Dyslexia

1. Dyslexia *Dyslexic Profile *Referral Process *Delivery of Services

2. Common Myths • Dyslexic people see words backwards. • Children outgrow reading problems. • Dyslexia effects mostly boys. (Journal of American Medical Association in 1990 proved it was comparable in both boys & girls) • People who struggle to read are not very smart. (Dyslexia occurs at all levels of intelligence average, above average, and highly gifted.) -A Conversation with Sally Shaywitz, M.D., author of Overcoming Dyslexia

3. TEA accepted definition of DyslexiaDyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition, 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 classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experiences that can impede growth in vocabulary and background knowledge.(Updated, January, 2004)

4. What Do I Look For?

5. Dyslexic Traits • Difficulty with directions and directional words • Difficulty with discerning left and right • Difficulty with handwriting • Poor small motor skills • Difficulty with reading words in isolation • Difficulty with decoding nonsense words • Slow, inaccurate, or labored reading • Difficulty with phonological awareness, including segmenting, blending, and manipulating sounds in words

6. What to Look for continued: • Difficulty with learning letter names and sounds • Difficulty with phonological memory (holding information about sounds & letters in memory) • Difficulty with rapid naming of familiar objects, colors, or letters of the alphabet • Difficulty copying accurately (far point, near point, or both) • Difficulty remembering what was read • Difficulty with spelling • Difficulty with written composition

7. Dyslexic Strengths • Oral Language • Oral Comprehension • Math • Science/Social Studies • Athletics • Art • Drama

8. What dyslexia is not…Dyslexia is not a visual disability. Dyslexic individuals do not see letters or numbers as backwards, blurred, or floating. Dyslexia is a language difficulty due to under activation of the word forming part of the brain resulting in an unexpected difference when compared to oral abilities and/or IQ and a student’s reading, writing, and spelling abilities.

9. What should NOT be considered for a dyslexia referral?- head injuries - transient history - excessive absences - non English speaking students - documented history of lack of conventional schooling - poor reading/listening comprehension

10. Dyslexia Referral Process

11. Pre-Referral Tier 1: Make and document accommodations/modifications for the student in class including intensifying reading instruction inside the classroom. Be sure parents have been informed of your concerns and what is being done. Tier 2: Provide more intensive intervention in addition to the regular reading instruction. In other words, Reading Recovery, Literacy Groups, Read 180, extra work during Success time for them, before/after school tutoring, having a mentor work with them any time outside of the classroom, and etc... (

12. Pre-Referral The 1st two tiers of intervention should equal up to a minimum of 10 weeks.) Tier 3: 1-Take them to the C.A.R.E. team! The committee will discuss concerns, interventions that have been used, and look at samples of work. As a committee they will decide if the student should be screened. 2-If a screening is decided upon, then the counselor will administer the K-TEA-II and K-BIT-II. The screenings should indicate discrepancies between ability and reading achievement. 3- The committee will then decide whether to send the student on for a Dyslexia Referral.

13. Dyslexia Referral 1- The Dyslexia referral paperwork will be given to the teacher and parents to complete. The parents will receive 504 rights when they receive the referral packet, as well. 2- A vision and hearing screening will be completed and recorded. If the student doesn’t pass one of them, the referral is stopped until it is taken care of by a doctor. 3- Once the above is completed, the paperwork is sent to the district Dyslexia Office.

14. Dyslexia Referral continued 4- Next, it goes to the district Dyslexia diagnostician. She will test according to the order the files come in. It should be completed within 60 calendar days after the referral packet is received by the Dyslexia Office. 5- After the testing is complete, the file goes on to the Dyslexia Selection Committee (composed of dyslexia therapists, dyslexia diagnostician, and the program supervisors). They will determine eligibility and admittance into the Denton ISD Dyslexia Program. 6- A letter and/or a parent consent form will be sent to the parents informing them of the committee’s recommendations.

15. Keep In Mind… • The Dyslexia Committee looks for a significant discrepancy in reading ability and reading achievement. • Careful consideration must be made before referring a student receiving Special Education Services to the Dyslexia Program. The Alphabetic Phonics/Scottish Rite Program used by the district is a systematic, sequential, fast-paced program and may not meet the needs of all students with learning disabilities. • The Alphabetic Phonics/Scottish Rite Program is a systematic, sequential, fast-paced program that requires every student admitted to start at the beginning of the program and should be dismissed within 3 to 4 years. • A student usually needs a year of therapy before a significant improvement in the child’s reading, writing, and spelling shows through.

16. Dyslexia Services

17. In Dyslexia Class? We work on :alphabet properties/skills, grapheme and phoneme recognition, fluency/instant words, phonological rules in reading and spelling,

18. Instruction continued… oral/written expression, listening/reading comprehension with each presented via explicit, direct instruction in a multisensory manner.

19. Accommodations for the Classroom Teacher (Or Now What Do I Do?)

20. Besides a daily multisensory class to address a dyslexic student’s needs for the delivery of instruction in reading, handwriting and spelling, an identified dyslexic student will need accommodations in the regular classroom. These could be, but are not limited to, the following list: • Write the assignments on the board and leave it there all day for the student to look at. • Keep an assignment notebook. • Shorten assignments. • Use graph paper for math problems. • Have student take spelling tests orally or reduce the amount of words. • Assign a study buddy to help the student with particularly difficult reading passages.

21. More accommodations • Allow student to prepare reading assignments before reading aloud in front of the class OR refrain from calling on the dyslexic student to read aloud during class. • Allow extra time to complete work. • Provide student with a copy of the overhead notes. • Have student repeat the directions back to you. • Check often for understanding. • Encourage use of a place marker (book mark or paper) when reading. • Allow the use of cursive for those who know it. • Don’t count off for spelling.

22. Dyslexia is an inherited learning disability. There is no cure for dyslexia. The dyslexic individual will always have struggles with reading, handwriting and spelling. However, with early and appropriate intervention, the gap narrows between performance and ability.

23. Questions? See me or email me at kkirkland@dentonisd.org