1. Understanding Dyslexia
Ros Lugg

2. Specific Learning Disability?
Dyslexia or
Specific Learning Disability?

3. Other Specific Learning Disabilities
ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)
Dyspraxia
Dysphasia, speech/language delay or deficit
Dyscalculia
Autism/Aspergers Syndrome/Tourette Syndrome

4. Developing awareness 1898 Pringle Morgan (Percy)
1920s onwards Samuel Orton
Strephosymbolia
Stein post-mortem evidence

5. 2007 New Zealand recognises dyslexia!

6. Types of dyslexia
Developmental Dyslexia – inherited condition from birth.
Affects approximately 10% of the population.
Acquired Dyslexia – a result of brain injury

7. “Dyslexia is a complex neurological condition which is constitutional in origin. The symptoms may affect many areas of learning and function, and may be described as a specific difficulty in reading, spelling and written language. …….oral language may be affected to some degree.”
British Dyslexia Association 1996

8. Neurological and biological basis

11. Brain structure MRI scanning results
The planum temporale cortical language area, which is normally larger in the left hemisphere than in the right, is symmetrical in most dyslexics.

12. The corpus callosum is physically less well developed in dyslexics than in non-dyslexics.

13. Nutritional aspects
Dyslexics are less able to convert EFAs to myelin in the brain

15. Males are more vulnerable than females to EFA deficiencies (Burdge et al 2002 + other studies)

16. “Visual and auditory symptoms in dyslexia have been related to physical signs consistent with fatty acid deficiency.”
(Taylor et al., 2000)

17. “In children and adults, the same physical signs suggestive of fatty acid deficiency have also been linked with both dyslexia (Richardson et al., 2000) and autistic spectrum disorders (Bell, Sargent, Tocher & Dick, 2000, 2004).”

18. Link between Dyslexia and EFAs
Two groups of mothers – extensive questionnaire about diet while pregnant (particularly Omega 3 & 6 consumption)
One group – dyslexic sons
One group – non-dyslexic classmates

19. Study found that:
Mothers of children with dyslexia had consumed significantly less EFA while pregnant than mothers of non-dyslexic children.

20. Supplementation with EFAs can be extremely effective

21. Dyslexics were scanned while doing a simple rhyming task.
Brain activation
fMRI scanning results
Dyslexics were scanned while doing a simple rhyming task.
In normal readers, the left frontal cortex lit up, but this does not happen in dyslexics.

22. Graduate dyslexics study
Well-compensated graduate dyslexics
studied.
Equivalent non-dyslexic control group
Simple rhyming task

23. PET scan findings Both groups completed the tasks with no problem.
Dyslexic group – very different pattern of brain activity:
Less activity in Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas and no activity at all in the insula

24. Conclusion
A specific failure in that particular brain system connected with language persists into dyslexics’ adult lives, although their performance indicates that they were compensating well.

25. Effect of correct remediation
Several studies have shown that brain activation patterns can be changed with the right remediation – even in adults.

26. Magnocellular pathways
Dyslexic brains show abnormalities of the magnocellular component of the visual system, which is specialized for processing fast temporal information.

27. Current conclusions
“The evidence is consistent with an increasingly sophisticated account of dyslexia that does not single out either phonological or visual or motor deficits. Rather, temporal processing in all three systems seems to be impaired. Dyslexics may be unable to process fast incoming sensory information adequately in any domain.”

28. Gene links Chromosome 6 (DCDC2) linked with dyslexia
Chromosome 15 (KIAA0319) also implicated
Genetic abnormalities in Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas (the main language areas in the left hemisphere)

29. Dyslexia runs in families!
Heritability
Dyslexia runs in families!
If a boy’s father is dyslexic, he has a 40% chance of being dyslexic.
If his mother is dyslexic, he has a 50% chance of being dyslexic.
Boys are 4 times more likely to be dyslexic than girls.

30. Links with other conditions
Left-handedness
Eczema
Allergies
Schizophrenia
Dyspraxia
ADHD
Glue ear
Irlen Syndrome

31. Dyslexia and behaviour
Internationally, 60 – 80% of prison populations are dyslexic
Dyslexia causes huge anxiety and self-esteem problems, particularly with brighter pupils. This magnifies behavioural issues at school age and beyond.

