Forty-four percent of dyslexic students also meet diagnostic criteria for math disability, according to researchers, but math rarely receives specific designations on students' individualized education plans. What is the result? Dyslexic students with math...
Embracing the Spiky* Profile [Premium]
It can be a challenge reconciling dyslexia stories in a publication such as this because the topics may zoom from the highest highs (innovators, explorers, paradigm-shifters) to what seem to be early school frustrations – like spelling homonyms or forming letters correctly – but such is the life of the spiky profile person. That is […]
Writing An Essay — How They Do It [Premium]
Over the past decade, it’s been a joy to see how many more dyslexic university students and professors are sharing how they tackle one of the most difficult tasks in education: writing an essay. The mechanics of writing are difficult, for sure, but for many, the volume of ideas and a need to organize and […]
Learning Irregular Words [Premium]
Question: Why does dyslexia intervention focus so much on phonics and phonological awareness when so much of English doesn’t follow rules? Every comprehensive structured literacy program includes lessons and intensive practice with sight words and orthographic mapping as well as morphology (the study of words from the perspective of small meaning parts like prefixes, roots, […]
Navigating the Non-Dyslexic World [Premium]
For almost every subject and career, there will be challenges that arise because rules and programs were designed without dyslexic people in mind. The only way things can change for the better is to have more members of the community speak up and advocate for change. Sometimes the process of self-advocacy can be exhausting, but […]
Multiplication [Premium]
Multiplication has always been my nemesis. When I was testing a student and Brock heard me hesitate when a student was answering a math fact, he took that job away from me. I know I’ve spoken about the stories and mnemonics at Multiplication.com before, but if this approach is not a match for your student, […]
Dyslexia, Art, and Science [Premium]
“Artists and scientists are curious creatures always looking for patterns…. And that’s because patterns communicate larger insights about the world around us.” — Rebecca Kamen Many dyslexic people work in fields that involve science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and art, and those career choices may be due to personal characteristics like curiosity as well as cognitive […]
Dyslexic Cognition and Processing Speed [Premium]
Processing speed can be a very frustrating aspect of dyslexia and dyspraxia. It doesn’t have its own DSM diagnosis code and in truth, processing speed in the context of dyslexia and or dyspraxia have very different sources. Some people think that it doesn’t matter what the source of the speed problems are, but I think […]
You Think in Words; I Think in Pictures [Premium]
“…when I was a kid, my mother had often asked my father, ‘What are you thinking?’ He’d shrug and say, ‘Nothing’ — a response that irritated her to no end. (‘How can he be thinking about nothing?’ she’d ask me.) I’ve always been on Team Dad; I spend a lot of time thoughtless, just living […]
Learning Outside the Lines [Premium]
Many adults with dyslexia only discovered that they were dyslexic late in life. Those who return to learning may enjoy more successes as they can choose routes of learning (and assessments) better matched to how they learn best. ONLINE LEARNING Many K-12 students may have disliked online learning based on pandemic experiences, but careful selection […]
Stealth or Compensated Dyslexia [Premium]
There are a variety of terms used to described individuals with dyslexia who have challenges decoding text but then evolve over time to those who can read silently with good compensation. These people can succeed in the highest levels of education and work, but still have non-reading-related challenges (for instance spelling and writing fluency, tip […]
Your “Mini-Me” and Bullying [Premium]
English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams recently shared that he was saddened after learning that his 10-year old daughter who is like a “mini-me”, dyslexic also with musical abilities, was rejected by a friend who decided she didn’t want anything to do with her after learning that she was dyslexic. “I tried to make it clear to […]