I hear many people ask, “What exactly is dyslexia?” Based on my observations and experiences in working with people who fall into that category, I think a better question might be, “What are dyslexias?”
My short answer: a reading difficulty in the areas of decoding/sounding out words phonetically, identification of “sight words”, or spelling, and possibly all of the above.
My longer answer: This person who has difficulty with word identification, and most likely also spelling, performs significantly below grade or age level in these word reading skills. Also, the reason for this learning gap is due to a processing skill such as visual or auditory memory, sequential memory, processing speed, working memory, visual discrimination, or auditory discrimination. It is certainly true that not all dyslexia profiles of learning strengths and weaknesses are the same. That’s why I think of the issue at hand as “dyslexiaS” instead of “dyslexia.” A typical clinical diagnosis would involve a team of professionals conducting evaluations on the student, including an educational psychologist, an academic learning expert, and possibly other professionals that may be needed to get the full picture, such as a speech and language pathologist or an occupational therapist.
A few words about reading comprehension…Many people struggle with this skill. However, the challenges in this arena are different from those with dyslexia. It is true that a dyslexic student may do poorly on a “reading comprehension” test, and it would be because he/she misread so many words that they cannot understand what they just attempted to read. Someone who truly has difficulty with reading comprehension, and is able to read all the words perfectly, would not be considered dyslexic. However, they could still have a reading disability, such as a language processing-based issue. They might just need to learn how to visualize information coming in, or how to more effectively apply strategies to tackle difficult vocabulary that comes up in a text.
Another related question I get asked a lot is, “Will someone with dyslexia always struggle with reading for their entire life?” My answer is a resounding, “NO! It does have to be that way.” Will a struggling emergent reader benefit from extra help? Yes. Do they need a different approach to learning how to read? Maybe. The key to bringing a student from being an emergent, struggling reader to a fluent, confident reader is three fold: 1) All aspects of reading development need to be taught and practiced; 2) The approach needs to be in bite-size pieces rather than a full steak all at once. This often means cutting back on the amount of information served at a time. 3) The student needs to be allowed to work at their own pace. There is also a 4th consideration that I have always found great success with, but maybe not fully necessary: understand an individual’s learning strengths and weaknesses. Therapeutically build up the gap areas, but also utilize the strengths to the student’s advantage to learn best.
Breaking down these 3 major components a bit more…
- All aspects of reading development need to be taught. This lengthy list includes: letter identification and sound-association (knowing the names and sounds of letters), phonics patterns (special sounds usually made when certain letter combinations are put together), phonological processing (such as rhyming and matching sounds), phonemic awareness (picking out individual sounds within a word and also manipulating/moving those sounds around), some sight word memory (especially words that are commonly used in writing that do not follow typical phonics patterns), and understanding at least the basics of sentence structure.
- The approach needs to be in bite-size pieces. When you think about the list of concepts that need to be taught to early readers, it is just as important to make sure a student is not being over-saturated with too much at one time. I’ve seen some great comprehensive curriculums out there, with all the necessary components. For some students, all the bells and whistles at a faster pace works just fine. However, for others, a more gentle introduction to each step is necessary. One example would be to practice only 2 or 3 ways to spell the “long a” sound before moving on, rather than introducing 7 or 8 patterns within a week or two. Another example would be to practice and master 4 to 6 sight words for a few weeks instead of trying to memorize 20 words all at once in the same week.
- Students needs to work at their own pace. That’s pretty self-explanatory. In a classroom setting, it would mean allowing for smaller groups that move at different paces, if individually paced activities are not feasible. I know this can be a challenge for a classroom teacher, especially if support resources are limited. Sometimes additional reinforcement activities can be sent home successfully too. When that is not a viable option, some creative planning needs to happen somewhere.
For a dyslexic student, or for one who needs extra help with reading development even without a specific learning disability identified, these three goal sets are absolutely crucial. Time and time again, I have applied these focuses with my private students. What a thrill it is to see them begin to soar in confidence and skill! Yes, it is do-able!