32. Fallacies about dyslexia
“He’s not ready for reading yet. Wait until he’s ready and he’ll be fine.”
Dyslexia doesn’t exist. It’s just a middle-class parent’s excuse for a thick child.”

33. Possible Indicators Obvious ‘good’ or ‘bad’ days with no reason
Confusion between directional words
Difficulties with sequences, days, months, tables
Family history
Discrepancy between oral and written language
Reversals/mis-sequencing letters

34. Poor concentration
Forgets or misunderstands instructions
Has difficulty understanding what has been read
Takes longer to do written work
Slow processor
Problems copying, particularly from the board
Problems planning essays

35. Poor confidence or self-esteem
Poor social skills
Can appear awkward or clumsy
Very inconsistent abilities
Unexpected difficulties with certain tasks
Sometimes tongue-tied
Anxious about answering questions in class

36. Home and social implications
Fatigue
Homework
Organisation
Social isolation

37. Possible strengths Innovative thinkers Excellent trouble shooters
Intuitive problem solving
Creative – arts, architecture, design, engineering
Lateral thinkers
Often excellent with computers
Often brilliant ‘higher level’ mathematicians

38. Famous dyslexics Alexander Graham Bell Nelson Rockefeller
John Britten Henry Ford
Thomas Edison Walt Disney
Michael Faraday Cher
Erin Brockovich John Lennon
George Patton Auguste Rodin
Orlando Bloom Nigel Kennedy
Tom Cruise Henry Winkler

39. Whoopi Goldberg Jackie Stewart
Susan Hampshire Muhammed Ali
Keanu Reeves Thomas Jefferson
Kiera Knightly Winston Churchill
Oliver Reed J F Kennedy
Robin Williams George Washington
Leonardo da Vinci Agatha Christie
Picasso W B Yeats
Andy Warhol Terry Goodkind

40. Patterns of difficulty
One feature of dyslexia is that there is no link between dyslexia and intelligence.
There are typical patterns, but huge variability between individual difficulties.

41. Perception and Processing

42. Perception and Processing Model
Output
Retrieval/planning/
expression
Input
Reception v. Perception
Comprehension,
organization,
retention

43. Processing skills (The big 5)
Motor development (fine and gross)
Sequencing
Phonological awareness
Visual perception (Visual discrimination)
Memory (working)

44. Memory implications
A non-dyslexic child takes between 4 and 10 exposures to a word to fix it in long-term memory.
A dyslexic child can take anything between 500 and 1300 exposures.
Therefore: teaching needs to incorporate huge amounts of ‘overlearning’

45. Short v long-term memory
Understanding Memory
Short v long-term memory
Visual memory
Auditory memory
Kinaesthetic memory
Working memory

46. L Z T B W H S B

48. L Z T B W H S B

49. The furniture was highly polished

51. Common language problems
Interpretation – very literal, don’t understand ‘figures of speech’
Language of mathematics – “70% of dyslexics experience difficulty with number language words (sum, total, odd, take away)” Chasty 1985
Comprehension – reading and oral

52. Other learning disabilities:
Sensory Integration deficits
Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD)
Global Learning Difficulty

53. Dyslexic or low ability?

54. Low ability profile

55. Typical dyslexic profile

56. More extreme dyslexic profile – very able but indicators of dyspraxia

57. Dyslexic profile

58. Low ability profile

59. Low ability

60. Very able, but major perceptual difficulties

61. Assessment options Specialist assessment centres SPELD
Step by Step Centre
Assessment software – available in schools

62. Teaching methods and resources
All teaching needs to be:
Highly structured
Cumulative
Multi-sensory

63. Teaching needs to incorporate:
Huge amounts of reinforcement/overlearning
Activities to develop transfer

64. Remediation or support?
In-class support v. withdrawal
Reader-writer/extra time
Writing or word-processing/dictating

65. Assistive Technology Reading Pen Hand-held scanner (wand)
Flatbed scanner
Dictaphone/PDA
Laptop
Spell checker (Franklin)
Tape recorder

66. Assistive Software
TextHelp
Dragon Naturally Speaking
Thinksheet

67. Remedial Unit Experienced teacher v teacher aide? Computers
Adequate resourcing (including structured literacy scheme)
Identify early and then blitz problems – don’t trickle-feed!