How Dyslexia Impacts Writing Skills

Some Ways Dyslexia Affects Writing Skills:

1. Essays are written as one paragraph with several long, run on sentences
2. Using little punctuation, including not capitalizing the first word in a sentence or using end punctuation
3. Odd or no spacing between words
4. Cramming information on the page rather than spreading out the information

Students with Dyslexia may also jump around when writing, with events occurring out of sequence. 

Because not all children with dyslexia have the same level of symptoms, writing problems can be hard to spot. While some may only have minor problems, others may hand in assignments that are impossible to read and understand.

Tips

Grammar and Convention:

Choosing one or two grammar rules at a time helps students not to be so overwhelmed when writing.  In addition, give students time to practice and master these skills before moving on to additional skills.

Also, grading students on content rather than grammar also helps. Many teachers will make allowances for students with dyslexia as long as they understand what the student is saying.   Using computer programs with spelling and grammar checkers can also help.

Sequencing:

Young students with dyslexia show signs of sequencing problems when learning to read. They place letters of a word in the wrong place, such as writing /letf/ instead of /left/. When recalling a story, they may state events that happened in an incorrect order. To write effectively, the student must be able to organize the information into a logical sequence in order for it to make sense to other people. Imagine a student writing a short story. If you ask the student to verbally tell you the story, he probably can explain what he wants to say, but when trying to put the words on paper, the sequence becomes jumbled and the story no longer makes sense.
Allowing a child to record his story or writing assignments on a tape recorder rather than on paper helps. If possible, another student can transcribe the story on paper. There is also a number of speech to text software programs that allow a student to say the story out loud and the software will convert it to text.

Dysgraphia:

Dysgraphia, also known as written expression disorder, is a neurological learning disability that sometimes accompanies dyslexia. Students with dysgraphia have poor or illegible handwriting. Many students with Dysgraphia also have sequencing difficulties. Besides poor handwriting and sequencing skills, symptoms include:

1. Grammar and spelling errors
2. Inconsistencies in written assignments, such as different size letters, mix of cursive and print writing and letters with different slants
3. Omitting letters and words, nonexistent spacing between words and sentences and cramming the words on the paper
4. Unusual grip of pencil or pen

Students with dysgraphia can often write neatly, but this takes an enormous amount of time and effort. The student take the time to correctly form each letter and will often miss the meaning of what they are writing because their focus is on forming each individual letter.

Teachers can help children with dyslexia improve writing skills by working together to edit and make corrections in a written assignment. Have the student read a paragraph or two and then go over incorrect grammar, fixing spelling errors and correcting any sequencing errors. 

Because the student will read what he meant to write, not what is written, having him orally read the written assignment back can help you better understand the student's meaning.

Tips on Incorporating Education during your Child's Winter break

During the holidays there are so many things to keep your entire family busy.  Holiday travels, holiday shopping, gatherings with friends and family.  During these times fun learning games can be incorporated throughout the day.

The following are a list of fun games and activity that I would suggest that incorporates memory, motor skills, creativity,  learning measurements, mix and sort:

• Christmas Hangman

• Christmas Charades

• Pictionary

• Christmas Scavenger Hunt

• Baking

• Guess what year (History and current event games)

These are just some suggestions, there are also a lot of fun learning games that can also be played if you are taking a rode trip:

• I spy....

• License plate game (who can name the letters and numbers the fastest)

• I Spy out of state license plates 

Have fun learning, and enjoy the holidays!!

Tips for Supporting Your Child's Learning Disability

• Keep things in Perspective: Remind yourself that everyone faces obstacles. It’s up to you as a parent to teach your child how to deal with those obstacles without becoming discouraged or overwhelmed. Don’t let the tests, school bureaucracy, and endless paperwork distract you from what’s really important—giving your child plenty of emotional and moral support.

• Become your Own Expert: Do your own research and keep abreast of new developments in learning disability programs, therapies, and educational techniques. You may be tempted to look to others—teachers, therapists, doctors—for solutions, especially at first. But you’re the foremost expert on your child, so take charge when it comes to finding the tools they need in order to learn.

• Be an Advocate for your Child: You may have to speak up time and time again to get special help for your child. Embrace your role as a proactive parent and work on your communication skills. It may be frustrating at times, but by remaining calm and reasonable, yet firm, you can make a huge difference for your child.

• Remember that you influence outweighs others:  Your child will follow your lead. If you approach learning challenges with optimism, hard work, and a sense of humor, your child is likely to embrace your perspective—or at least see the challenges as a speed bump, rather than a roadblock. Focus your energy on learning what works for your child and implementing it the best you can.

