The Strange Case of Reading Small Words [Premium]

The Strange Case of Reading Small Words [Premium]

A parent may notice it first in a beginning reader or an adult who finds it exasperating when trying read aloud – why is it that the “small words” are so easy to skip or misread? It is a sign of dyslexia?   The skipping or misreading of small words can be associated with dyslexia, but can also be unrelated.   ONE POSSIBILITY VISUAL TRACKING AND “READING TOO FAST” Developmental optometrists have frequently identified visual tracking abnormalities and convergence insufficiency in school age dyslexic children. This does not mean that visual issues cause dyslexia – they just suggest that they may commonly be found in this group of child and therefore contribute to word or line skips. Students who feel pressured to read fast may […]

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Lip Reading and Dyslexia [Premium]

Lip Reading and Dyslexia [Premium]

There is a long and diverse research history of dyslexia and documenting the auditory processing difficulties associated with dyslexia that hinder phonological awareness. It’s why dyslexic kids will struggle in school when everyone is required to wear a mask. The sounds are muffled, but also if the teacher is masked, then students cannot look at the teachers mouth – as an additional cue to what sound is being made. In a recent study published by Annals of Dyslexia, researchers made an interesting observation: “those children with dyslexia who are better readers attended more to the mouth while presented with a person’s face in a phonologically demanding condition.” More research needs to be done about this issue, be aware of helps like watching a video of […]

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Dyslexia Advocacy: Say Dyslexia 2.0

Dyslexia Advocacy: Say Dyslexia 2.0

From Chalkbeat's story, "NYC plans to screen nearly 200,000 students in the early grades to uncover struggling readers. Then what?"   "In a massive bid to gauge reading skills following COVID-related learning disruptions, New York City’s education department is...

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Reading Fluency for College [Premium]

Reading Fluency for College [Premium]

Recently we were contacted by a student who wanted to improve his reading fluency before attending college. He had completed a full course of “Wilson and Orton-Gillingham” yet his reading was still slow and effortful. He asked, “Is there anything I can do to improve my reading to help me be successful in college?”   ANSWER: First of all, good for you for looking ahead and preparing yourself for college. It is possible to get through college with slow effortful reading, but probably only if you’re competent with assistive technology and can listen to all of your books instead of reading them traditionally. Although most colleges and universities are required to make “reasonable accommodations,” schools and individual faculty members can vary, and practical issues – […]

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Answer Apps and the Benefits of Learning in Reverse [Premium]

Answer Apps and the Benefits of Learning in Reverse [Premium]

Conventional lecture courses for subjects with problem sets can be inefficient.   For dyslexic students if the information comes in too quickly, they can’t follow steps as a teacher works through problems in real time. A recurring scenario for many students (and not just the dyslexic ones) is that to truly understand, the students must work through the material themselves at home. The lucky ones have a parent, sibling, or someone else to be a tutor, while others may struggle looking at incomplete notes with only a hazy idea of what teachers did to arrive at their answers. Having teachers notes or having a flipped classroom (watch a video first, then see the problems worked by a teacher) can improve this situation, but inevitably there […]

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Creating An Environment That Works [Premium]

Creating An Environment That Works [Premium]

Sunlight, air, water, nutrients…we know these are the things that allow plants to grow and flourish, but what are the same essential factors for dyslexic students or employees?     FLEXIBILITY AND SOME CREATIVITY Good environments for dyslexics tend to be those that have some flexibility. Flexibility might take the form of how you may choose to do something vs. the standard way. In college, it might mean a reduced course load when taking difficult subjects, or at work, it might be focusing on project quality and program execution more than hours logged. The classic “bad job” for a dyslexic is work that is assembly-line, repetitive, and lock-step. Sometimes the dilemma is how to get to the good flexible jobs when you’re just starting out […]

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Apps for Productivity and Organization [Premium]

Apps for Productivity and Organization [Premium]

How about apps for productivity and organization? Here are useful ones you can try.       ToDoist is a popular to do list that is integrated with email, IFTTT, Dropbox, and Slack. It is free – premium and available on iOS and Android.   For some people, free Google Calendar is sufficient. Just remember to set up your calendar notifications and Google Tasks (iOS and Android).   Just Press Record $4.99 iOS I use this app all the time to record – just a big red button and store audio recordings to the cloud. With a recent update, this app has also added free transcriptions. It’s not perfect (probably Otter.ai is more accurate, but it’s great to be free and definitely helps searching through […]

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Best Writing Apps [Premium]

Best Writing Apps [Premium]

We’ve talked a bit about speech to text for writing, but over time, many dyslexic students may prefer to write by typing or by hand. Technology can help dyslexic writers in many different ways, depending on their needs.     For young children with little or no eideitic (snapshot picture) memory for letters may benefit by an alphabet strip pasted inconspicuously in a folder or perhaps on a bulletin board. Students who are able to write by hand, but write very little because they’re uncertain of how to spell words, benefit tremendously by apps like Easy Spelling Aid which will find the spelling of words by speaking into the microphone. It also translate words. Check out these apps! Click on photos to access their sites. […]

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Best Apps for Subject Knowledge [Premium]

Best Apps for Subject Knowledge [Premium]

Because of the work of reading dense text and the fact that skimming can be difficult (if not impossible) for students, reading and re-reading alone are often not the most efficient ways for students to study for exams or file information into their long-term memories.         FLASHCARD APPS Many students know that flashcard apps work because they allow you to review key information without wading through a sea of text. The best apps allow you to review only the cards that you’re unsure of, and apps either come with common textbooks pre-loaded or allow you to upload PowerPoints, PDFs, word documents with information with a conversion into cards. You don’t have to write your own cards! Some students may even find that […]

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Multisensory Learning – Listen, Watch, and Do [Premium]

Multisensory Learning – Listen, Watch, and Do [Premium]

Multisensory learning is often considered the gold standard for dyslexic students. Technology can help by converting text to speech, adding pictures, or adding some action to what otherwise might be a passive task.       READING When it comes to reading, early readers need to reliably hear sounds and associate them with letters, letter groups, and words. The easiest to understand are professional readers of audiobooks who read with liveliness and drama. Older students and adults may be able to transition to electronic voices, especially if they can be sped up.   PHONICS AND STRUCTURED LITERACY Blending Board, iOS FREE (below) creates free customizable deck of phonemes. Also includes multisyllabic words. PHONICS GENIUS (below) is 99 cents on iOS and has over 6000 words […]

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