Get Ready to Huddle! Discover Intensive Phonics (K-3rd Grade & SPED) Huddle 4 th Tuesday of each month at 2 pm MT Please Call Passcode # Presented by: Shantell Berrett

Why Dyslexia? Research has shown that about 1 in 5 people have dyslexia. Dyslexia is about 85% of what you will see in Special Education. Most difficulties with reading and spelling are some form of processing disorder(s) such as dyslexia and require research based intervention.

Myths and facts about dyslexia. There are too many misconceptions about dyslexia. Knowledge is power. We must be empowered as teachers to truly help our students and address all of their needs.

Myth #1: “Individuals with dyslexia are of low intelligence, slow learners, or mentally retarded.”  “Dys” (meaning poor or inadequate) plus “lexis” (words or language) It is essentially a problem with words. Dyslexic people process language poorly, but that doesn’t mean they aren't intelligent. Dyslexia is a unique mind set that is often gifted and productive, but learns differently than other minds.

Myth #2: “Individuals with dyslexia are just lazy and simply need to apply themselves.”  People with dyslexia are not poorly taught, lazy, or stupid, but have an inborn brain abnormality that has nothing to do with intelligence. Processing language is laborious and exhausting for them.

Myth #3: “Individuals with dyslexia ‘see backward’.” Dyslexia is not a deficit in the visual processing system. Those with processing issues can exhibit what is called Recency Effect. They can also have tracking issues.

Myth #3 Cont. Directional tracking is an important and an often-neglected, essential tool in reading. “For accurate reading, the student must process sounds in order from left-to-right. Knowing the individual sounds is not sufficient.” (Gagen, “You need to directly teach proper directional tracking because scanning left-to-right in a straight line manner is not a natural process. Instinctively, looking all over is a superior way to gather and process information. “ (Gagen)

Myth #4: “Those with dyslexia make up a small percentage of the general population.” According to the latest dyslexia research from the National Institutes of Health, dyslexia affects 20 percent of Americans. That’s one out of every five children. Dyslexia is by far the most common learning disability.

Myth #5: “Those with dyslexia will never improve and will always be poor readers.” Dyslexia is a not a disease and can not be cured by a trip to the doctor or a magic pill. It is a way of thinking, the way the brain is wired and how it processes information. Research has shown that the brain can actually be rewired if the individual is taught with systematic, explicit, sequential phonics taught in a multi-sensory way.

Primary visual cortex Superior temporal gyrus Unimpaired Student Inferior frontal gyrus Angural gyrus Visual perception

Inferior frontal gyrus (Attempts to convert visual information into sounds) Dyslexic Student Visual perception

Clues to Dyslexia One of the very first clues to dyslexia may be delayed language. Once a child begins to speak, look for the following problems: The Preschool Years Trouble learning common nursery rhymes such as “Jack and Jill” and “Humpty Dumpty” A lack of appreciation of rhymes Mispronounced words: persistent baby talk Difficulty in learning (and remembering) names of letters Failure to know the letters in his own name

Clues to Dyslexia cont. Kindergarten and First Grade: Failure to understand that words come apart; for example, that “batboy” can be pulled apart into “bat” and “boy” and, later on, that the word “bat” can be broken down still further and sounded out as ‘b’ ‘aaa’ ‘t’‘. Inability to learn to associate letters with sounds, such as being unable to connect the letter b with the /b/ sound. Reading errors that show no connection to the sounds of the letters; for example, the word “big” is read as “goat.” The inability to read common one-syllable words or to sound out even the simplest of words, such as “mat,” “cat,” “hop,” “nap.” Complaints about how hard reading is, or running and hiding when it is time to read A history of reading problems in parents or siblings

Clues to Dyslexia cont. Clues for 3 rd grade and above: Very slow progress in acquiring reading skills Trouble reading unknown (new, unfamiliar) words that must be sounded out; making wild stabs or guesses at reading a word; failure to systematically sound out words The inability to read small “function”words such as “that,” “an,” “in.” Stumbling on reading multi-syllable words, or the failure to come close to sounding out the full word Omitting parts of words when reading; the failure to decode parts within a word, as if someone had chewed a hole in the middle of the word, such as “conible” for “convertible.” A terrific fear of reading out loud; the avoidance of oral reading Oral reading filled with substitutions, omissions, and mispronunciations Oral reading that is choppy and labored, not smooth or fluent A reliance on context to discern the meaning of what is read A better ability to understand words in context than to read isolated single words The inability to finish tests on time The substitution of words with the same meaning for words in the text he can‘t pronounce, such as “car” for “automobile.” Disastrous spelling, with words not resembling true spelling (some spellings may be missed by spell check)

Summary Research has shown that those with dyslexia need systematic, explicit phonics taught in a multi-sensory way. Other Learning Disabilities that include deficits in language processing have all been found to benefit from systematic phonics and phonemic awareness activities.

The Gift of Dyslexia Those with dyslexia will always see and process things differently, and truly this can be a gift. "Dyslexia is not a disease to have and to be cured of, but a way of thinking and learning. Often it's a gifted mind waiting to be found and taught." - Girard Sagmiller, "Dyslexia My Life ”

Get Ready for the next Discover Intensive Phonics Huddle! Tuesday, April 28 th at 2:00pm MT