Summer Reading "Overcoming Dyslexia" Part 1

 

This summer I was inspired to read “Overcoming Dyslexia” by Dr. Shaywitz.  I had an intervention group last year and the children were struggling with acquiring reading skills.  I had a strong feeling that dyslexia had something to do with their problems, but I realized that I didn’t know much about that specifically to tailor my instruction properly.  Next year, I will have a class with similar problems and I want to be prepared to give them the best instruction possible. Unfortunately, I have an older, used version of the book and I know the book has been updated and revised.   It appears that a lot has been changed in the newer publication, so I may be back with update later.

This is a summary of the first part of the book which contains 7 chapters.

The first chapter illustrated some personal cases of people who have struggled with dyslexia and have begun to overcome their struggles with new research on the brain and how it affects reading. The second chapter talks about history of this problem which was called "Word Blindness" and how the genetic aspect of it affects entire families. They also discuss how individuals are extremely intelligent in other areas yet struggle to read fluently. 

The third chapter talks about the prevalence of the problem.  One in five are diagnosed with this disability and it is not linked to geographic locations or specific ethnic groups as it occurs in Japan, China, Germany, Australia, Israel, Africa, Thailand, etc. Girls are less likely to be identified as Dyslexic in the school setting because they are many times quiet and get overlooked by their teachers.  Boys are more often identified because they are more likely to act out when struggling with school. However, girls are not less likely to have these problems.  Over time even with help students identified remain as poorer readers and a gap between reading ability continues to exist. The help from schools is limited and not effective. Dr. Shaywitz identifies some case studies of boys who show extreme talent in areas other than reading.  She explains that only recently have we learned that it is a problem with the language system. It was previously believed that the problem existed in the eyes.  Eye training was prescribed which was useless, as the problem is linguistic, specifically in the phonologic module of the brain.   

All children acquire reading knowledge in the same sequence.  They must master the alphabetic principal. Language is instinctive and doesn’t have to be taught genetically. Our minds are wired to automatically learn and use phonemes in speech.  These phonemes combine to form unlimited words and sentences. We are also wired to distinguish speech from other noises. Our larynx, palate, tongue and lips produce speech without segmentation. Speaking is natural, but reading is learned, although they both rely on phonemes. The reader has to translate print into code recognized by the language system. Writing is a way to record language.  It is comprised of symbols that stand for speech. Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear spoken words in parts.  This is the basic element needed to match sounds to letters. Training students to notice the sounds in words is a predictor of success in reading. 

Dyslexics cannot convert alphabet to linguistic code as a result they have an inability to decode unfamiliar words. This chart from the book demonstrates this problem.

The phonologic problem can affect speech as they misname objects that sound similar.  For example, "tornado" and "volcano" have similar sounds. Children can describe both in detail but have trouble naming them. Rote memorization and rapid word naming are difficult as they use context to figure out unknown words. 

In the past, the heart was considered the center of life and consciousness.  After brain research began on brain of the dead, it was discovered that certain regions of the brain were oversized or damaged and correlated to certain behaviors. The discovery of Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area were linked to language development and understanding.  In dyslexia, the developing fetus fails to develop the phonologic system correctly in the brain.  When the ability to observe the brain of the living became a possibility, scientists were able to see the brain in detail. In the 1980’s brain function could be seen as a person read, spoke or thought.  Blood flow changed to various areas depending on the activity.  During MRIs good readers consisting of both women and men were studied.  While men had activation in the left side of the brain, Women had activation in both the left and the right areas of the brain. Further, the brain shows two areas that are used to read one is used for beginning reading skills and the other is used for proficient readers. 

Dyslexics must use other pathways to read as the regions used to visualize, transform letters into sounds of language and get to the meaning of the words are inactive. They have trouble analyzing words.  The brain compensates for the weakness by using more of the frontal reading areas. 

Many dyslexics must read words quietly aloud which activates the front of the brain.  While good readers use both the front and the back of the brain, dyslexics have increasing larger areas activated in the front of their brain and use the auxiliary systems for reading.  These help improve reading accuracy but they are still slow to read.  

The other benefit to watching the live brain at work is that researcher can evaluate the effectiveness of intervention programs. These programs if done early, can result in normal reading development in dyslexics.

 

Part two discusses how to identify dyslexia. I will post about that soon.

Meanwhile, here is a recent video of Dr. Shaywitz talking about Dyslexia.