Dyslexia: Your Questions Answered

1. Dyslexia:Your Questions Answered Dyslexia as understood in a Neuro-developmental Model of Assessment and Interventions

2. Agenda • Housekeeping • Introduction of Lexicon Team • Presentation • Discussion

3. Introduction Lexicon Team Rudolf Stockling MSc (Psych) MAPS Registered Psychologist NSW Australia Educational Psychologist Director of Assessment Lexicon Reading Centre Praveen Vasanthakumari MSc (Psych), Sp. Ed., Education Therapist Learning Specialist Saloni Krishnan MSc Cognitive Sciences BASLP Communication and Speech and Language Therapist Rania Anis Bin Taleb MSc SPM PMI Member Managing Director www.lexiconreadingcenter.org

4. Presentation Outline • The Neuro-developmental Model: Recap • Dyslexia: What is it ? Scientific Theories of Dyslexia • Dyslexia: Who has it ? Characteristics of Dyslexia • Dyslexia: What to do about It ? A) Assessment b) Interventions 5. Discussion

5. 1. Neuro-developmental Model • Eight Constructs • 􀂄 Attention • 􀂄 Higher Order Cognition • 􀂄 Language • 􀂄 Memory • 􀂄 Neuro-motor Function • 􀂄 Social Cognition • 􀂄 Spatial Ordering • 􀂄 Temporal-Sequential Ordering

6. Attention Control Social thinking Memory The Neurodevelopment Systems Higher Order Thinking Language Neuro-Motor Spatial Order Sequential Ordering

7. 2. Dyslexia: What is it ? Scientific Theories of Dyslexia

8. I saw a red surfbord laying on the rode. It look like my friend so I hid it in the bushis just in case. When I whent to the beach I saw my frend Spence he had his bord….

9. Visual problems in reading

10. Definition of the International Dyslexia Association 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 provision of effective classroom instruction.

11. How Widespread is Dyslexia? Likely to be dyslexic % w/ reading disability • Current research shows that approximately 15-20% of the population has a reading disability. • Of that 15-20%, 85% are dyslexic School population

12. Neural Basis of Reading • Left inferior frontal gyrus • Left temporo-parietal cortex • Left infero-temporal cortex Speech sounds Alphabetic code Visual word form

13. Dyslexia a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin Brain Briefings, Society for Neuroscience

14. Major Current Dyslexia: Theories 1.Phonological Deficit Hypothesis 2.Double Deficit Hypothesis 3.Automaticity Deficit Hypothesis 4.Cerebellar Deficit Hypothesis

15. 1. The Phonological Deficit Hypothesis Cause of Reading difficulties is in phonological processing such as problems in • sound segmentation and • in word blending both are critical for the development of reading and spelling.

16. 2. The Double Deficit Hypothesis Two crucial deficits: • (i) Phonological processing problems • (ii) Rapid processing problems (naming speed, comparing same different speed)

17. 3. The Automatization Deficit Hypothesis • The concept of an ‘automatization deficit’ explains the range of problems shown by dyslexic children. • Dyslexic children will have difficulties on any task that requires automatisation of skill. • Even on task where they appear to be performing normally they have to try harder to achieve the same results.

18. 2. The Cerebellar Deficit Hypothesis • Cerebellum may be an underlying causal factor for all the characteristics explained by the other theories • Cerebellum has many functions such as balance, motor control etc.

19. Cerebellum

20. The role of the cerebellum in dyslexia • It’s role in making processes automatic relates to the difficulty experienced for Dyslexic people to become fluent readers. Why specific to reading? Severe problems arise for reading and spelling, because they require both good phonological skills and good automatisation - double difficulty!

21. Questions • How different are these theories? • Is this like the four men and the elephant?

22. Six Blind Men

23. Difficulties experienced by dyslexic children

24. Answers Answer: (i) Different theories are at different levels of explanation (ii) The type of explanation that is most valuable depends upon the question you are asking! (iii) It may be that different dyslexic children suffer from different underlying causes.

25. Why Are many Dyslexic Children Clever?! • The cerebellum is needed for unconscious development of skill fluency. Skills can be acquired without the cerebellum . • The traditional seat of intellectual behaviour, the frontal lobes of the cortex, may well be completely spared, or even over-achieving. • IQ, metacognition, strategy use, knowledge etc. are all fine. • Dyslexia is not related to Intelligence

26. 3. Dyslexia: Who has it ? • Characteristics of Dyslexia • How do we recognize a child with dyslexia

28. 2-D learners • Have talent for language • Good at sequence and time and events • Memory for abstract symbols—letters stand for something

29. 3-D learners Have a talent to make, do, draw, build Often intuitive, creative, and good imagination May take up to 1500 repetitions of seeing a word or letter to remember it Do not do well with idioms “knock it off” Often seen as lazy or immature

30. Not a Single Pattern that Identifies a Student with Dyslexia • Some • Reverse letters—others do not • Show related problems with spoken language—others do not • Have problems with attention—others do not • Have trouble retrieving words to recall them quickly—others do not • Have trouble with math—others are talented in math

