phonemic awareness skills.
Free Back To School Reading Apps
Some of the most common free apps that dyslexic students use for school.
Beyond Behavior: Attention, Working Memory, or Something Else?
The problem with trying to diagnose with behavioral checklists is that behavior can result from many different sources. If you have a 3rd grader...
Math Difficulties Common with Dyslexia
Although the pace of research into dyslexia beyond reading proceeds very slowly, there is some welcome recent research into some of the...
![The Mislabeled Dyslexic Student [PREMIUM]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Screen-Shot-2019-08-30-at-12.13.00-PM.jpg.webp)
The Mislabeled Dyslexic Student [PREMIUM]
“In the course of the 11 years of the family genetics project, many parents whose children had superior or very superior verbal reasoning shared with the research team how difficult it was to convince educators that their child had a learning disability. Frequently they reported being told that their child was bright and the problem was just a matter of motivation and their child not being willing to work hard. “ – Drs. Virginia Berninger and Robert Abbott, 2013 If you have the means to get IQ testing for your student for dyslexia, do it. The biggest reason is that it’s very common to underestimate intelligence in the setting of dyslexia. This sad fact can lead in gross underestimations and inappropriate classroom placements Giftedness can […]
![[PREMIUM] Dyspraxia and Independence](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/dyspraxia.jpg.webp)
[PREMIUM] Dyspraxia and Independence
Dyspraxia (DCD) has its impact in childhood, but recently researchers have been looking more into the challenges that young adults face in higher education, general life skills, and the workplace. Dr. Amanda Kirby, who we interviewed in the last issue, did her thesis work in the area of 16-25 year olds with dyspraxia. Based on her interviews for the project, over half reported some ongoing difficulties whether it was learning to drive a car, writing by hand, or organizing their household. From our perspective, the information should be seen as helpful information that recognizes extra challenges that a young person with dyspraxia might face as well as the benefits of extra supports as this young person heads into full adulthood and independence. Some Findings re: […]
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How to Encourage Dyslexic Students in Engineering [PREMIUM]
1. PROTECT THEIR TIME. The best time to introduce students to engineering and technology is when they’re young – but young dyslexic students are often overwhelmed by academics which may leave them with little energy or time for building and making. Often active efforts must be taken to protect relaxing downtime, family time, and time for hobbies. 2. THINK LIKE AN ENGINEER. Encourage students to ask good questions and propose different solutions – in the process, you’ll also encourage resilience and productive responses to failure. Ask good questions of your student – like “What’s the problem with this?” and “How can you make it better?” 3. TAKE THINGS APART. Grace Hopper (a pioneer in computer programming) took apart alarm clocks when she was a kid, […]
Famous Dyslexic Mathematician – Norbert Wiener
There have been many famous dyslexic mathematicians throughout history. Today, math-gifted dyslexic students might find their outlet for numbers in careers such as finance and investing, or engineering in some aspect of computer technology. Norbert Wiener of MIT was a...
![[PREMIUM] The Truth About Lefties (Left-handed)](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Screen-Shot-2019-08-30-at-10.53.35-AM.jpg.webp)
[PREMIUM] The Truth About Lefties (Left-handed)
By the gestation age of 10 weeks, doctors can see that 85% of human fetuses prefer their right hand over their left. This preference (along with motor asymmetry) usually persists later in life The idea that dyslexics were often left or mixed-handed was first raised by Samuel Orton in 1925. Subsequent studies have suggested that left-handedness is indeed more common in dyslexics compared to controls, although a great deal of conflicting data exist, and a majority of dyslexics are right-dominant. Recently, researchers at Oxford performed genetic analysis on families with at least two sibilings who show symptoms of dyslexia. They found that the PCSK6 gene is associated with both dyslexia and mixed- or left-handedness. The PCSK6 gene is interesting because it interacts with another protein […]
Dyslexia Accommodations
Dyslexia is a specific learning disability protected under the American for Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act. Students with Dyslexia have average or above average intelligence, but may have difficulty with reading, writing,...
