Dyslexia: Insights and Current Understandings

Mary Murray Stowe, M.Ed.

TTAC at the College of William and Mary

And the Virginia Department of Education

mmstowe@wm.edu

(AIM VA September 2015http://tinyurl.com/p5quddp )

( VCASE May 2015 http://tinyurl.com/n85ec97 )

http://ttacwm.blogs.wm.edu/dyslexia-insights-and-current-understandings/

Dyslexia: Insights and Current Understandings

Where are we going during our time together?

9:00 – Introductions with Joyce Sharp

9:15 – Dyslexia: Insights and Current Understandings with Mary Stowe

12:00 – Resources: AIM VA; What are we all about? with the AIM VA Team

12:30 – What other resources and supports are available, and

what are the organizations concerned with dyslexia

doing? with Decoding Dyslexia VA, PEATC, and IDA/VBIDA

12:45 – Q and A Session

Are there areas of confusion

regarding dyslexia?

From Youman and Mather, October 20, 2012, Annals of Dyslexia:

Even though researchers have been studying dyslexia for over 100 years and numerous professional organizations around the world have attempted to develop such a definition, a strong consensus regarding a clear, useful definition still does not exist (TǾnnessen,1997).

https://www.academia.edu/3075019/Dyslexia_Laws_in_the_USA

Would we say that this statement continues to be somewhat accurate?

Let’s examine: NCLD, IDA, and the VA Administrative Code

State of LD, NCLD, 2014

8

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is

neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by

difficulties with accurate and / or fluent word

recognition and by poor spelling and decoding

abilities.

Adopted by the IDA Board of Directors, Nov. 12, 2002. This definition is also used by the

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and is in the

Virginia and Federal Regulations.

9

These difficulties typically result from a deficit in

the phonological component of language that is

often unexpected in relation to other cognitive

abilities and the provision of effective classroom

instruction. Secondary consequences may include

problems in reading comprehension and reduced

reading experience that can impede growth of

vocabulary and background knowledge.

Dyslexia within the Virginia Code: (1 of 2)

8VAC20-81-10. Definitions…

"Specific learning disability" means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell or to do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.

From the Virginia Administrative Code: http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+reg+8VAC20-81-10

(2 of 2) Dyslexia is distinguished from other learning disabilities due to its weakness occurring at the phonological level. Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.

(§ 22.1-213 of the Code of Virginia; 34 CFR 300.8(c)(10))

Although the IDA definition places emphasis on phonological processing as the proximal cause of dyslexia, the definitions from other countries (e.g., Australia, England, and Ireland) include other cognitive and linguistic factors in addition to phonology awareness, such as rapid automatized naming, processing speed, working memory, and automaticity.

(Youman and Mather, 2012)

Prevalence of a Specific Learning Disability:

SLD is the highest incidence of students receiving special education services (42% of the 5.7 million school-age children with all kinds of disabilities.

There are 2.4 million American publicschools students (approximately 5 % of the total public school enrollment)identified with SLD under IDEA.

75 to 80% of special education students identified as LD have their basic deficits in language and reading (National Institutes of Health)http://ldaamerica.org/support/new-to-ld/

State of LD, 2014

Prevalence and DefinitionsEstimates range from 5 to 20%

The Shaywitz from Yale Center on Dyslexia and Creativity report 5 to 17%

Moats and Dakin, 2012 report 15 to 20% of population has characteristics through an IDA Fact Sheet

Mayo Clinic through an Epidemiological (incidence of) Study,

Rochester, Minnesota reports 11%

Maryanne Wolf reports 10% during a 2015 Presentation in Fairfax Co.

Depending on the definition used, 5% to 10% (20%) of the population is considered to have dyslexia; however, because of the nature of the definitional issues (as described within the article), an estimate of prevalence is specific to a particular sample and to the definition used in a study.

(Siegel, 2006)

From the definition within the Virginia Administrative Code:

What are the key take aways from the definition?

neurobiological in origin

deficit in the phonological component of language

unexpected

17

© 2009 Sopris West® Educational Services. No portion of this presentation may be reproduced without

permission from the publisher.

Terminology Counts! Defining the “Phon” WordsExercise 1.1: Phonology Terms Graphic Organizer

Phonological

Processing

speech

perception

production

metalinguistic

awareness

syllable

onset-rime

phoneme

phonological

memory

PWM

retrieval

naming

phonics

graphemes

syllables

morphemes

p. 16

Phonics is

not a

phonological

processing

issue.