The ABCs of RTI

Response to Intervention (RTI) can be overwhelming: You may have to process your feelings, decide the best way to advocate for your child, and determine how to best approach educators and administrators. As a parent and educator, myself, I realize how much information is presented to you during the process. Therefore, I have developed these ABCs of RTI to help you as you navigate this journey.

1. Advocate. It is the best way to support your child. YOU are the best advocate for your child and know your child’s strengths and struggles, which can provide invaluable insights to the team.
2. Breathe, and recognize this may be a marathon, not a sprint, to discover the ways to best help your child succeed academically (in and out of the classroom).
3. Collaborate and be a team player. Ask questions like, “Can you help me better understand how to support my child at home?” and find out to whom you should communicate future questions. In addition, always bring your calendar to each meeting.
4. Design a binder in which to keep and organize all communications. Create and label tabs, such as the following: team meetings, teacher conferences, work samples, homework observations, and resources.
5. Expect to do research and know your district’s policy on RTI, which can be found on most district’s websites (search keywords: board policy). Explore your state’s department of education website and become familiar with RTI in your state. Please note that districts and states are in different phases of RTI implementation. For information beyond RTI, check out the information about Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) at https://sites.ed.gov/idea/about-idea/. Also, check out https://www.understood.organd be sure to bookmark https://dyslexiaida.org/.

Close Reading

Definition of Close Reading: Close reading is a strategy for making meaning of complex texts through four critical phases of understanding: literal, analytical, conceptual, and evaluative.  All of these phases serve in supporting students' discovery of the text's implicit messages, overall significance, and mastery.

What does all this mean?

Within the text, there are different phases of learning, there is the Literal Phase, Analytical Phase,

Conceptual Phase, and Evaluative Phase.  During each phase of reading the student should instructed to stop and questions should be ask, reflecting on each area.  For example:

Phase of Understanding           Questions Answered                   

Literal                                        What kind of text is this?              

                                                    What does the text sound like?     

                                                    What does the text say?                

                                                                                                           

                                                                                                   

Analytical                                   How does the text express itself? 

                                                    What is implied?                            

                                                    What does it mean?                       

                                                                                                     

Conceptual                                  What does the whole text mean?   

                                                      What is the text's overall message? 

Evaluative                                    What is the significance of the text?    

                                                       Why does this text matter?              

                                                                                                                

Principles of Instruction for a Dyslexic Student

Explicit Direct Instruction:

Explicit instruction requires use of straightforward, consistent, and precise language for direct

teaching of all skills and strategies with continuous student-teacher interaction and use of as much scaffolding as needed.   An outline of explicit instruction is as follows:

• Teacher Connects to Prior Knowledge: Teacher connects to what was recently taught to what the teacher will teach.

• Auditory Introduction:  The teacher introduces the lesson and the student is only required to listen

• Direct Instruction with Visual:  The teacher gives the student a visual on what they will learn and explain the lesson utilizing the visual

• Multi Sensory Reinforcement: The student writes or utilizes their other senses in order to understand the lesson

• Oral Reading:  The student will read vocabulary that is related to the text

• Spelling: The student will learn additional vocabulary related to the lesson by spelling out the words

• Reading Connected to text: The student will read a passage, article, or short story related to the lesson

• As the student work, the teacher provides corrective feedback as needed.

Sensory Integration

Sensory Integration is:
Building neural pathways between right and left brain.

It is possible to build new neural connections between left and right brain hemispheres.  Doing this enhances a person's ability to retrieve learned information and problem solve, which enhances reading.

How to improve sensory integration:
Simple physical exercises which cross the body midline from right to left and left to right helps to improve sensory integration.

Examples of Sensory Integration Activities:

• Skip rope while memorizing Math Facts

• Juggle stuffed animal or soft balls

• Cross hands and place fingers over opposite eyebrows, breathe deeply, relax

In summary, dyslexics tend to be imaginative and highly intelligent, and learn to read extremely well when taught using right brain techniques instead of left brain techniques.

Parent Tips

Tips for helping with Schoolwork

• Show an interest in your child's homework.  Ask about the courses and the work that should be done.  Ask question that require an answer longer than a one word answer. 

• Help your child organize their homework material before beginning

• To avoid procrastination, develop a regular time to do homework with your child 

• Locate a specific space in your home for your child to do their homework.  A space that has  lots of space and light

• Encourage your child to ask questions and take time to figure out the right answers.

