Late blooming is a typical profile for dyslexic young people because their talents and their challenges are all over the place – and things you’re supposed to learn in school (reading, writing, arithmetic) are difficult if not impossible to automate.
![Before Structured Literacy: Auditory Training [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Auditory-Training-369x250.jpg)
![Games for Dyslexia Remediation [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Screenshot-2024-10-23-at-1.05.30 PM-400x250.png)
Because many dyslexic students need more repetitions to master certain language tasks, adding little games to learning not only makes the time pass more quickly, it also makes learning time more memorable. Repurposing Games First of all, don’t feel as if you need to buy lots of new materials in order to gamify your learning time. I recently visited a friend, Dr. Nicole Swedberg, who has been a dyslexia tutor for many years and she let me take a picture of her game cabinet. Anything can be used as a reward. For board games, roll and read a sentence is a simple way to make the time pass quickly. If you’ve ever played Jenga the wood block tower game, giving a student a Jenga piece […]
![The Problem of Place Value [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/montessori-math-number-place-value-400x250.png)
Understanding place value is critical for math, but dyslexic students may struggle due to errors in sequencing, directionality, and substitution. This blog post explores common challenges dyslexic learners face with place value, strategies like using base ten blocks and graph paper to help, and why reviewing place value remains essential even for older students.
![How Dyslexia Can Affect Speech [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-30-at-10.56.40 AM-400x250.png)
Although reading and writing have been the emphasis in dyslexia, dyslexia can affect speaking in many ways. First, because dyslexia can affect auditory processing – children or adults mishear sounds in spoken language and these errors can be heard in mispronunciation mistakes. But mispronunciations can also occur due to phonological difficulties. In addition, the rapid automatized naming (RAN) difficulties described as part of a “double-deficit” in some individuals with dyslexia causes significant trouble with retrieving words, leading to pauses and saying the wrong words and a general irregular pace of speech. The tests for RAN involve having subjects quickly name pictures that they easily recognize and know the names for. RAN difficulties can predict later reading problems, and at any age, it can contribute to […]
![Calculator Use: Accommodation or No? [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Screen-Shot-2019-08-30-at-8.28.59-PM.jpg)
A teacher writes, “I have a new student who transferred from a public charter school. She has an IEP accommodation for a calculator use for anything involving math calculations. But I’m wondering whether providing a calculator is changing standards? Is she learning how to use a calculator rather than learning how to do math? Where do we draw the line?” I’m glad you asked this question. I think more teacher and parents ask themselves this question than you may realize. Dyscalculia is one of the least recognized “specific learning disabilities.” In the past ten years, there’s been a revolution in our understanding of the scientific basis of dyscalculia, but in day-to-day practice, there’s remarkably little in the way of practical guidance for both teachers and […]
![Get Ready for Middle School [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/get-ready-dyslexia-middle-school-400x250.png)
If your student had the benefit of positive supportive elementary school years, you may be wary of what the transition to middle school will mean. There will be challenges and opportunities as your student makes this transition – being aware of them will hopefully minimize speed bumps that come their way. ONE TEACHER vs MANY First of all, a big change in middle school is having many teachers instead of one. Some students will keep a homeroom teacher (this may be the resource room teacher if your student is on an IEP) in order to have a recognizable home base and a person who knows your student well and can talk to others if some issue like quantity of homework or need for accommodations for […]
![Creativity and Its Connection Dyslexia, ADD / ADHD, and Low Working Memory [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Screen-Shot-2019-08-30-at-10.49.07-AM.jpg)
Creative companies and groups seem to have higher than average representation of people with dyslexia, ADD/ADHD, and low working memory. Dyslexia is associated with increased divergent and exploratory thinking, but what does ADD/ ADHD or low working memory have to do with creativity? A tech person might ask – is it a bug or a feature? We think it’s a feature, just like dyslexia.If dyslexia, ADD/ADHD and low working memory were all bad, you wouldn’t see an over-representation in creative industries. Attention and working memory have been suggested to be two sides of a neural coin. While attention is like a spotlight directed at certain parts of the outside world, working memory is like a spotlight directed at internal thoughts, information, or instructions. HIGH FUNCTIONING […]
![How Does Dyslexia Change Over Time? [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-29-at-10.21.46 PM-400x250.png)
DEVELOPMENT IS POSITIVE BUT SPECIFIC EDUCATION IS VALUABLE The most common challenges associated with dyslexia (phonological awareness, si ngle word decoding, rapid automatized naming, spelling) are responsive to specific types of training (structured, multisensory, sequential, systematic literacy instruction) for these to improve over time. Without intervention, reading and writing may be as difficult as ever, but for some, improvement may also be dependant on other compensatory skills. If reading or writing fail to progress in the early years due to working memory overload or other aspects of executive function, then developmental improvement in working memory and executive function that tend to occur over time can help students progress during certain periods of active brain development. It’s not uncommon to see a burst of increased abilities […]
![Ready, Set… Go! From High School to College [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Ready-Set-Go-1.jpg)
Whether you’re a student who is just starting high school or preparing to transition to college, there are three important skills to cultivate: SELF-KNOWLEDGE First, there is self-knowledge. – What do you know about how you learn best? – What interests you the most? It may not be the class where you’re doing the best. Performance may be related to factors like the capabilities of the teacher or how knowledge is tested. – Looking back on your time in school, have there been any things that stand out? Classes or activities outside of class that you loved? – Are there any role models in your life? What do you like about what they do and how they live their lives? – What are your strengths […]
“I loved being innovative and I loved discovering new ways to interpret the flowers…you have to solve one technical problem after the other….pay attention…and follow what is interesting to you…” — Paul Stankard, Master Glass Artist Paul Stankard is a pioneer in glass art and his works can be found at the Smithsonian, Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Louvre, and Corning Museum of Glass among others. When he struggled in school with unrecognized dyslexia, he just thought he was stupid. It wasn’t until he was around the age of 27 that he heard then decathlon winner Bruce Jenner talk about his struggles in school that Paul recognized that he was dyslexic too.
Paul’s father was a chemist and he and his mother […]
