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 j92KMAG15375; Sun, 2 Oct 2005 16:22:10 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2005 16:22:10 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <20051002202027.9102.qmail@web52903.mail.yahoo.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: Anita Landoll <amlandoll@yahoo.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-LD:4915] Re: LD and intensive phonics X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Status: O Content-Length: 7039 Lines: 225 Hi, The book, OVERCOMING DYSLEXIA, by Sally Shaywitz, MD, goes into much detail about MRI studies and reading. Also, a professor at Wake Forest U is doing research on the audio-visual problems... I think she has found that there is a time disconnect there, for dyslexic readers. Anita www.learntoreadnow.com --- John Nissen <jn@cloudworld.co.uk> wrote: > > Hello Lucille, > > I have looked at the IDA site you recommend, and > their FAQ does seem to > embody conventional wisdom about dyslexia. > > But there are some issues that are a bit clouded > over. I suspect that it is > important for IDA to concur with the idea of the > dyslexic person as a > basically intelligent person who is liable to > underachieve unless given > special help. I absolutely sympathise with this > idea, because both my > eldest (Oliver) and youngest (Clara) of three > children have been diagnosed > as dyslexic and received help in their education, > with extra time in exams. > > However there is no evidence that so-called > dyslexics are any different from > other poor readers and spellers, as regards the > difficulties they have in > reading in writing, or in the effectiveness of > remediation. This point was > strongly made in a programme on Channel 4, > provocatively called "The > Dyslexia Myth", see > http://www.channel4.com/news/microsites/D/dyslexia_myth/. > So I come back > to one of my three questions that started this > thread: "Is poor reading > simply a result of poor teaching?" > > Last night I discussed this with my wife. She > remembers Oliver's primary > school teacher saying how difficult Oliver was to > teach, because he didn't > seem to be taking in the instruction in class, and > not participating > actively. This is a characteristic of Oliver - he > finds it difficult to > take in instructions. He also lacks a sense of the > passage of time, and a > certain organisational ability. It is a combination > of these which makes it > difficult for teachers to give adequate tuition, and > which makes exams so > difficult for him. > > This set me thinking. Perhaps Oliver's difficulty > with reading and writing, > for which he was branded "dyslexic", was a result of > him not taking in the > instruction, rather than poor teaching as such. > Perhaps, if he had been > given intensive one-to-one tuition, where the > teacher made sure that he was > taking in every step, he would be as good a reader > and speller as the > average child of his age and intelligence. And > perhaps his neural pathways > would have developed as for the average child. > > An alternative explanation, provided by the > programme I mention above, is > that reading problems most often arise from a audio > processing disability or > difficulty. See "View 2" in > http://www.channel4.com/news/microsites/D/dyslexia_myth/dyslexia.html. > The > past view was that dyslexia arose from a visual > processing difficulty (hence > the advocacy of tinted spectacles, etc.). This new > explanation would > suggest that to teach reading, one would need to > concentrate on phonological > awareness, as this is otherwise a block on > successfully learning to read for > up to 20% of children. I do not know whether this > explanation could apply > to Oliver. > > It seems to me vital that we find the correct > explanation of dyslexia. The > brain research clearly shows that there are marked > differences in how people > read - because different parts of the brain are in > play. We need to > establish whether the observed differences are cause > or effect: the cause of > differences in reading ability, or the effect of the > way the people were > taught. My hypothesis is that they are effect. It > could be tested by fMRI > on the Clackmannanshire kids. If they have all > developed the pathways used > by good readers, then we have: > > 1. evidence that dyslexia arises from inadequate > teaching; > 2. a new tool for diagnosis of reading problems; > 3. a new tool to establish the effectiveness of > teaching methods; > 4. proof beyond reasonable doubt of the > effectiveness of synthetic phonics > in the teaching of reading. > > Cheers, > > John > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Lucille Cuttler" <l.cuttler@comcast.net> > To: "Multiple recipients of list" > <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> > Sent: Saturday, October 01, 2005 2:15 AM > Subject: [NIFL-LD:4908] Re: LD and intensive phonics > > > > The International Dyslexia Association is a > reliable source for many > > questions recently expressed - www.interdys.org > Membership brings > > professional journals, newsletters, and a chance > to meet with other > > professionals in your area. Techniques appropriate > for severe dyslexics > > can > > certainly help anyone struggling with decoding and > spelling. > > > > As a tutor with 20 years I have used structured, > kinesthetic, explicit > > direct instruction. I know it does the job. A > tutor/teacher to be > > effective > > needs a well equipped tool box. Creative ways of > teaching, reaching both > > sides of the brain, work. > > > > Also, always keep in mind that the rate of > learning varies. Students go > > as > > fast as they can but as slow as they must. > Lucille Cuttler > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: nifl-ld@nifl.gov [mailto:nifl-ld@nifl.gov]On > Behalf Of John Nissen > > Sent: Friday, September 30, 2005 11:04 AM > > To: Multiple recipients of list > > Subject: [NIFL-LD:4906] Re: LD and intensive > phonics > > > > > > > > Hello Aaron, > > > > Thank you for the references. I had a good read > of the article on > > Neurobiology, and it is very informative and well > written. > > > > However I have some problems with it. From what I > have seen, none of the > > research on dyslexia has taken into account a key > environmental factor - > > how > > the subjects had been taught to read. Moreover > none of the researchers, > > to > > my knowledge, have looked at children who have > been given intensive > > phonics > > training at the start of primary school, by either > explicit phonics or > > synthetic phonics. Perhaps the patterns of brain > activation would be > > different, if the subjects had been taught in a > different way. In the > > Clackmannanshire study, all the children were > taught to read successfully > > using synthetic phonics, and there was little or > no "dyslexia" apparent. > > And I have heard of reseach suggesting that the > left brain can indeed by > > "activated" to help people overcome reading > problems. > > > > Therefore, I am suspicious when the article says > that "dyslexia is a > > persistent and chronic condition". It seems there > might be effective > > remediation that could activate the parts of the > brain that are used by > > normal readers. A key giveaway in the article is > as follows: > > > === message truncated === __________________________________ Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com
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