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 j8TLsdG02406; Thu, 29 Sep 2005 17:54:40 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 17:54:40 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <410-220059429215326328@ix.netcom.com> 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: "Michele Anne Craig" <shellcraig@ix.netcom.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-LD:4900] Recommended Book for understanding dyslexia X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII X-Mailer: EarthLink MailBox 2005.1.57.0 (Windows) Status: O Content-Length: 2501 Lines: 47 Dyslexia is a very broad term and can be caused by lots of different things in the way the brain is processing images. I would recommend the resources on www.ldonline.com and on the International Dylexia Association website. I also highly recommend Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz who is the codirector of the Yale Center for the Study of Learning and Attention. The chapter entitled "The Working Brain Reads" and the one about the "History of Dyslexia" I think are especially good. Unfortunately, she has just brief information about adults with dyslexia. I think that one important thing to understand when it comes to someone with a visual processing problem is that it isn't neccesarily that they don't understand phonics, or segmentation, or those things, but that their brains actually process two dimensional symbols (print on paper) differently. My son, for example can sculpt things out of clay you wouldn't believe, but at age 8, he draws like a primitive preschooler. Similarly, if the text is raised (as in sandpaper letters, or made of clay) he has not problem reading it, but when it is flat on the paper, he has great difficulty. Orally, he can segment sounds, but I suspect that a different part of the brain segments from written text. With dyslexics, you have to use other modalities besides the visual to get the reading information in. This is a real challenge, since reading is by nature a visual process. With children and even more so with adult dyslexics, they begin to use compensation strategies when reading when the brain isn't getting the symbols. A big one of these that I see in my adult students is just guessing at the meaning in text. It is often difficult to read for long periods of time because of the extra amount of effort it takes to sort out what they are reading. One thing I really wish both as a teacher of dyslexics and a parent of a young dyslexic is that people would realize that although dyslexics can be taught to read, they also need to be taught assistive technologies for allowing them to write and read easily. Instead, I sometimes feel like our educational system is trying to make zebras into riding horsesby trying to attain the same level of reading competency in someone whose brain processes written symbols differently. Zebras are beautiful too and have their own way of being. So too, with dyslexics. It isn't neccesarily something we need to (or even can) "fix." Michele Craig Woodland Adult School Woodland, California
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