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 iAJIAR116506; Fri, 19 Nov 2004 13:10:27 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2004 13:10:27 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <9D909391CB025945BDA19A90B940A0B6DDF8BB@ccbc-de.ccbc.ccbcmd.edu> 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: "McDonnell, Carol" <cmcdonne@ccbcmd.edu> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-LD:4507] RE: Dyslexia X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 4187 Lines: 36 I'm the Carol with the dyslexic student. Nothing worked until I had a chat with one of our volunteer tutors. A retired reading professor, he told me of the difficulties he had encountered when trying to help a dyslexic young man learn to read. What worked for him, and did the trick for my student, was to teach sounds by associating them with taste and sight. Every sound we worked with, we ate! Honestly, I didn't think I could find something for each sound, but I did. The young man enjoyed it and learned the sounds. After that, we were off and running. I used Language Experience stories with him, letter and word cards, concentration games, etc. We have a volunteer who comes to class every day. He assists the young man with reading when we do group work. this allows the student to be a part of every discussion and project that we do. I have also found Internet sites that have an audio feature. The student can listen and follow along. My student has excellent oral vocabulary, but writing is tedious and frustrating for him. (This year, however, he's able to write about three sentences before the frustration sets in.) We purchased Dragon Naturally speaking so that he could dictate his wonderful ideas and see them immediately before him on the screen. The program does require that the speaker punctuate sentences. This is a good feature for students who are learning writing skills, although it's time consuming for them. As far as the student explaining his difficulty; he can't. He gets very upset when trying to verbalize about himself. I will say that this young man has a very difficult situation at home, and that's certainly affected his academic performance. He will tell me that he can read better if he reads "backwards". Now, backwards to him is reading a suffix, for example, and then actually sounding out the rest of the word backwards. When I work with him to sound out from the beginning of a word, or find a small word within a word, he says that mixes him up. What he actually reads to me is correct, but the process he uses boggles my mind. Irlen overlays didn't help this student. I've seen them work wonders several times before, but not with this guy. It's my understanding that they work for about sixty per cent of dyslexics, is that accurate? I observe a student who exhibits the restlessness and inattention of ADD. He is scattered and struggles with low self esteem-not unusual for someone who has struggled so hard, so long. On a positive note, this student has progressed tremendously. He wants very much to become a firefighter. Since that requires a high school diploma, he had the idea to join a volunteer company. When he asked if I would do the leg-work for him, I said no. We discussed the steps HE would need to take to see that desire become a reality. He took them! Each step was wrought with anxiety, but he did it. He went to the library and got a study manual, looked up information on the Internet in class (there's no computer at home), filled out a five page application, went to the interview-and was accepted. He self-disclosed his LD and will receive accommodations during training. (Last year he would have never told anyone he had a learning difference.) This whole process could never have happened last year. I am seeing a much more confident and capable individual. It's very exciting. -----Original Message----- From: nifl-ld@nifl.gov [mailto:nifl-ld@nifl.gov]On Behalf Of Carol Petrashek Sent: Friday November 19, 2004 8:30 AM To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [NIFL-LD:4501] RE: Dyslexia I don't believe I am the Carol you are seeking. Sorry. AWilder106@aol.com wrote: > Dear Monika and Carol, > > Thank you both for your help. > > I will contact Don McCabe, thanks for the reference. > > Carol--I would be very interested in hearing about what works and what doesn't: also, how does your student explain his difficulty? How do you observe it? Could you give a specific example? > > when he "reads backward" do you mean he starts at the right side and reads left? Or starts in the middle, reads that section to the right, then goes to the beginning, and reads that section? > > Thanks. > > Andrea
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