![Processing Speed & Writing [PREMIUM]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Screen-Shot-2019-08-30-at-10.47.06-AM.jpg.webp)
Processing Speed & Writing [PREMIUM]
Question: I know my son’s processing speed is slow from his testing, but how slow should his speed on something like writing take? My son has slow processing speed, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and a loose attention control system – but how long should it take him to write a 5 paragraph academic paper… after which the paper still needs revisions? It takes him hours to complete assignments. This is a great question…but of course, the answer depends on a lot of individual factors regarding your student. When essay or paper writing takes so long, it’s good to try to troubleshoot ways to make the process quicker. If the delay occurs at the beginning, before any ‘writing’ occurs, then maybe he doesn’t have a template in which […]
RESEARCH: Dyslexic Brain – WRITING: More Connectivity, Not Less!
In research that was just published last month, investigators at the University of Washington were surprised to find when investigating pathways involved with writing - that brain connections of dyslexic subjects were more extensive and more far ranging than the...
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Creativity Boost, How? [Premium]
From Dr. Robert Brooks: “If someone approached you and said, “I have a recommendation that will require only 10 minutes of your time each day, it poses no risk and will increase your creativity and your overall health,” what would you guess was involved in the 10 minutes? Or, if you were between 70-89 years of age and someone suggested you set aside approximately three hours each week for a couple of activities that would significantly decrease the likelihood of physical disability, what do you think you would have to do to realize this benefit? And, very importantly, once you had this knowledge, how likely would you be to put it into action? From a Stanford Report: “Creative thinking improves while a person is walking […]
![[PREMIUM] Gifted with ADHD: How We Asked for Extended Time & a Better Schedule](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Screen-Shot-2019-08-30-at-12.24.34-PM.jpg.webp)
[PREMIUM] Gifted with ADHD: How We Asked for Extended Time & a Better Schedule
The road to advocacy has many twists and turns so if your student has moderate to severe difficulties with processing speed, be prepared to be nimble and responsive to challenges that arise. In our previous newsletter, we mentioned some of the advocacy that Laura and her son John took on his path as a 2E (gifted, dyslexic, dysgraphic, and ADD) high school student. Here are some additional problems that arose and ways Laura and John responded: PROBLEM: LOW GRADES WHEN DENIED ACCOMMODATIONS D’s in AP English Class (no accommodations for tests) although a strong score on the AP exam. Although John’s dyslexia has been identified since elementary school, the school suggested he no longer needed accommodations. SOLUTION: ACCOMMODATIONS Laura and John appealed the zeroes given […]
![Fighting February Blues [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/shutterstock_387009517.jpg.webp)
Fighting February Blues [Premium]
FIGHTING FEBRUARY BLUES There are seasonal issues that can make February an especially difficult month for everyone. The holiday rush and start of the new term are over, the daylight hours are shorter, and midterms are looming large. Work may pile up as students fall increasingly behind. They may no longer have the positive input or feedback that good parents may have provided when they were younger. Seasonal Affective Disorder is fairly common. Symptoms of seasonal affective disorder tend to begin in the teen to early adult years and affect 5-10% of the population. Symptoms may include: increased feelings of stress or anxiety, oversleeping, lowered mood, more irritability, appetite changes, changes in school performance. If students are away at college or if adults work in […]
![Organizing Tips for the Dyslexic Academic [PREMIUM]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Screen-Shot-2019-08-30-at-8.50.54-PM.jpg.webp)
Organizing Tips for the Dyslexic Academic [PREMIUM]
A request came through from one of our Premium subscribers. What strategies are helpful for the dyslexic academic or working professional who needs to organize and synthesize from large quantities of information? The first step is SIMPLIFY. Argument Mapping As Dyslexic PhD Dr. Emma Jeffries says in her video below, looking for the key points in an argument helps her map the essence of what a journal article or paper is presenting. When she has a big text or paper that she has to read, she uses key questions to focus her reading. Sometimes a mentor or professor can also focus your reading on key topics or questions. Emma describes how she sketches notes that help get the gist of data that she is analyzing. […]
Starbucks Loses Discrimination Case to Supervisor with Dyslexia
"Dyslexia should not be invisible in the workplace." - Fernette Eide MD Co-Founder Dyslexic Advantage The BBC reported that the global coffee giant Starbucks lost a discrimination lawsuit to a supervisor, Meseret Kumulchew. Meseret had let her employer know that she...
