Return-Path: <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id g2ED9eu18567; Thu, 14 Mar 2002 08:09:40 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 14 Mar 2002 08:09:40 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <001e01c1cb59$2a1f3260$386df7a5@oemcomputer> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Mary Ann Corley" <macorley1@earthlink.net> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-LD:3944] Re: Cause of LD X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4807.1700 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 3496 Lines: 83 Hi, John: I couldn't help but jump into this discussion because it touched a nerve. There is actually lots of research, including magnetic resonance imaging in which an individual's brain functioning is mapped during the process of reading, that indicates that brain activity for persons with LD is different from that of persons who do not have LD. And the field closed the book a while ago on the whole language versus phonics debate with the acknowledgment that there must be a "balanced approach" to teaching reading, i.e., a combined approach that teaches phonemic awareness, phonics, and word attack skills AND a contextualized whole language approach. I think you're saying the same thing in your statement that "a phonics ingredient is essential," implying that it's not the only approach needed. Certainly, poor teaching exacerbates the problem, but there are many of us who turned out to be good readers, despite poor teaching. Just my two cents' worth. -Mary Ann Corley --- Original Message ----- From: "John Nissen" <jn@tommy.demon.co.uk> To: "Multiple recipients of list" <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> Sent: Thursday, March 14, 2002 2:34 AM Subject: [NIFL-LD:3943] Cause of LD > Hi Anne, > > There's an assumption that LD is to do with brain processes. > But some recent research suggests reading ability is related to > teaching. See "How should reading be taught", Scientific > American, March 2002, pp70-77. There is a real danger with > the "whole language" methods where you just learn to associate > whole words with their meanings. A phonics ingredient is essential. > > Bad teaching leads to the pupil being a slow reader, and getting > less reading practice. Then it's a vicious circle. > > BTW, we have developed WordAloud to help slow readers to break > out of that vicious circle. In "collect mode", WordAloud displays a > word at a time without speech. When the user comes to a word they > can't read, they just click on it to hear it spoken by the > speech synthesiser. The word is then added to a list, so they > can later revise the difficult words. You can download a free > evaluation version from www.wordaloud.co.uk. > > Cheers from Chiswick, > > John > -- > In message <a05010402b8b5325960d4@[10.3.3.130]> nifl-ld@nifl.gov writes: > > >Yes, Barbara. Persons with reading problems need to be informed that > >the reason they can't read (well) is that their brains process > >information differently. (It's not that they are retarded, dumb, > >lazy, etc., etc.) The basic information they have trouble with is > >perceiving sounds in words and connecting the letters to those > >sounds. That must be directly taught in order for successful, > >independent reading to ever occur. The impact on self esteem is so > >damaging. > > > >Thank you, Barbara, for sharing information about using the Wilson > >Reading System. It was 3 years ago that I read your LD Listserv > >posting stating that, for college students that you serve in your > >center, "when all else fails, we go to Wilson." That's what got me > >started. > > > >And that's why this Listserv is such a fabulous resource for us in > >the field. We learn so much from each other! Thank you, Barbara, > >and thank you ALL. > > > >Anne > > -- > Access the word, access the world! -- Try our WordAloud software!! > > John Nissen, Cloudworld Ltd., Chiswick, London > Tel: +44 (0) 845 458 3944 (local rate in the UK) > Fax: +44 (0) 20 8742 8715 > Web: http://www.cloudworld.co.uk
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