31. Some • Have problems with organization—others do not • Appear insensitive to others—others are very sensitive • Have a low self-esteem—others do not • Have difficulty with handwriting—others do not • Have a slow rate of writing—others do not

32. A Student with Dyslexia has a Unique Pattern Much Like Your Fingerprint • Person who reads well with poor Comprehension • Inaccurate reader with ok comprehension • Extremely slow reader • Strong speller and the slow reader • Adequate reader who has difficulty with all written expression including copying and spelling • One that has trouble with all of the above

33. Activity 1: Signs of Dyslexia • 1. Participants describe to each other a child they know who has been diagnosed with Dyslexia • 2. Group discusses the age appropriate warning signs described in the handout • 3. Add any other signs that you have observed • 4. One member reports to all participants

34. Warning Signs in Preschool • Delayed speech; slow to add new words; difficulty finding the right word • Mixing up sounds or syllables in long words • Poor memory for nursery rhymes • Difficulty learning colours, days of week, numbers, shapes • Difficulty learning how to spell or write name

35. Warning Signs in K-3 Difficulty understanding • that words can be separated into parts (firetruck: fire and truck) • that words can be separated into sounds (tip = /t/ /ĭ/ /p/) • Difficulty learning letter names and sounds • Difficulty reading single words; relies on context clues to recognize words; Can’t remember sight words • Slow choppy, inaccurate oral reading • Difficulty with daily spelling

36. Warning Signs Grades 4th– High School • Has difficulty spelling – may use simplified vocabulary when writing. • Continues to have reading difficulty • Lacks fluency; reads slowly; avoids oral reading • Avoids reading for pleasure • Difficulty finding the right word when speaking • Dreads going to school

37. Effects of dyslexia reach far beyond the classroom • Self-image • Feelings of being dumb or “different” • Feeling of being less capable than they really are • Stress due to academic or social problems • Discouraged about continuing in school

38. Important to remember that • students with dyslexia can learn • They just learn in a different way • Not a disease or result of an accident or injury but rather it describes a kind of mind • Often gifted and productive mind that learns differently

39. 4. DyslexiaWhat to do about it ? • Assessment of Dyslexia

40. What do consider • Possible other issues / co morbidities • Cognitive Ability (Gifted / Slow Learner) • (Language / Non-verbal Issues • Psychological issues (ADHD / Anxiety Motivation / Self Esteem / Family Issues) • A thorough assessment is essential to determine the exact nature of the learning difference and to exclude alternative explanations for the problem • A diagnosis leads to a remediation plan and • recommendations for interventions

41. Assessment Steps • Referral • Data Gathering • Testing • Psychological Issues • Ability (Language, Perceptual, Memory, Processing) • Achievement (Reading / Maths / Listening / Oral Language) • Reading / Writing Behaviour • Intervention Plan Formulation

42. Data Gathering Informants • Information about the student • Student’s work samples, Test Results Reports • Teacher’s observations (Interview, Questionnaires, Informal) • Parent (Interview, Questionnaires)

43. Vision/hearing Teacher reports Previous assessments Accommodations/ Modifications (classroom teacher) Academic progress reports Samples of school work Parent conferences Speech/language (previous referrals) OT, other interventions Areas of Data Gathering

44. Assessment Instruments • Have to be valid • Culturally appropriate • Assess the specific areas of educational need; not to provide a single general IQ • Have to accurately reflect student’s aptitude, achievement level and specific learning profile

45. Assessment of General Issues • Psychological Questionnaires (Parents / Teachers / Students) (Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment ASEBA) • Learning Style (Parents / Teachers / Students) Cognitive Processing Inventory (CPI) • Ability Wechsler Intelligence Scales (WISC-IV, WPPSI-III) • Achievement (Wechsler Individual Achievement Test WIAT-II) • Others depending on need

46. Literacy Specific Assessment Instruments • Reading single words in isolation • Wide Range Achievement Test 3 (WRAT-3) • WIAT-II Word Reading • Word Decoding • WIAT-II Pseudoword Decoding • Phonological Awareness • Phonological Awareness Test (PAT)

47. Letter Knowledge • WIAT-II Word Reading • Fluency / Rate and Accuracy: • WIAT-II Reading Fluency • Reading Comprehension: • WIAT-II Reading Comprehension • Spelling: • WIAT-II Spelling • Orthographic Encoding / Decoding-- Phonetic Reading Chain Diagnostic Reading Assessment

48. Differential Diagnosis Good evidence for three forms of disability in reading that • co-occur and • occur in isolation • Word recognition • Comprehension • Fluency

49. Activity 2 : CASE STUDIES • Each Group receives the assessment profile of a child. • Look at the assessment profile and discuss if that child could be diagnosed with Dyslexia. • We do first Case Study together

50. SS Standard Scores Distribution • Very Superior Range >130 2.2 % of Students • Superior Range 120-130 6.7 % of Students • High Average Range 110-120 16.1.% of Students • Average Range 90-110 50.% of Students • Low Average Range 80-90 16.1.% of Students • Borderline Range 70-80 6.7 % of Students • Extremely Low <70 2.2 % of Students