The Best Fonts for Dyslexia
With increasing awareness of the visual differences associated with dyslexia and the high incidence of dyslexia in the general population (15-20%), the world seems poised to change how they present print to dyslexic readers. What fonts are best for dyslexic...
![The Remediated Student – WHAT TO EXPECT [PREMIUM]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Screen-Shot-2019-08-30-at-8.33.17-PM.jpg.webp)
The Remediated Student – WHAT TO EXPECT [PREMIUM]
For the overwhelming majority of dyslexics, early intervention helps with the decoding step of reading. Usually 2-3 months of intervention is enough to see a measurable difference, and at least in our experience, 1-3 years to bring most children from failing their grade to being able to keep up in diverse subjects at grade-level with appropriate accommodations and sometimes modifications in place. What Should a Teacher Expect with a Remediated Student? Remediated students can vary a great deal depending on whether they are gifted, dysgraphic, dyspraxic, dyscalculic, have attention or working memory difficulties, or English as a Second Language. In general, though, students who have successfully been remediated are able to decode text on grade-level, but may still have slow and inaccurate reading, difficulty reading aloud, […]
Dyslexia is My SUPERPOWER
Margaret Rooke has a new book that interviews over 100 young people 8-18 years old about their dyslexia. Not only is the book filled with many messages from the heart, it also shares practical tips that will help many feel like they're not alone. You may recognize...
![Additional Resources from Premium Issue 26 [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Screen-Shot-2019-08-30-at-8.25.32-PM.jpg.webp)
Additional Resources from Premium Issue 26 [Premium]
Additional Premium Resources February 2018 Issue 26. You must be logged into your account to access: False Memories, Verbatim vs. Gist Recall, Persistence and Transcience of Memory, and Visual Perceptual and Handwriting Skills of Student with Dyspraxia (DCD). False memory for orthographically vs semantically similar words in adolescents with dyslexia. Verbatim and Gist Recall of Sentences by Dyslexia and Non-Dyslexic Adults The Persistence and Transience of Memory Visual perceptual and Handwriting Skills in Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder Bookmark Please login to bookmark ClosePlease login to access.
![Michael Shainblum – World Photographer and Videographer [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/lajollaburn1200-1024x791.jpg.webp)
Michael Shainblum – World Photographer and Videographer [Premium]
We recently had a chance to catch up with Michael Shainblum, an extraordinary videographer and photographer who found a wonderful outlet for his creativity and expression. Michael first discovered photography in a summer class he took in middle school. He rediscovered it again in the summer before high school when he got a digital camera and found he could take thousands of pictures in his backyard, looking for patterns in plants or macro pictures of bugs. Michael first started earning work as a professional photographer at the age of 16. We thought it was particularly touching that he had trouble getting other typical high school jobs because he wasn’t good at interviewing. Nowadays, Michael likes playing with time and motion, but still looks for interesting […]
Top Dyslexia Apps – Microsoft OneNote with Learning Tools
Today Microsoft released a great addition to its free organization – productivity app OneNote – and the two nicest things about it…it’s Free and it was created with students and adults with dyslexia in mind. As a result, Dyslexic Advantage is proud to announce that Microsoft’s OneNote Learning Tools is our first Top Dyslexia App to be announced. OneNote Learning Tools Highlights: – OneNote is a free organizer-productivity notebook app from Microsoft that works across all platforms (Windows, Mac, Android, Kindle) allowing you to save information through web clip saving, dictation, photos, typing – Reading Fluency and Comprehension are helped by tools that can optimize fonts for greater readability (reduce visual crowding), break long words into syllables, and have more specific language functions such as identifying parts of speech […]
POSITIVE Dyslexia: A New Dyslexic Nobel Prize Winner
"During my youth, I was quite asocial. I had a lot of difficulty with the world. Every ten years, I found, it got a little better. Now things are going quite well." - Jacques Dubochet There's no better reminder that awareness needs to include the positive side of...
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