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Mentor looks forward with dyslexia treatment
(by Sue Hoffman - January 21, 2009)
Mentor looks forward with dyslexia treatment
By SUE HOFFMAN
One of her students once told her the word dyslexia sounded like a disease, guest speaker Rebecca "Becky" Richards said at a seminar presented last week by the Organized Parent Education Network in Solon. And of course, it isn't.
Dyslexia, said Mrs. Richards, is a specific learning disability, which is "a weakness in one or more academic areas, but not all of them." The word "dyslexia," she said, combines the Greek terms "dys" meaning difficult, and "lexia," meaning "with words." The term was coined by physicians a century ago for children having trouble reading.
Mrs. Richards "is our expert from within," said Tamara Strom, Solon School District coordinator of communication services, in introducing the speaker. In addition to her position as a Solon speech and language pathologist, Mrs. Richards was a founding member of OPEN and served as parent mentor for the district from 1993 to 2001. She also served as past president of the Northern Ohio branch of the International Dyslexic Association and is currently on the advisory board.
Mrs. Richards used slides provided by the association in her presentation, "Backward, Forward and All Mixed Up: Unlocking the Dyslexia Code." In addition to offering a better understanding of dyslexia, Mrs. Richards' presentation included red flags for parents and treatment options.
When it comes to dyslexia, "there are so many misconceptions," she said. "Dyslexia does not mean seeing things backwards" and "it is not caused by a lack of motivation," she said. The disability is a "language-based problem" that exists across all intelligence and socioeconomic levels.
Dyslexia is a common problem, she said, with one out of every five to 10 students showing symptoms of the disability. Of the students with a specific learning disability, reading or language is the main difficulty for 80 to 85 percent.
"It is important for us to understand this disorder so that we can treat it." It is a language-based problem that is neuro-biological, she said. "We know there is a genetic component. It's not unusual to have a family member with the same disorder."
People with dyslexia have difficulty with accurate and/or fluent word recognition, and have a deficit in spelling and decoding abilities, said Mrs. Richards, who's certified in the Wilson Language system for struggling readers. They also have difficulty in sounding out words, she said. "A person with dyslexia is typically an anomaly," since that person "seems to be able to do other things." Some people with dyslexia are gifted.
Secondary consequences of dyslexia include poor reading comprehension and slower vocabulary development, she said. Students with the disability usually do not like reading "because it's laborious. It's just too hard." Dyslexia can lead to feelings of inadequacy.
"To sum it up, a student with dyslexia has difficulty decoding words." It is not a visual-perceptual problem, she said. "It doesn't matter what you call it, it's how you treat it."
Working with students at an early age is the key to preventing a real problem from setting in, she said. "Their problem may not be as severe."
Red flags for parents start at an early age, she said. Children may have been slow in learning how to talk and learning new words. In preschool and kindergarten, they may not be able to recall the sounds of letters or they may have a problem producing speech sounds.
Elementary school children may not be able to remember words by sight and they may have poor spelling or comprehension, she said. Reading can continue to be difficult over the years. Accommodations may be needed for high school students with dyslexia, who may read slowly, write poorly and show a decline in comprehension. Self advocacy is stressed.
Screening for dyslexia is performed in kindergarten and early first grade, Mrs. Richards said. Students are given timed tests in letter naming and letter sounds as well as oral reading. Intervention involves a team approach with the parent, classroom teacher, interventionist, speech and language pathologist and other staff members. "Skills are taught until mastery," she said, through systematic instruction.
"You can build fluency at home," she told parents, by reading with the child out loud and charting the results. Reading to children also helps.
What should parents do if they suspect a problem? Mrs. Richards said the first step is to talk to the classroom teacher. "Parent input is very important."
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