• Practice school taught skills at home

• Relate homework to your child's everyday life

• Be a role model, also read a book or magazine with your child

• Praise your child for both the small steps and big leaps in the right direction

Types of Learning Disabilitiees

Types of Specific Learning Disabilities:

Auditory Processing Disorder (APD):  This is a conditions that affects how sound that travels through the ear is processed or interpreted by the brain.  Individuals with APD do not recognize subtle differences between sound in words, even when the sounds are loud and clear enough to be heard.  They can also find it difficult to figure out where sounds are coming from, to make sense of the order of sound, or to block out competing background noises.

Dyscalculia: A specific learning disability that affects a person's ability to understand numbers and Math facts.  Individuals with this type of learning disability may also have poor comprehension of math symbols, may struggle with memorizing and organizing numbers, have difficulty telling time, or having trouble with counting. 

Dysgraphia: A specific learning disability that affects a person's handwriting ability and fine motor skills.  Problems may include illegible handwriting, inconsistent spacing, poor spacial planning on paper, poor spelling, and difficulty composing writing as well as thinking and writing at the same time.  

Dyslexia:  A specific learning disability that affects reading and related language-based processing skills.  Dyslexia can affects reading fluencing, decoding, reading comprehension, recall, writing, spelling, and sometimes speech.  

Language Processing Disorder: A specific type of Auditory Processing Disorder in which there is difficulty attaching meaning to sound groups that form words, sentences and stories.  Language Processing Disorder only applies to processing of language and not sound.  

Non-Verbal Learning Disability: Indivisuals with Non-Verbal Learning Disability have trouble interpreting non-verbal cues  like facial expressions or body language, and may have poor coordination.

Visual Perceptual/Visual Motor Deficit: A disorder that affects the understanding of information that a person sees, or the ability to copy information. 

The Brain and Learning Differences

When teaching students with learning differences, it is very important to understand how the brain functions and how it related to the student's learning disability.

How the Brain functions:

Life Skills-Left side of the  Brain:

• Handwriting
• Language (spoken and written)
• Reading
• Phonics
• Working with details and facts
• Talking
• Following Directions
• Listening to spoken language

Life Skills-Right side of the Brain:

• Spacial Relationship (where things are on a map, relationship of one object to another in space)
• Shape and pattern recognition
• Mathematical computation
• Sensitivity to Color
• Singing and music
• Art Expression
• Creativity
• Visualization
• Feelings and emotions

Where do Learning Differences Fit?

Reading Disabilities:

Unexpected difficulties with learning to decode words, to read fluently, and to comprehend what one reads.

Writing Disabilities:

Unexpected difficulties with expressing thoughts in written format.

Math Disabilities:

Unexpected difficulties with number facility and applying mathematical concepts.

Language Disabilities:

Unexpected difficulties with oral expression and listening comprehension  

Accommodations for Writers with Disabilities

How do you choose the appropriate accommodations for a student?  The answer is whichever and however many are necessary to give the individual an equal opportunity to learn and grow in their setting.  The following are examples of accommodations that students can utilize in the classroom:

Assignments:
Reduce the number of written assignments
Reduce the length of the assignments
Provide extended time on writing assignments
Accept tape-recorded written assignments as an alternative to written assignments
Permit oral dictation of written assignments to a teacher

Examinations:
Provide more time on in class exams
Administer exams orally
Allow alternate methods for displaying content mastery
Provide alternate exam formats that do not require extensive writing
Allow the student to write all exam responses on a computer

Taking Notes:
Provide the student with copies of the class notes
Provide tape recordings of the class lecture
Limit or eliminate copying requirements from both the board

Grading:
When grading assignments do not penalize for errors in basic skills, such as punctuation, misspelling, or poor handwriting
Grade the student on improvements, rather than comparing his or her writing performance to peers.

Peer Support:
Provide opportunities for the student to work on writing assignments in small groups
Provide the student with a same age peer to assist with writing task

Technology:
Encourage the student to use a spelling checker when editing papers
Encourage the use of technology
Encourage the student to use spelling and grammar correction programs before turning in assignments

What is Dyslexia?

Understanding Dyslexia is one way to have a deeper understanding of the reading process. Following is the definition of dyslexia from the NICHD (National Institute of Child Health and Human Services).

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological 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 attempt of effective classroom instruction.  Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impeded growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.  

After reading and understand what dyslexia is, one would think that all areas of cognitive thinking would be affected, but that is not the case.  Perhaps what puzzles educators and parents the most is that students who fail to learn how letters represent speech sounds and how sounds are represented by letters in words often are good thinkers and are talented in other areas.  Because dyslexia is domain specific in the brain, the cognitive abilities such as reasoning, comprehension, vocabulary, syntax, and general IQ score typically are unaffected.  In fact, although IQ score and reading in the typical reader influence each other over time, IQ score and reading are not linked in the reader who has dyslexia.  Therefore, interventions and planning are very critical when educating someone who has dyslexia.

