Dyslexia
District Connection coming here soon.
What is Dyslexia?
Understood provides support for families, professionals, and individuals to help learn about and advocate for those with learning and thinking differences. The link goes to their What is Dyslexia page. Spend some time exploring this site.
In Texas, The Dyslexia Handbook, currently the 2024 Update (link for English; link for Manual Sobre Dislexia), guides everything related to dyslexia in Texas schools. The Handbook defines dyslexia and related disorders in the following way:
“Dyslexia” means a disorder of constitutional origin manifested by a difficulty in learning to read, write, or spell, despite conventional instruction, adequate intelligence, and sociocultural opportunity. “Related disorders” include disorders similar to or related to dyslexia, such as developmental auditory imperception, dysphasia, specific developmental dyslexia, developmental dysgraphia, and developmental spelling disability.
The International Dyslexia Association defines dyslexia in the following way:
Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.”
The Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity is another site worth spending some time exploring. From their description of dyslexia:
"Dyslexic children and adults struggle to read fluently, spell words correctly and learn a second language, among other challenges. But these difficulties have no connection to their overall intelligence. In fact, dyslexia is an unexpected difficulty in reading in an individual who has the intelligence to be a much better reader. While people with dyslexia are slow readers, they often, paradoxically, are very fast and creative thinkers with strong reasoning abilities.
"Dyslexia can’t be 'cured' – it is lifelong. But with the right supports, dyslexic individuals can become highly successful students and adults."
I Think My Child Might
If you have concerns that your child is struggling with language skills, it is usually best to begin by scheduling a conference with your child's teacher. Share what you notice at home. The teacher will share observations and information about how your child is doing in school. Work together to decide if there is a reason to worry and what steps to take to ensure your child has an effective, encouraging, and enjoyable learning experience.
If dyslexia is a concern, there are specific steps to follow. If your child is diagnosed with dyslexia, there will be a meeting with you to discuss how to best meet your child's learning needs related to dyslexia.
What to consider:
Understood has a video and information about the signs of dyslexia at different ages. The fact sheet is included below.
The Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity has similar information and adds common strengths. There is a video of Dr. Sally Shaywitz, a leading researcher in the area of dyslexia, discussing signs of dyslexia in young children and the importance of early identification.
In the Texas Dyslexia Handbook 2024, go to pages 9 and 10 to review risk factors at different ages.
Schools in Texas must follow specific steps in the process of determining if a child has dyslexia and deciding, with the parents, how to best help the child at school. The place to begin is with the teacher.
Services at Randolph Elementary
“While the components of instruction for students with dyslexia include good teaching principles for all teachers, the explicitness and intensity of the instruction, fidelity to program descriptors, grouping formats, and training and skill of the teachers are wholly different from core classroom instruction and must be considered when making individual placement decisions.” (Texas Dyslexia Handbook, 2024, page 38)
After a child is diagnosed with dyslexia, a committee, including the parents, meets to discuss the individual child’s needs. Accommodations may be needed in the classroom. Often the decision is that the child participate in one of the dyslexia classes during the day.
At the elementary level, we have faculty who are trained to implement several different dyslexia programs including -
- Scottish Rite Build for kindergarten and first grade and Take Flight for second through fifth grade
- SPIRE for second through fifth grade and SPIRE Foundational (Sound Sensible) for kindergarten and first grade.
- Reading by Design, developed by the Texas Education Agency, for all grade levels
Dyslexia support is also available at the secondary campus.
Each of these programs follows the Orton-Gillingham approach and meets recommended criteria:
- Multi-sensory
- Evidence-based
- Explicit
- Systematic
- Comprehensive
- Structured
- Sequential and Cumulative
- Synthetic and Analytic
The lessons address the following literacy skills:
- Phonemic Awareness – A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a language that can be recognized as being distinct from other sounds. Phonemic Awareness is the ability to play with and manipulate the sounds in words.
- Sound-symbol association— Sound-symbol association (alphabetic principle) is the knowledge of the various speech sounds with the corresponding letter or letter combinations that represent those speech sounds.
- Syllabication— A syllable is a unit of language with one vowel sound. There are six basic types of syllables in the English language; closed, open, vowel-consonant-e, r-controlled, vowel pair (or vowel team), and final stable syllable. Syllable division rules need to be directly taught in relation to the word structure.
- Orthography— Orthography is the written spelling patterns and rules of a language. Instruction should be integrated with phonology and sound- symbol knowledge.
- Morphology— A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in the language including prefixes, suffixes, and roots. Understanding morphemes helps to build vocabulary.
- Syntax— Syntax determines the sequence and function of words in a sentence. Syntax includes grammar, sentence variation, and the mechanics of language.
- Reading fluency— Reading fluency is the ability to read text with speed and accuracy Fluency also includes prosody, reading with expression.
- Reading comprehension—Reading comprehension is understanding what is read with depth. Reading comprehension depends on accurate and fluent word recognition, oral language development including vocabulary and listening comprehension, background knowledge, use of appropriate strategies to make corrections, and the reader’s interest and motivation.
A variety of video sources are provided to encourage seeking additional resources independently.
What to Tell Your Child
shaywitz
op ed
videos
inspirtational others - dyslexia scotland - dyslexia unwrapped - monty
books for kids about dyslexia
For Use at Home and School
reading resources
tech resources - CALL scotland
alphabetic principle
phonemic awareness and phonics
heart words
spelling
vocabulary deelopment/morphology
fluency
comprehension
Social and Emotional
find sources again
Additional Resources
dyslexia awareness series
TEA sources
parent and professional organizations
FAQ
i like big words
oldest letter
newest letter
more than 26
we make mistakes
pbs aluf