Could My Child Have Dyslexia?

What a parent can do to find answers to this…and other questions.

 

 

Did it take your child a long time to learn her alphabet…not just to sing it?

Do you notice that your child is struggling with his reading assignments?

Is spelling a real problem?

 

As children enter school and begin the process of learning to read, parents often have questions about their progress.  How do you know if your child’s development of basic reading skills is typical?  Where do you go for help?

 

In Texas public schools, there is a process for closely monitoring the early development of pre-reading and basic reading skills.  Early Reading Assessment is conducted during kindergarten, first and second grades to identify children who might be at risk for developing future reading difficulties.  Teachers in these grades administer these checks three times each year. 

 

Children whose skills are “still developing” will be targeted for more intensive instruction.  Parents of these children will be notified that the teacher is seeing less than expected development and will be working with the student to improve the targeted skills.  For many students, this extra focus on their basic skills is sufficient to bring them to the “developed” level by the next time they are tested. 

 

For some students, however, the progress is not always seen.  What are the signs that suggest it’s time to take a more formal look at the possibility of a learning problem?  Here is a checklist of common signs you might see in your child as you read and work with them to complete homework assignments.  These signs may be associated with dyslexia if they are unexpected for the student’s age, educational level or cognitive abilities.

 

Preschool:

·        May talk later than most children;

·        May have difficulty with rhyming;

·        May have difficulty pronouncing words (i.e., busgetti for spaghetti, mawn lower for lawn mower);

·        May have poor auditory memory for nursery rhymes and chants;

·        May be slow to add new vocabulary words;

·        May be unable to recall the right word;

·        May have trouble learning numbers, days of the week, colors, shapes, and how to spell and write his or her name.

 

Kindergarten through third grade:

 

  • Fails to understand that words come apart; for example, that snowman can be pulled apart into snow and man and, later on, that the word man can be broken down still further and sounded out as three separate sounds.
  • Has difficulty learning the letter names and their corresponding sounds;
  • Has difficulty decoding single words (reading single words in isolation) – lacks a strategy;
  • Has difficulty spelling phonetically;
  • Reads dysfluently (choppy and labored);
  • Relies on context to recognize a word.

 

Fourth grade through high school:

 

  • Has a history of reading and spelling difficulties;
  • Avoids reading aloud;
  • Reads most materials slowly; oral reading is labored, not fluent;
  • Avoids reading for pleasure;
  • May have an inadequate vocabulary;
  • Has difficulty spelling; may resort to using less complicated words in writing that are easier to spell.

 

“Common Signs of Dyslexia” taken from The Dyslexia Handbook Revised 2007:  Procedures Concerning Dyslexia and Related Disorders, Texas Education Agency, February 2007.

 

If you find yourself discussing these unexpected signs with your child’s classroom teacher, especially if the teacher confirms observation of the same behaviors in the classroom, it is probably time to consider whether dyslexia might be the cause of the lag in development of basic reading skills.

 

Texas was the first state to mandate that public schools will identify, and provide effective instruction for, students with dyslexia.  Dyslexia is a common cause of reading problems.  The difficulties in accurately reading words, decoding unfamiliar words, reading connected text in a smooth and efficient manner and spelling words needed for written communication present a characteristic pattern in the individual with dyslexia.  There is a genetic aspect of dyslexia that suggests that if someone else in the family struggles with these basic skills, others are at risk for having the same challenges.

 

Each school district should have a process in place to address the concerns of parents and teachers regarding the possibility that a student may have dyslexia.  Parents are encouraged to discuss the referral process with the classroom teacher and request that an assessment be completed.  As part of the team who will consider all that is known about the child and the needs for instruction, parents will be invaluable participants in the process.

 

There is no one test for dyslexia.  A comprehensive battery of instruments and a collection of all available information will be reviewed to consider whether that characteristic pattern of dyslexia is evident.  If so, that’s good news!  Once the specific reading problem is identified as dyslexia, then we know the most effective reading instruction. 

 

Components of Instruction, as appropriate for the reading needs of the student, include the following:

 

  • Phonemic awareness instruction that enables students to detect, segment, blend, and manipulate sounds in spoken language;
  • Graphophonemic knowledge (phonics) instruction that takes advantage of the letter-sound plan in which words that carry meaning are made of sounds and sounds are written with letters in the right order.
  • Language instruction that encompasses morphology, semantics, syntax, and pragmatics.
  • Linguistic instruction directed toward proficiency and fluency with the patterns of language so that words and sentences are the carriers of meaning;
  • Strategy-oriented instruction in the strategies students use for decoding, encoding, word recognition, fluency, and comprehension that students need to become independent readers.

 

Instructional approaches, as appropriate to meet the instructional needs of the student, include:

 

  • Explicit, direct instruction that is systematic, sequential, and cumulative.
  • Individualized instruction that meets the specific learning needs of each individual student in a small group setting; a reading curriculum that matches each student’s individual ability level and contains all of the Components of Instruction.
  • Intensive, highly concentrated instruction that maximizes student engagement, uses specialized methods and materials, produces results, and contains all the Components of Instruction.
  • Meaning-based instruction that is directed toward purposeful reading and writing, with an emphasis on comprehension and composition;
  • Multisensory instruction that incorporates the simultaneous use of two or more sensory pathways during teacher presentations and student practice.

 

“Components of Instruction” taken from The Dyslexia Handbook Revised 2007:  Procedures Concerning Dyslexia and Related Disorders, Texas Education Agency, February 2007.

 

After insuring the most effective reading instruction is available for your child, the next step is to address classroom accommodations to support efforts to learn the content in other subject areas.  A team approach will again be utilized to identify the kinds of strategies teachers will need to use in the classroom and parents will want to continue at home.  For example, reading material to younger children and discussing the information with them will help in acquiring the knowledge needed for participation in science and social studies classes.  For older students, listening to recorded versions of their textbooks (RFB&D) allows them access to course content while supporting their desire to work independently, which is an age-appropriate system for managing homework assignments.

 

Parents can expect to find a specific person in the school district who is designated to coordinate the dyslexia program.  In each of the twenty education service centers, there is a dyslexia contact person who can provide additional information and support.  Other resources are available to help parents who want to better understand the reading challenges encountered by their children.  Here are some websites:

 

http://www.tea.state.tx.us/curriculum/elar/index.html for the Dyslexia Handbook Revised 2007

www.interdys.org

www.schwablearning.com

 

The more you, as parents, know about dyslexia, the better prepared you will be to help your child understand their reading challenges.  Dyslexia is not going to go away, but your child can learn how to manage her reading problems and work around, if not through them.  This learning difference is just that…a difference in the way he needs to learn.  It is not bigger than any of us as long as we work together as a team.