In an interesting study, researchers in France looked at the impact of spelling difficulty on the writing performance of students with dyslexia. From the study: “Dyslexia weakens spelling skills, even when the child presents no motor problems. By varying the degree of difficulty in words to spell, researchers were able to analyse the impact of spelling process disorders on handwriting. Tests consisted in writing different categories of words: regular and irregular, common and rare, sensical (ex: futur) and pseudo, non-sensical words (ex: furut). To understand exactly how spelling affected handwriting, researchers recorded participants’ writing gestures on digital tablets. Analysis revealed that the act of writing irregular and pseudo words had a particularly noticeable impact on the hand movements of dyslexic children. Spelling became so difficult […]
Could Dyslexia and Dysgraphia Affect IQ Scores? [Premium]
From our Community: Can Dyslexia and Dysgraphia Affect IQ Scores? My son got officially diagnosed with both dyslexia and dysgraphia this week. I suspected he would come back with the diagnosis. What surprised me a bit were his IQ scores. The scenario is a common one – one sibling is dyslexic while the other is not. The non-dyslexic student qualifies easily for a highly capable / gifted program while the dyslexic one does not…although that may be the one who is a “head turner” because of creative thinking, intuitive leaps, and general reasoning and questioning capacity. The short answer is YES. There are many individual factors that can affect the accuracy of a student’s testing. A student’s temperament (perfectionistic, introverted), oral fluency, persistence / resilience, verbal […]
Gifted with Dysgraphia [PREMIUM]
For many, the most frustrating aspect of dyslexia is writing. Writing gets better over time, but it may remain effortful and some will find non-verbal outlets for expression such as drawing, film, building physical objects or managing teams more expressive. Because dyslexic thinkers often have strong associational minds and personal memories, writing difficulties are more likely to be due to difficulty getting information down on paper rather than not having something to say. Common obstacles to writing can be many – narrowing ideas, putting selected ideas into order, putting emotions, complex feeling or perceptions, and experiences into words, then harnessing the physical writing steps and visual memory of words (spelling) to get them down on paper. Students with dysgraphia can be helped by first dramatically reducing […]
[Premium] Examples of Dysgraphia and Dyslexia – What to Look For
After dyslexic students make progress in their ability to decode words, parents, teachers, and students themselves may begin to breathe a sigh of relief; however, another monster challenge may be looming on the horizon – the other D…. Dysgraphia. The National Institutes of Health definition of Dysgraphia includes the following: “Dysgraphia is a neurological disorder characterized by writing disabilities. Specifically, the disorder causes a person’s writing to be distorted or incorrect. In children, the disorder generally emerges when they are first introduced to writing. They make inappropriately sized and spaced letters, or write wrong or misspelled words, despite thorough instruction. Children with the disorder may have other learning disabilities; however, they usually have no social or other academic problems. Cases of dysgraphia in adults generally […]
Should I Help with Homework? [Premium]
“His mother had read everything to him and in medical school his wife was reading aloud all books and references…there was some opposition to his continuance in medical school on the part of the dean and one other faculty member, but the opposition subsided… After his graduation a report came from a distant medical school hospital stating that this man was the best intern they had had for some time. He passed his American boards in internal medicine and became the head of a group practice clinic in a large city…” — Lloyd Thompson, Reading Disability Should you help with homework? The answer is YES. There is a qualifier on that – you should help but only to the point that you’re helping your student […]
The Letter – Getting a Good Start to the School Year [Premium]
If you’re the parent of a student with significant academic challenges due to dyslexia, dysgraphia, or dyscalculia, crafting a letter is a familiar ritual. THE GOALS The big picture goals are for your student to have a good year – to enjoy being at school, to be developing in all areas, and to have good relationships with teachers, the school in general, and friends. But all students don’t start the school year on the same footing. If your student is below grade level in reading and is trying to overcome anxiety and/or feelings of failure, she or he may be bringing that to school before the first bell rings. THE CHALLENGE The challenge is that many teachers may not have had training in dyslexia and […]
Math Problems: Does It Matter If It’s Identified As A Math Disability? [Premium]
There are millions of school children struggling with math at school. Does it matter if a student’s math struggles are identified formally as a math disability or dyscalculia? 40% of dyslexic people are likely to also have dyscalculia, but because dyscalculia is rarely assessed in schools, few individuals ever receive that designation. Does it matter? In the short term, some school professionals might say it does not matter much – because students who need help in math will get it if their scores qualify. What do we believe? Having a math LD formally identified can be helpful – although we realize that testing may not always be easily available. If you are a testing professional, consider adding the WIAT Math subtests to routine comprehensive battery […]
The ‘Why’ of Accommodations: Motor, Language, Speed [Premium]
Although dyslexia is typically defined in terms of its effect on reading, research studies have established much broader effects on motor systems, language, and speed of processing. If professionals are not aware of these differences, they won’t request accommodations for the students who they test, and as a result, these students will miss out on supports that help them in higher education and beyond. MOTOR AND LANGUAGE – WRITING There are motor difficulties associated with dyslexia that are unrelated to reading (Turesky et al., 2023), but rather than being a difficulty affecting speed or coordination, it is more subtle – affecting automatic learning. If you are able to sign your name without thinking about all the twists and turns your fingers make for […]
The Mind Map in Your Brain [Premium]
Among professionals who work with dyslexic students, there have long been recommendations to mind map ideas. In recent basic neuroscience research, there’s been a growing understanding why. Neuroscientists have long studied how knowledge seems to work in the brain with schemas -or patterns that can form a flexible reference base that helps us understand new or existing knowledge or make decisions for how to act. But these schemas have largely been studied in a context of verbal memory – with only more recent insights into “the other schemas.” As it turns out there are a lot of other schemas and processes involving schema-making. They are non-verbal and spatial – and that is where the implications for dyslexic people may come into play. If you are […]
JUNE 2023 Premium
In this issue: ✔ The Why of Classroom Accommodations – Part 1 ✔ Legendary Filmmaker David Lean ✔ The Foreign Language Dilemma ✔ Advice for Careers ✔ The MindMap in Your Brain ✔ Severe dysgraphia and Moderate Dyslexia
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 […]
Working Memory, Attention, and Learning [Premium]
“When we act on sensory inputs we call it ‘attention,’ but there’s a similar mechanism that can act on the thoughts we hold in mind.” — Timothy Buschman, Princeton University For the past 70 years, psychologists, researchers, teachers have focused intently on the implications of attention to learning, but working memory, a type of short-term memory that seems equally important — if not more significant — to general cognitive processes has received far less consideration. There are several implications for most dyslexic individuals because what many may attribute to attention or attention deficit may actually be due to activities involving working memory. IS IT INATTENTION OR WORKING MEMORY OVERLOAD? A student is struggling in math class. He is watching the teacher write on the board […]