From Imperfect Families: Empathize: Put yourself in their shoes and try to understand what they may be feeling. “That writing assignment’s pretty challenging, eh?” Rewrite the script: Instead of “Writing is hard. I’m stupid,” your child could say, “I’m working hard on...
Dyslexia: The Twenty-Something Years [PREMIUM]
“These are the years when it will be easiest to start the lives we want. And no matter what we do, the twenties are an inflection point- the great reorganization – a time when the experiences we have disproportionately influence the adult lives we will lead.” – Meg Jay, author of The Defining Decade “Life for emerging adults is vastly different today than it was for their counterparts even a generation ago. Young people are waiting longer to marry, to have children, and to choose a career direction. As a result, they enjoy more freedom, opportunities, and personal growth than ever before. But the transition to adulthood is also more complex, disjointed, and confusing. ” – Christian Smith, lead author of Lost in Transition Many ‘experts’ have […]
What’s the Most Stressful Time for Dyslexic Students?
ANSWER: Grades 3-5 in Elementary School. If we know this, are we doing everything we can to help students emotionally and socially in these grades? There are many pressures that converge on the 3-5th grade (see The 3rd Grade Wall), and developmentally, it is a...
Research: Classroom Culture Matters – Effects on Reading Performance [Premium]
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 […]
Dyslexia = Grit
A Penn Professor's book is currently winging its way around the Internet: Grit - the Power of Passion and Perseverance - with its talented author Angela Duckworth making the rounds around popular media outlets. With interest, I looked clicked on a link to a popular...
Dyslexia – How to Thrive
"Self-esteem is not an internal quality fed by easy success and diminished by failure. It is a positive way of experiencing yourself when you are fully engaged and are using your ability to the utmost in pursuit of something of value." - Dr. Carol Dweck, Stanford...
The Wisdom of Pooh and Dyslexia
“You are braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – A.A. Milne Winnie the Pooh’s advice is smarter than we may think when it comes to encouraging young readers. What’s better than reading intervention and working memory training? Reading intervention and working memory + education about intelligence. If students believe they are not intelligent or bad at school, that negative mindset is likely to sabotage even well-planned educational programs. Students who believe that they become more intelligent step-by-step by persistence and hard work, are significantly higher achieving in reading and working memory, but also math and science. Now researchers are discovering that some studies that didn’t discover significant improvements in working memory training may have been due to this […]
MIT Professor: What Every Person with Dyslexia Should Know – The Full Story
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,...