Understanding the Differences Between Spoken and Written Language

To understand written language, it is important to consider the differences between spoken and written language, and the complexity of the writing task.  Below are examples of differences between spoken and written languages.

Spoke Language                                                                        

• Relies upon listening and memory
• Is less structured
• Relies upon immediate, personal, literal, inferential,                                                                 and emotional interpretations
• Requires dual monitoring (what is being said and what one planes to say)
• Requires planning what will be said next, perhaps with a goal in mind
• Involves communication with a known audience with immediate feedback
• Provides visual cues to support meaning (such as gestures and expressions) 

Written Language

• Provides permanent record
• Is more structured; requires exact word choice, and formal sentence and paragraph instruction
• Provides opportunity for review and evaluation of interpretations
• Requires simultaneous monitoring of numerous abilities 
• Requires planning of communication while keeping writing goals in mind
• Provides punctuation marks to express meaning

Understanding the Major Components of Written Expression

The major components of written expression include the following:

• Handwriting: Handwriting requires numerous skills.  To write legibly, students must recall the appearance of the letters and then coordinate the motor patterns needed to form the letters.  Students must also judge the amount of space that is needed between the letters and words and try to position the letters on the writing lines.  This will take practicing their fine motor skills, letter memory and letter formation.  

• Spelling: Of all the basic skill areas, spelling is the most difficult for many students.   Spelling is much more difficult than reading because the person has to recall and reproduce the entire word correctly, not just recognize it.  This skill includes Semantics, Morphology, Orthography, and Phonology.  

• Usage: The rules involved in written language are more involved than those of spoken language.  To communicate in writing with clarity, students must master rules involving capitalization, punctuation, and syntax.  

• Vocabulary: Another critical area of effective writing is selecting descriptive words.  For students with language impairments. their written language mirrors their spoken language.   For students with learning disabilities, a discrepancy often exist between their oral and written vocabularies, with their oral vocabulary being more vast than their written.  In order for students with Learning Disabilities to learn new vocabulary, they must have knowledge of words, understand morphology and word retrial.  

• Text Structure: Written text are designed and organized to convey and represent ideas for a particular purpose.  Organization of text requires the abilities to plan, translate, and review what has been written.  In addition, the instructor must determine the student's knowledge of narrative and expository writing.  

Dyslexia, A Multi-sensory Approach

What does a Multi-sensory Approach mean in regards to teaching students with Dyslexia?  Take a look at the diagram below:

Based on this resource, Dyslexia can affect, depending on the severity, multiple areas of learning.  This is why students who have Dyslexia will need to learn the structure of the English Language through a Multi-sensory Structured Learning Program.  The structure of the English Language includes the following:

• Phonology and Phonological Awareness
• Sound-Symbol Association: visual to auditory, auditory to visual, blending, segmenting
• Syllables: types and patterns for division
• Morphology: base words, roots, affixes
• Syntax: grammar, sentence variation, mechanics of language
• Semantics: meaning

In order to teach these areas of the English Language instruction should include the following:

• Simultaneous multi-sensory : visual, auditory, kinesthetic, tactile
• Systematic and cumulative
• Direct Instruction
• Diagnostic teaching and automaticity
• Synthetic and Analytic Instruction

In order for a Multi-Sensory Structured Learning Program to be effective, instruction should be in small groups, no more than five, and should be taught by a trained Dyslexia Instructor.  In addition, instructors use structured lesson planning and ongoing monitoring of progress to organize instruction and chart the growth of the skills.  Also, an added benefit to this type of instruction is that it helps students with executive function difficulties deal with them in the classroom while learning the basic skills of reading.

No Red Marks

Most students with Specific Learning Disabilities in the areas of Written Expression have difficulties sharing with others their writing experiences.  This can be contributed to a number of different things such as embarrassment, not wanting to be labeled. or not having confidence.  In order for teachers to know how to differentiate instruction or assist students with Learning Differences they will need to know where to start.  Let's look at the writing sample below:

Translation: High beams one dark night a lady left the university.  She got into her van and started home.  When the lady got home she called the police because the man behind turned on his high beams again and again and again and again....

By analyzing this student's work, it appears that the student has difficulty with spelling, because the student's thought process and sentence structure seem to flow in a sequential order.   This is also a student who utilized his coping strategies by writing a story about a word that he knew how to spell which was "police".

In addition, If this student's teacher began marking all of his misspelled words with red marks, this would discourage the student to not want to continue to improve his spelling in fear of making a mistake.  Therefore, understanding the student's  learning deferences and classroom accommodations will assist the teacher in understanding how to intervene.