This webinar was rescheduled from a planned presentation at Cambridge University. Although dyslexia has traditionally been defined in negative and narrow terms, these definitions are poorly matched to the breadth of research on dyslexic children and adults. Here the Eides present their case that dyslexia should not be defined solely as a defect or deficiency, but rather as a cognitive specialization – that prioritizes episodic cognition. Bookmark Please login to bookmark ClosePlease login to access.
Managing Test Anxiety
It’s that time of year again – either time for standardized tests or end of year exams. Test anxiety includes a variety of physical and emotional symptoms that include feelings of nervousness and hopelessness, fear, self-doubt, irritability, shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, stomach pains, and headaches. Among elementary school children, standardized tests cause greater feelings of anxiety than routine classroom tests, and students with dyslexia may experience the stress and anxiety more acutely. Reference THE DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD OF TESTING FOR DYSLEXIC STUDENTS Testing can be a double-edge sword for dyslexic students – because a test result may determine whether a student needs additional support, tutoring, accommodations, or even access to assistive technology. But testing may also inform decisions about holding back students, […]
Chat with Tristan Morris: Audiobook Narrator for The Dyslexic Advantage
Our updated 2023 version of The Dyslexic Advantage is available in audiobook from places like Amazon / Audible, and Brock and I enjoyed hearing Tristan's narration, so we reached out to him for this interview. Brock listens to books at a high speed of playback and he...
What I Know Now About Learning a Foreign Language [Premium]
When I came across a remarkable article titled, “Dyslexia and Learning a Foreign Language: A Personal Experience,” I knew that I wanted to talk to the author. Charlann had the unique perspective of being both dyslexic and a speech language pathologist. She dodged the college level foreign language requirement by getting a bachelor’s degree in speech and theater and master’s degree in speech language pathology. “I no longer tell the truth about how long I have studied French because people cannot comprehend how I could have studied (for seven years) and…still struggle so severely with spoken and written language. I could not fluently retrieve basic structures or pronunciation patterns to communicate my thoughts in classroom discussions, so I tended to speak in sentence fragments […]
Dyslexia in Popular Culture… Great or Cringe-Worthy?
With so much dyslexia in creative communities, it’s not surprising that more authors and screenwriters are including dyslexic characters in their works. The strength side is appearing more commonly, but is it great or will it make you cringe? The answer is, probably a little bit of both. First the GREAT – dyslexia has been in entertainment news lately as Kelly Clarkson has been sharing her interest in dyslexia after her 8 year old daughter was found to be dyslexic. In the YouTube clip below, Kelly asks Captain America Anthony Mackie about the latest script for his Avengers movie and he shares how he must log onto a site to read the top secret material. He has to read under the supervision of an intern […]
Curiosity-Driven Learning [Premium]
Unanimous Supreme Court Decision for Students with Disabilities
In a unanimous Supreme Court decision in the case of Miguel Perez vs. Sturgis Public Schools, the courts ruled that students aren’t required to exhaust the IDEA procedures before seeking relief (for instance money damages) under the ADA. The case involved a deaf student who for 12 years was denied reasonable accommodations (a sign language interpreter) so that he could adequately learn and comprehend others around him. Apparently, there was even another deaf student at the school, but they could not communicate with each other. From Wrightslaw: For twelve years, the school district passed Miguel Luna from grade to grade. The district inflated his grades to As and Bs so he made the honor roll. Miguel Luna did not learn how to read or write. […]
Teaching the Schwa [Premium]
What is the schwa? The schwa sound is the most common sound in English and symbolized by the upside-down e in International Phonetic Alphabet and is pronounced like “uh” in words like “the”. It’s a maddening sound because it’s not really associated with any specific letter of the alphabet…and that affects spelling as well as reading aloud. Sarah’s Snippets Literacy Nest has a nice series of post on teaching the schwa. Emily recommends starting with “a” words like “alike”, “panda”, “soda”, or “Alaska” that say “uh” instead of the long a sound. Add a little kinesthetic action like thumping the table to make recognizing the schwa more memorable. Students may need to master stressed and unstressed syllables first; The Call […]
Reading Mode: How to Make Web Pages Easier to Read
Do you find it easier to read webpages that aren’t cluttered? If so, you’re not alone. Popups and even photos can be distracting. Many browser reading modes offer customizations like font size, color, and sometimes character and line spacing. Typically, many dyslexic children and adults prefer slight increases in default font size, slight increases in character spacing, and double line spacing between paragraphs. After having their Reader Mode hidden for years, Google launched it officially in March, making it available on Google Chrome and Chromebooks. Here is how it works: Lifehacker has a helpful article on How to use Reader View for how to access Reader View on Safari, Firefox, and Microsoft’s Immersive Reader. For example, on Safari, there is a tiny page […]
Highly Gifted with Dyslexia (It may not look like what you think!) [Premium]
A recent article caught my eye on CNBC. It was titled, 5 Signs Your Kid is ‘Highly Gifted’ According to Neuroscience Experts – ‘They’re Not Always Well-Behaved. From the article – the five signs: – asynchronous development – emotional depth and sensitivity at a young age – existential questioning – unique interests or a mature sense of humor – underachievement at school The author is from the Davidson Institute, a charity supporting profoundly gifted students (99.9th percentile). Davidson Scholars can be twice-exceptional (gifted with LD) which includes gifted students with dyslexia. Years ago when we had an international practice testing dyslexic students, we saw many gifted dyslexic students through the Davidson Institute. The definitions of highly and profoundly gifted may vary depending on what tests […]
Math: Teaching with Physical Materials [Premium]
Almost half of all dyslexic student may have math disabilities (Wilcutt et al.2013), but math disabilities or dyscalculia are rarely recognized in public or private schools in the US. All the more important for tutors, teachers, and parents to be aware of dyslexia-related differences in learning better ways of helping information ‘stick’. One helpful example for how to support math for dyslexic students comes from the Sagonaska Demonstration School. They have completely embraced multisensory learning and have considered how reading and writing challenges can affect the way students learn and show their work. Third Space Learning has nice graphics about this approach. Briefly, it involves introducing new math concepts with physical materials, then switching to the use of drawings (representations) to work […]
Been There Done That College Advice From Fellow Dyslexics [Premium]
We love the movement of dyslexic post-grads sharing their studying tips. Check out some of these words of wisdom if you’re college-bound, in college, or planning to return to higher education. In general, things are much better than they were decades ago, but you can still encounter hurdles that may make it difficult to complete your degree. If you need additional inspiration, here is a master’s student in architecture writing his 10,000 word dissertation. Over the years, we’ve seen many students stopped at the dissertation stage – or at least stalled. Dissertation requirements are different, so the video below is not intended to be a guide for all – but at least a way to see how important organization is […]