Possible symptoms of poor phonological working memory:

Not able to accomplish multiple steps

Forget all sounds in sound blending

Not able to identify discrete sounds within a word or segments of a word, phrase, or sentence

Loses track of the story

Cannot remember phone numbers

Cannot remember sounds within multisyllabic words Moats, 2009

“unexpected”

….unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction…

Students with phonological processing issues may not be dyslexic. The issue must be unexpected in relation to other skills. Requirements for the identification for SLD do not include and are not a result of intellectual challenges, a hearing issue, low SES, inadequate instruction, and so on….

Concerns expressed by organizations center around:

Screening for dyslexia

Teacher Knowledge to Address Reading Needs

Teacher Awareness to Provide Appropriate Supplementary Aids and Services

Teacher Awareness to Provide Appropriate Testing Accommodations

Study for Dyslexia Screener for Kindergartners: (Please read this study)

http://leg2.state.va.us/dls/h&sdocs.nsf/fc86c2b17a1cf388852570f9006f1299/cbf35e67f28c8b328525773f005a73e6/$FILE/SD4.pdf

The study results indicated that PALS was sufficient to identify a reading challenge. A rapid naming component was suggested as a possible enhancement as well as a mid-year screening.

If you suspect a reading challenge from the PALS’ results, additional testing may be done to provide appropriate interventions.

If you suspect a disability from the results of the PALS screener, the student should be referred for evaluation.

Literacy Timeline – How did you learn to read?Rozzelle and Scearce, 2009

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Reading Instruction: Multisensory and Structured

Students with dyslexia and other reading challenges benefit from reading instruction that is structured, systematic, direct, cumulative, and multisensory. (Birsh, 2011; Moats and Dakin, 2008)

http://education.wm.edu/centers/ttac/resources/webinar/languageinstruction/index.php

What programs do you have available in your division to address this need? What teachers have received training in multisensory structured language approaches or programs to address this need?

http://www.winsorlearning.com/images/downloads/pdf/find-out-more/IDA-Matrix-of-Multisensory-Language-Programs.pdf

Examples of Multisensory Structured Language Instructional Approaches and Programming:

Orton Gillingham Approach SlingerlandAlphabetic Phonics Sonday SystemAssociation Method Sounds in SyllablesLanguage! Spalding MethodLexia – Herman Method Starting OverLindamood-Bell Wilson FundationsProject Read Wilson Reading

Teaching is done using all learning pathways in the brain (visual/auditory, kinesthetic-tactile) simultaneously in order to enhance memory and learning.

IMSLEC

What?: Multisensory

Why?: Multisensory

Information can be processed on a modality-specific basis [visual, auditory, kinesthetic etc.], but when they converge and the information is integrated in the brain stronger neural pathways are created.

Performance enhancement is greater for multisensory than unisensorystimuli.

Multisensory Integration in the Brain, 2015

Paul J. Laurienti, M.D., Ph.D. Department of Radiology, ANSIR, Advanced Neuroscience Imaging Research, Wake Forest University

Copyright©2014 MZecher

Simultaneous and alternative deployment of visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile sensory modalities that supports the connection of oral

language with visual language symbols Birsh, 2010

Multisensory approach promotes active

engagement to enhance learning.

Farrell and Sherman, 2011

Judith Willis, in Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning, suggests that the more sensory areas used in learning a task, the stronger the neural connections, the associations for learning, memory and fluency.

Instruction must be:direct,

systematic,and

sequential.

Henry 2008

The structure of the language instructionprovides the power! Farrell and Sherman, 2011

For students who struggle:

What do we mean by the structure of the English language?

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Phases of Word Reading Development (Ehri’s Model, 1996)(How reading and spelling develop… Cain, 2011 and Moats, 2010)

Pre-alphabetic context dependent; incidental visual cues

Early Alphabetic (Partial alphabetic)

initial letter, salient consonants; letter name knowledge,partial phoneme awareness

Later Alphabetic (Full alphabetic)

recognition of chunks, grapheme-phoneme connections,more elaborated phoneme awareness

Consolidated Alphabetic

sequential decoding and fluent analogizing to larger units; phoneme, syllable, morpheme and speech-print connections; phoneme and morpheme awareness

http://sopriswest.http.internapcdn.net/sopriswest_vitalstream_com/Elearning/LETRS/LETRS_Mod5Chp2/html/ehri_s_model_of_word_recognition.html

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Multisensory Language Instruction Pilot ProgramSuperintendent’s Memo of April 17, 2015http://doe.virginia.gov/administrators/superintendents_memos/2015/093-15.shtml

Classroom Educator (CE) Orton Gillingham Approach instruction was provided to teachers in Virginia this summer with follow up throughout the 2015 – 2016 school year through the TTACs across the commonwealth and the CE Certification process.

