Update on Dyslexia

By Fran Thompson

Literacy is a hot topic in the media these days. Fortunately, this attention is bringing invisible language-learning disabilities such as dyslexia out into the open. Technology, reading research and higher literacy requirements for the knowledge economy are driving this public discussion.

Increased, accurate information about dyslexia in the community helps take away the stigma of this disability.

Another wonderful outcome of the media exposure and access to information on the Internet is that more people are finding out that, with the right instruction, technology and accommodations, life with dyslexia can be much easier.

This knowledge is creating more demand for services that are not readily available in the public sector. With the need for our population to have higher literacy skills, our different levels of government are listening, and working on improvements that help people of all ages with dyslexia to succeed.

Simply put, dyslexia means trouble with language. People with dyslexia may have different symptoms and gifts. Many have trouble with reading, writing and spelling, but they can also have trouble pronouncing words, saying words in the right order and doing math. Conversely, many are very talented in math.

Anybody with dyslexia can tell you that the challenges associated with this disability are far-reaching into every aspect of life.

At the core of dyslexia is the difficulty in communicating with the written word. In today’s society, where higher levels of literacy are required for most jobs, this can be a major problem.

Part of the stigma is that for too many years people have suffered from being called lazy and stupid for not learning how to read, write or spell well. Many people recall being told to try a little harder. In actual fact, brain imaging has shown that the dyslexic brain works much harder processing language than a non-dyslexic brain.

Unfortunately, this brain-imaging technology is not available for the general diagnosis of dyslexia. Instead, people must have a psycho-educational assessment done by an education consultant and/or a registered psychologist. Those wishing to pursue post-secondary education are required to have a recent assessment to be eligible for disability accommodations.

(The fairness of requiring repetitive diagnoses of dyslexia, given there is no cure for dyslexia, is the subject of another article.)

A good assessment provides recommendations that can be taken to any educational institution to request accommodations. These accommodations can come in the form of extra time for exams, a reader or a scribe during exams, second-language exemptions, and the use of assistive technology such as computers, scanners, spell checkers, calculators, voice dictation systems and audio books. These same tools can be used for on-the-job accommodations, and need not be expensive to an employer.

The diagnosis of dyslexia can be liberating in that people discover there is a name and reason for the language challenges they have had in life. An assessment also helps identify strengths that may have been masked by dyslexia. Having a diagnosis enables people to find help and to pursue talents with more confidence, understanding and patience.

At the very core of giving help is identifying a person’s learning style and teaching a person to read. Most people can learn how to read. They may not become fast readers or great spellers, but they should be able to read, with the right instruction. The best time to learn how to read is in the early primary years, with reading readiness skills developed in the preschool years.

People who know they have dyslexia in the family should be watching their children’s language development. Many late talkers develop reading problems too. Potential reading problems can be identified quickly, with a high degree of accuracy, in kindergarten. With help, children in kindergarten improve four times faster than children in grade four.

The U.S. National Reading Panel (www.nationalreadingpanel.org) summarizes what constitutes best practices in teaching reading. With proper general classroom reading instruction, research indicates that 95 per cent of all kids should be able to read at grade level by the end of grade three. If the remaining five per cent are identified in kindergarten and given short-term, one-to-one instruction, most of them should learn to read too.

How is your community school doing? If kids don’t learn by the end of grade three, 75 per cent never catch up.

Reading research has shown us why English is difficult to learn and how reading and writing skills are best taught. English is made up of over 40 sounds which can be represented in over 1,000 combinations of letters.

Multi-sensory structured language education (MSLE) is recommended for individuals with dyslexia, whatever their age, to learn to read. There is a code to the English language that is very predictable. The key is for an experienced teacher to teach the code directly in a very systematic way, using all the learning pathways (seeing/saying/hearing/touching) at the same time. The strong learning pathways will reinforce the weak. This approach to teaching reading also focuses on the form and meaning of prefixes, roots and suffixes so that readers learn to figure out the meaning of words they are reading. MSLE computer software programs developed for adults and children are also available.

Grants and services through provincial and federal agencies do exist, but they are not easily accessible to all. Personal expenses for technology and remedial assistance can be tax deductible if dyslexia is properly documented.

Reading is at the very foundation of learning. The ability to read well enables any individual to reach out into the world and expand his or her knowledge, job opportunities, community, spirituality and self-worth. We have the know-how to ensure that most people can learn to read. We have the technology to assist people with reading and writing difficulties. But is it accessible? Are we training our teachers how to teach reading according to best practices? Are we giving teachers the resources they need to teach reading and identify children, youths and adults who need help? Can the literacy movement ensure that Canadians continue to learn more about best practices in teaching reading?

There is a message in the media... can everyone read it?

(Fran Thompson is a parent of four children, two of whom have dyslexia. She is president of The International Dyslexia Association, British Columbia Branch (www.interdys.org/jsp/bc.jsp) and a director of the Society for the Advancement of Excellence in Education (www.saee.ca). For more information, call (604) 669-5811 or e-mail: idabcb@hotmail.com.)