~ Dyslexia ~ Guest Speaker Workshop The Problems and Gifts of Dyslexia   June 16, 1998 - Guest Speaker: Ruhi19 The following is taken from a workshop in response to questions from those attending the workshop.   Dyslexics have problems (difficulty reading), and gifts (innate physical layout sense. But that's simplistic. Dyslexics can also have problems with speech.   "What's the word I'm looking for?", they'll say. Most people know that dyslexics can reverse things easily. Unfortunately, the negatives about being dyslexic have overshadowed the positives. What people don't know is that dyslexics also have gifts. They make great architects, inventors, computer engineers.   Recent research shows that their brains work differently than the "normal" person. Usually, the left (I think) brain functions more than the right in the normal person. In the dyslexic, the sides function equally.   Many famous people are dyslexic or are suspected of being dyslexic because of their life experiences or work. For example, Leonardo de Vinci is suspected of being dyslexic (he painted in mirror images). Cher, Whoopi Goldberg, Tom Cruise, Nelson Rockefeller are all dyslexics as is Charles Schwab (the stock market expert).   Sometimes people think that dyslexics have bad memories. Dyslexics have as good a memory as anyone. Their problem is not with memory, the problem is in storing the memory and in retrieving the memory. For example, when you tell them to do a string of things, they will likely catch either the first or the last but not the middle. As they grow older and learn how to link things together, they will get better, but it will always be a problem.   One of the first symptoms of a possible dyslexia problem can be seen in your child if they can't tell the difference in similar things. For example, two men have beards but one is dark and the other blond. My daughter saw the beard but not the color.   Another possible problem is that some children say that the words jump around on the page. Some researchers say that wearing colored glasses will help.   Dyslexia is often hereditary. If an uncle, mother, husband, et al., had a problem, the children may too.   Dyslexics often read later than other kids. It takes time for them to compensate for the problems they are having such as identifying how the following letters are DIFFERENT: b, d, p, q. After all, a rectangle is a rectangle no matter whether its long side is vertical, horizontal or it is on a diagonal axis. This is not the case with letters. The above letters can be thought of as a ball (the o) and a vertical stick. The difference is in the placement of the stick (first, last, above the line, below the line).   Sometimes kids, especially boys are not ready to read right away. Sometimes they are not dyslexic, they are just slower at recognizing the symbols to start with.   Reading upside down is often easier for the dyslexic. I don't know why.   Here's a summary of a list of symptoms prepared by the Orton Dyslexia Society (now the International Dyslexia Association). Usually disorganized in both home and school work May be slower in responding to questions and in doing school work than his peers, (my daughter could study words for 2 hours and not get it) has difficulty remembering a series of items or instructions has trouble remembering letters and their sounds confuses similar letters such as b and d or p and q in reading and spelling reverses common words (was for saw, left for felt) has trouble finding the right word mixes up words such as "basgetti and meatballs may have difficulty copying accurately from blackboards or books has difficulty memorizing formulas and math facts such as the multiplication table   relatives may have similar symptoms.   As you can see, most of these symptoms show up in elementary school. The best thing to do is to watch your child. Is he studying more than other kids and then not remembering what he studied? Sometimes they are accused of being lazy. They aren't. They know they aren't getting it as fast as the other kids. That's one reason that homeschooling is so good for them.   WHAT TO DO: I think the best way to start helping your child is to make a connection for them between sounds and letters. So often, they need to be told what may be obvious to other children such as the sound for the letter b. Then connect that sound to other words with the same sound. Rhyming is especially good for dyslexics. It gets them used to the same ending. In fact, some people recommend teaching spelling and reading that way.   Say you want to teach advice, start with ice. The older dyslexic especially will like this because he feels he is a failure. He can usually spell Ice, however. Go next to dice, nice, lice. Then add another sound: slice, rice price, mice, vice. Then comes the main word: advice. There is a good chance he'll get it right. You can find tips like this in Don McCabe's book, To Teach a Dyslexic. If your library doesn't have it, ask them to get it from another library.   Dyslexics often reverse letters and numbers. If your child is doing this, it is a bad idea to have him copy from the book unless you want to grade him on the problem he has written down (not on the problem he was supposed to write down). If you want him to do seat work, give him a photocopied sheet to work on. As children grow, they develop individual strategies to deal with these problems. A child who knows that he may reverse things should learn to check his material before continuing. Being tired will affect his ability negatively. Being in a hurry will do the same. If he is writing down phone numbers or writing a check, he will want to learn to repeat the number back to be sure that he's got it right.   READING OUT LOUD: Some people feel that a dyslexic just needs to read more, especially out loud. My personal opinion is that this is not a good idea...he has to decode the letters, decode the word then transfer it the interpretative facility which tells him what it sounds like. By the time he does all that, he knows that word, but he doesn't know the sentence and he has no idea what the story is. I asked mine to read enough so that I knew what stage she was at but not so much so that it was torture. Once I knew she was getting it (even if she didn't say it right) all I was interested in was in her comprehension.   I'd like to tell my daughter's story about now. How did she get to be a good reader? She was tested at the end of 6th grade with a 3rd grade reading level. At the beginning of 8th, she tested with a 9th grade reading level. What changed was that we began homeschooling and she developed her own method of learning to read. I'll explain.   She was not able to read a certain book that she wanted to read during school because she read slow and the teachers would not allow her to count a 350 page book as 2 books (the book had to be at least 150 pages.) During the summer, she read it with an audio version of the book (It was Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey). The tape broke in the middle of the book and she had to finish it on her own.   