•http://ortonacademy.org/academy-of-orton-gillingham-video.php

The Orton-Gillingham instructional approach is a direct, systematic approach to teaching language structure for reading remediation. It

is designed to address the needs of struggling readers who have difficulty with reading, spelling, and writing including those with a

specific learning disability such as dyslexia.

The Orton-Gillingham Approach follows seven (7) tenets when providing instruction:

MultisensoryDirect & Explicit Language BasedStructured, Sequential & Cumulative Diagnostic/Prescriptive Cognitive

Emotionally Sound cycle)

Let’s examine several aspects of Orton-Gillingham Instruction

and Other Programs or Methods

Orton-GillinghamLesson Plan

Symbol to Sound (salmon/white cards)

Alphabet Sound to Symbol (yellow

cards)Review Words for ReadingReview Words for Spelling (SOS Dictation)New Words for ReadingNew Words for SpellingHandwritingOral Reading

Multisensory LessonPlan (Birsh, 2011)

Alphabet Knowledge and Phonemic Awareness

Reading DecksSpelling DeckMultisensory Introduction of Letter or

ConceptReading Practice for Accuracy and

FluencySpellingHandwritingComprehension and Listening

StrategiesOral Language Practice and Composition

If students are able to recognize and read closed syllables, they will be able to read almost 50% of running text.

(Moats 2009)

A sequence for syllable instruction is present within the Virginia Standards of Learning Curriculum Frameworks in Grades One and Two.

Trace, Copy, Cover, Eyes Averted Procedure

• Trace the letter three times (verbalizing while writing)

• Copy the letter three times (verbalizing while writing)

• Write the letter three times without a written prompt (verbalizing while writing)

• Write the letter three times with eyes averted or closed (verbalizing while writing; circle the best one)

S.O.SSimultaneous Oral Spelling

Teacher pronounces word (or phoneme)Student repeats word (or phoneme)Student isolates sounds (often using finger spelling)Student spells word (or phoneme) aloudStudent writes, naming each letter as he/she forms it Student reads word (or phoneme) aloud

Some teachers pronounce the word, use it in a sentence, and repeat the word before the student repeats and spells the word Often, when the student has completed word dictation, the instructor will have him/her read the entire list of words aloud.

Cursive Writing is part of all multisensory approaches and

methods.

Cursive writing allows students to engage in the procedures and learning with movement.

Cursive writing has been said to assist with blending (Birsh, 2005 and 2011).

Cursive eliminates or lessens reversals.

Cursive promotes writing (handwriting) fluency (Birsh, 2005 and 2011).

Rabbit Rule (VCCV)

Examples:

rabbit, napkin, clutter, basket, litter, sudden

Animal Shapes for SyllableDivision Rules

Teaching Tips for all educators:

Give prompts and clues when students have phonological memory, retrieval, and naming problems….

• Write down key words, cues, and phrases

• Use visual prompts and graphic organizers.

• Pose a “choice” question

• Give the first sounds if you know the word the student is searching for

• Ask students to repeat words orally.

• Review and summarize often.Moats, 2009

Supplementary Aids/Services, and Testing Accommodations :

• Audio text/read aloud or audio version

• Note-taking assistance

• Provide visual cues and graphic organizers

• Extra time

• Systematic, explicit, instruction in reading

OSEP Ideas That Work -

https://www.osepideasthatwork.org/toolkit/accommodations_manual_b.asp

Understood.org –

https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/partnering-with-childs-school/instructional-strategies/at-a-glance-classroom-accommodations-for-dyslexia

Assistive Technology

AIM VA -http://doe.virginia.gov/administrators/superintendents_memos/2015/004-15.shtml

Jamie Martin - http://www.atdyslexia.com/assistive-technology/

Dyslexia Help at University of Michigan-http://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/tools/software-assistive-technology

LD Guidance Document from VDOE -http://www.doe.virginia.gov/special_ed/disabilities/learning_disability/learning_disabilities_guidelines.pdf, page 6

Number of states with dyslexia legislation or administrative code amendments

http://www.dyslegia.com/state-dyslexia-laws/

(currently 26 entries on this site, September 25, 2015)

October 30, 2014: 18 states have dyslexia legislation and 25 states have a dyslexia resource guide. (USA Today)

Some states have pursued administrative code amendments, rather than legislation initiatives.

Organizations Involved with Dyslexia and Improved Reading for All Students:

Decoding Dyslexia Virginia

International Dyslexia Association

The Virginia Branch of the International Dyslexia Association

Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity

Emails to Know:

Mary Stowe – mmstowe@wm.edu

Joyce Sharp – jsharp1@gmu.edu

Kristin Kane – kane@peatc.com

Lynda Bruni – decodingdyslexiapwc.fauquier@gmail.com