Now that We Know More
about Dyslexia
Patty Barrons, MA
Certified Dyslexia Testing Specialist
We Know
In a previous article I shared with you that dyslexia is the most common reason a child of normal intelligence struggles with reading, and the most common of all learning disabilities. The good news is that dyslexia can be specifically diagnosised and treated successfully. Dyslexia, which touches 20% of the population, represents a very isolated weakness with a neurological cause, and it does not affect thinking skills. In fact, higher level thinking skills and reasoning skills are often advanced in dyslexic individuals. People with dyslexia are bright in many areas. That’s why their language processing difficulties are unexpected.
The core difficulty in dyslexia is getting to the sound structure of the spoken word. Research has shown that in contrast to popular myth, children with dyslexia are not usually prone to seeing letters or words backward. The deficit for the disorder lies in the brain’s ability to handle the language system. The problem is a linguistic one not a visual one.
The phoneme is the smallest unit of speech that distinguishes one word from another, and it is the building block of all spoken and written words. Different combinations of forty-four phonemes produce all the words of the English language. Dyslexia involves a weakness in a region in the brain working at the level of phonemes. Dyslexics have difficulty developing awareness that spoken and written words are comprised of phonemes or building blocks.
Spoken language is innate and effortless but reading is not. Reading is more difficult than speaking. It is an invention of man that must be learned at a conscious level.
If a child is dyslexic early on in school, that child will continue to experience reading problems unless provided with scientifically based, proven intervention.
Get Help Sooner Not Later
If your child has difficulty with reading in kindergarten or first grade, don’t wait. Get help immediately. Time is of the essence, and prevention is easier than remediation. Parents cannot afford to take a passive stance.
Beware of the developmental lag philosophy: that if you wait long enough your child will naturally catch-up. Learning difficulties don’t disappear naturally. After third grade, it takes three to four times as long to help a child with dyslexia improve, compared to students diagnosed earlier. A diagnosis can be therapeutic in itself, making you as a parent feel better, because it normalizes the problem and helps shame and fear disappear.
A dyslexic child is behind his classmates and must make more progress than they do if he is to catch up. The longer identification and effective reading instruction are delayed, the longer the child will require catching up.
Around third grade regular classroom reading programs no longer address the kinds of phonemic awareness and basic phonics skill instruction a struggling reader requires. Dyslexic children need systematic and explicit instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
Proper diagnosis by a certified dyslexia testing specialist can provide early help for the weakness and pinpoint accommodations to help access the child’s strengths.
Help Your Child Get Ready to Read
Between the ages of four and six children develop an awareness that words come apart into smaller units of speech sounds. A young child must develop this phonemic awareness if she is to become a reader. What can parents do in the pre-school years to help prepare her to understand that spoken words are made up of smaller units of speech sounds?
The goal is to draw the child’s attention to the sounds of language. Singing, nursery rhymes, and reading stories and poetry to your child will do this. Make it fun. You want your child’s active involvement. Do it when you both are in a good mood. Your activities might be routine, and should be short and most of all enjoyable. Have a favorite song, poem, or rhyme you use as your child gets ready for bed, picks up toys, or travels with you in the car. Of course teach the ABC song.
Read favorite books like Dr. Seuss repeatedly and comment to your child about the fun sound of the words that rhyme. Have your child predict the next word in a rhyming story or ask if he notices that all the words in a sentence rhyme. Exaggerate the sound of the rhyming words as you read. To know that the words pet and net rhyme, your child must attend to just a part of each word-the ending et. He begins to appreciate that words have parts. Make up your own rhymes too. And be prepared for repetition. Your child will ask for favorite books, songs, and rhymes over and over again. That’s how children learn.
Reading tongue twisters is another way to help lay the groundwork for phonemic awareness.
To increase print awareness point to the words on a page from time to time as you read so your child learns you are reading the text, not the pictures. Make simple books together about family events. Keep books in a spot your child can easily access them. Label objects around your home. Use every opportunity to talk about environmental print while driving, walking, or shopping.
And let’s not neglect everyday talking and listening. Teach your child to listen by listening to him when he talks, even when he repeats himself. Let him retell a favorite story with puppets or toys.
Encourage your child to draw and tell you what is happening in the picture.
Narrate your life. Talk about what you are doing together as you experience it. Tell your child what you did while you were apart.
Pay Attention
Remember that there is a limited window of opportunity for your child to most easily learn to read, once in school. So pay attention to how your child is progressing.
Public schools are not required to test a child for dyslexia. They are only required to test a child to determine if he is struggling enough to qualify for special education. They are not required to state why the child is struggling.
Many children with dyslexia don’t qualify for special education. And few of the children who qualify for special education in the category of Learning Disability or Specific Learning Disability are not dyslexic.
To find out if your child has dyslexia, your child should be tested by a dyslexia expert.
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