She decided that it should be made into a movie. But there isn't one. I told her about the form to write a script from one of my writing magazines. She took that information and began typing the dialogue into the computer. She typed 80 single-spaced pages in one year. So she learned vocabulary by using the thesaurus to find out what the word meant and she also learned spelling, typing and keyboarding.   Getting online also helped. For several months, she had a LARGE dictionary by her side to look up words people used that she didn't know.   CAN THEY GROW OUT OF IT? A lot depends on the severity of the problem. A clue can be found in how parents or relatives did. A child who has parents who suddenly learned to read at 15 will probably do the same. A child who works hard on phonics and such will learn to get around it. One who has a mild case will not have to do as much as the child who has a more severe form. I think that the more severe the dyslexia, the more likely that there will be other problems which may hinder the dyslexia problem.   We had been dealing with dyslexia for 3 years when we decided to homeschool. Her grandmother is dyslexic although that's NOT what they called it then. She doesn't read WELL but she reads. I was fairly confident (once I knew what it was) that my daughter would learn to read...it was just a matter of when and what SHE needed to get there. Sometimes you find that out by serendipity, like my daughter did. Just keep your eyes open so that you are prepared to use it when it happens. Finding a good book that they WANT to read is a great step in the right direction.   QUESTIONS What about foreign languages? If the child is good at "hearing" things and repeating them back then he'll have no problem. If one thing is said and he HEARS something else, there may be more of a problem.   What about math? Many dyslexics have an advantage in math because they can "see" it better than other kids. But if it is a word problem, you may have to show him how to break the words down so that these words mean this then read the next part, okay those mean that....et al. You help them understand the code of math when expressed in words and then turn it into symbols. Once it is in symbols, most dyslexics will have no problem.   Using as many senses as possible is a great way to learn. For example, teaching a young child numbers or letters, bake cookies and let him eat them when he gets them right. When teaching the multiplication tables, be sure he knows what it means first. My daughter learned hers with those Math songs and a clapping game. You clap until you get to the number of a math fact then you say the word instead. Doing this one on one is best in case the dyslexic is uncoordinated. You want to build esteem not bring it down.   What material is best for a dyslexic? Find out what he/she likes and get a book he WANTS to read. If its a comic book, get those. You need something that grabs his attention and won't let him put it down. You can worry about literature after you hook him. I think using audio-taped books is good if the child reads along with the tape. You can't get him to read until he sees the benefit in it. The idea is for them to get help with the material especially when they have difficulty making it out...not for them to be read to (although that is not bad, but they need the practice of at least looking at some of the words).   Could you distinguish b/w dyslexia and other LD problem areas? Ruhi19: Dyslexia is a problem with reading sometimes accompanied by such things as remembering a series of items or getting the correct word out of retrieval. Problems such as AD et al. can cause more problems. Improve his self esteem by recognizing the things he does right. He has probably been told (or has decided) that he is a failure. Since he is also in the difficult teenage years, I fear you are going to have a hard time.   Despite the trauma (for you ) of taking him out of school, though, you might like to consider it. It removes many problems for the dyslexic such as decoding a question slower than his peers and being ridiculed because of it. Answering a previous question instead of the current one. Seeing something (that really is there) but is not what the teacher/class sees/expects. This is all a matter of esteem which, I assure you is a problem for someone who is having difficulties reading at 14. If he is at home, these things don't matter. He doesn't have to be pushed and reminded daily that he's having a problem. When this happens, they either become a problem or they back out. They may decide that they can't do anything right so why try. That, anyway, is my opinion.   What is better for dyslexic a curriculum or unit studies? Recommendations? That's a difficult question. I don't think it matters as far as being a dyslexic is concerned. Just be sure to give him/her more phonics type information when you are teaching reading, and encourage them when they get things right instead of pointing out the things they do wrong. Remind them that the more they work on it the better it will get and most do get it and learn to read adequately. Some even become writers.   What do you do for a 7 year old boy who is frustrated because he can't read? Assure him that he'll get it. With so many kids who get frustrated because they can't do it "right", they need to be aware of their perfectionism. Remind him of how a baby learns to walk, how a kid learns to ride a bike, how a kid learns to roller skate or do anything else that he does. The baby doesn't do it well the first time and he fails A LOT. But he doesn't give up. Trying over and over again is a necessary step to learning to walk. It applies to EVERYTHING. Encourage them to try, not because they will get it right but because they will fail and fail again but sooner or later they will get to it. Another thing you could try is to put beginning letters on things around the house (or words "R" on the refrigerator, "T" on the TV, B on the books. Just looking at it reminds them of that word. One of the advantages of PS is that they notice the starting letters of each kid's names and put that sound with that letter. Rhyming is, I think, one of the best ways to use phonics.   Is it possible to have standardized tests given orally for dyslexic?? Yes.   Does child have to be formally labeled dyslexic?? I don't want the label attached to son but I will request oral tests next time anyway.   As long as the "label" isn't used to excuse the child from trying his best, then I don't think there is harm in it. It just tells you that you need to be especially vigilant about looking for the right way to reach that child. It's when the label is used as an excuse for keeping that child from learning or from doing things that it becomes a problem.   Are you familiar with Orton Gillingham in teaching phonics? Do you recommend it? The Writing Road to Reading is based on Orton Gillingham's work. Most of the dyslexia stuff I've seen is based on that in one way or another.

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