Here's one remarkable school decided to go 'all in' to help a dyslexic high school student who seemed to be slipping away. Matthew was a rising 10th grader at a non-selective high school. The majority of students at the school were described as being of low...
![Dyslexic Master Montessori Teacher ALISON AWES [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Screen-Shot-2019-08-31-at-4.00.40-PM.jpg)
I recently had a chance to talk with Master Montessori Teacher Alison Awes who is based at the Montessori Training Center of Minnesota. Alison is dyslexic herself and she has written about how Montessori instruction can support dyslexic students. Alison is also trained in Orton-Gillingham Level1. Like the Orton-Gillingham method, the Montessori approach was created by a physician working with special education students. I knew about Montessori because both our children attended Montessori preschools and we liked many aspects of the educational approach, including self-directed learning, multi-age classrooms, and well-designed hands-on materials. I was interested in hearing about Alison’s experiences because she attended a Montessori school herself until the age of 12 and then transitioned to a traditional middle school. She only discovered that she […]
New from the College Board: "Beginning January 1, 2017, the vast majority of students who are approved for and using testing accommodations at their school through a current Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 Plan will have those same accommodations...
![[PREMIUM] Tips from a Dyslexic World Memory Champion](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/shutterstock_266694722-scaled.jpg)
When people say they would like to ‘brain train’ or get smarter for school, they often mean they want to make their brains more efficient – so they learn more, but also work less. One of the most straightforward ways to do this is to boost memory – and for most dyslexic people, the way you train may be more important than how hard or how much. We talk about memory trade-offs a bit in our book, The Dyslexic Advantage, but briefly, in general, dyslexic people of all ages tend to show a preference for personally-experienced memories rather than dry facts that need to be memorized by rote. A trick for memorizing more efficiently is to take the dry stuff and transform it into something […]
![Research: Classroom Culture Matters – Effects on Reading Performance [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/our-shutterstock-class.jpg)
In the latest issue of the Journal of Learning Disabilities, researchers from Harvard and Greece found that classroom culture, and in particular LD students’ perceptions of their classrooms motivational framework had sudden, significant, and unpredictable effects on reading performance and students’ emotional state. From the authors: “The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the proposition that a classroom’s motivation discourse exerts significant influences over students’ achievement in reading.” The two conditions that researchers compared were: #1. Mastery (internal standard) – “In our class trying hard is important” #2. Performance (external standard) – “In our class, getting good grades is the main goal.” Their brief conclusions: “…the results confirmed the research hypotheses concerning the role of mastery and performance goals. The form (mastery) had a […]
![Teaching Chemistry to Students with Dyslexia [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Screen-Shot-2019-09-09-at-10.55.40-AM.jpg)
Although High School Chemistry is required for many of the top 4 year liberal arts colleges and college Chemistry is a necessary requirement for many majors and careers that many dyslexic students excel in like engineering or medicine, there is a surprising lack of resources available to students having their first encounter with chemistry – and that may make things tricky, especially if they’re also juggling a full load of classes. For Premium subscribers, here are a few tips and strategies for surviving and even thriving at chemistry. Chemistry can be a field that dyslexics do extremely well at because they can visualize, rotating molecules in space, and picture their interactions and energy transformations. The main challenge is often at the beginning – when all the […]
![Top Back to School Apps for Dyslexia [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/apps-dyslexia-our-shutterstock.jpg)
EARLY READERS Endless Reader by Originator – Free to try; $5.99-11.99 bundles. iPhone and iPad Great for visual learners. Animations and characters help with sight word learning. Orton Gillingham Card Deck by Mayerson Academy FREE. iPhone and iPad Multisensory card deck with consonants, single vowels, consonant digraphs, vowel teams, vowel + r, short vowel signals, VCe, and common suffixes. Auditory drill. Record and playback to hear pronunciations. Video see and hear sounds. Great phonics practice. Sight Words by Little Speller – FREE Iphone and Ipad All 220 sight words, no-frills program that allows you to create your own sight word lists – lower case or upper case letters. Can allow hints. Sight Words Reading and Spelling by Edoki $3.49 Android. Includes 320 sight words (Fryes + Dolce). […]
![[Premium] Thriving: Pick Classes Like a Pro](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/choose-classes-dyslexia.jpg)
Whether it’s high school or college, picking your classes can make a tremendous difference in your school experience and grades. Many of the general strategies given to college freshman often apply, but some additional tips can be helpful if you’re dyslexic.
![Dyslexia and Speaking Difficulties in Children [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/quiet-boy-our-shutterstock.jpg)
“Two years after starting school, 1/3 of children who had experienced articulatory problems or whose language acquisition had been delayed were significantly behind in reading and spelling. By contrast, only one of twenty children in the control situation were behind.” – Dr. Marcel Just, Dyslexia Characteristics and Causes Although dyslexia is quite common (up to 15-20% of the population), many equate it as being a problem of reading, whereas there are a wide range of differences (as a group) between dyslexic and non-dyslexic individuals – including speech difficulties but also strengths. Speaking difficulties may be one of the earliest ‘signs’ of dyslexia including, but not limited to late talking, tendency to stutter / cluttering (rapid speech, irregular rate, rhythm, and sequence), word retrieval difficulties, mispronunciation […]
Things are changing. From ABC: "Fortunately for Christa Hills, her dyslexia diagnosis came when she was in primary school. She was able to access appropriate help from a young age. Now studying for her Year 12 exams, she regards dyslexia as a gift. 'It's really great....
Superstar MIT Professor Catherine Drennan (HHMI Scientist too - the top of the top in the world) shared her personal journey with dyslexia. She was in remedial classes and had to repeat a grade, and saw her self dropped lower and lower through all the reading groups,...
