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 j9DI4gG02788; Thu, 13 Oct 2005 14:04:42 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 13 Oct 2005 14:04:42 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <410-22005104131835656@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:4934] RE: Fwd: LD and intensive phonics 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: 11355 Lines: 341 Rochelle, Do you know if he has written any books or articles? I can't make it to the conference as our school doesn't have the funding, but I would love to read what he has to say. Michele > [Original Message] > From: <RKenyon721@aol.com> > To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> > Date: 10/11/2005 7:53:50 AM > Subject: [NIFL-LD:4928] Fwd: LD and intensive phonics > > Aaron, > > Dr. Kenneth Pugh spoke at the Bridges to Practice annual symposium at the > LDA Conference. He is also one of the two keynote speakers - along with Dr. > Jim Russell - scheduled at the LDA of Michigan annual conference at the Kellogg > Hotel and Conference Center in East Lansing, Michigan. Dr. Pugh's keynote > session will be held on Monday, October 24, 2005. Dr. Pugh is a Research > Scientist at the Yale University School of Medicine (Pediatrics) and also holds an > appointment as a Senior Scientist at the Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT. > His primary research interests are in the areas of cognitive neuroscience > and psycholinguistics. For those of you that are interested in hearing two of > the best speakers and professionals in our field, this would be a great > opportunity. For more information, go to: > _http://www.bridges4kids.org/ld/FallConfLDA.pdf_ (http://www.bridges4kids.org/ld/FallConfLDA.pdf) . > > > > Rochelle Kenyon > Moderator, NIFL-Learning Disabilities Discussion List > _RKenyon721@AOL.com_ (mailto:RKenyon721@AOL.com) > > > John, > > Sorry I couldn't respond earlier- I have been out of town the past > week. Kenneth Pugh at Yale Univ. has also done some recent brain research > using MRIs and looking at what happens in the brain when someone is > reading. There is a short write-up here on his research area: > http://www.haskins.yale.edu/Haskins/STAFF/pugh.html > > I don't know if more has been published yet. > > Aaron > > At 11:04 AM 9/30/2005 -0400, you wrote: > > >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: > > > >[quote] > > The awareness that all words can be decomposed into these basic elements > of > >language (phonemes) allows the reader to decipher the reading code. In order > >to read, a child has to develop the insight that spoken words can be pulled > >apart into phonemes and that the letters in a written word represent these > >sounds. This so-called phonemic awareness is largely missing in dyslexic > >children and adults. Results from large and well-studied populations with > >reading disability confirm that in young school-aged children, as well as > in > >adolescents, a deficit in phonology represents the most robust and specific > >correlate of reading disability. > >[end quote] > > > >The explicit phonics and synthetic phonics are designed to give this > >phonemic awareness from the start. The other skill these methods impart is > >"blending" - the ability to put the phonemes together to form (spoken) > >words. This skill is not mentioned in the article but is a key skill for > >reading. > > > >There is a great danger of looking at the brain of a dyslexic person, and > >saying the brain has been "disrupted" or "impaired", when in fact it may be > >just the way the person was taught. Is there any evidence to the contrary? > > > >What I'd like to see is brain scans of the Clackmannanshire pupils reading, > >to see which parts of the brain they are using, especially for those pupils > >with dyslexic genes. > > > >Cheers from Chiswick, > > > >John > > > >P.S. Ian, I'm copying this to you, because I read you'd done some fMRI with > >researchers at Bristol. > > > > > > > >----- Original Message ----- > >From: "Aaron Kohring" <akohring@utk.edu> > >To: "Multiple recipients of list" <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> > >Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2005 5:00 PM > >Subject: [NIFL-LD:4893] Re: LD and intensive phonics > > > > > > > John, > > > > > > Yes, there is research into some of these areas you mention. > > > > > > I'd recommend taking a look at the Focus on Basics article: The > > > Neurobiology of Reading and Dyslexia: http://www.ncsall.net/?id=278 > > > > > > Also, look at the resources under the section on Teaching/Learning > related > > > to instruction: http://ldlink.coe.utk.edu/research.htm > > > > > > Other good instructional guides are found here: > > > http://ldlink.coe.utk.edu/ld_instruction.htm > > > > > > Aaron > > > > > > > > > At 11:26 AM 9/29/2005 -0400, you wrote: > > >>Hello everybody, > > >> > > >>It seems I was too late for Christopher, and a bit off topic, since my > > >>questions were not related to technology. But I'd be interested to have > > >>answers to these questions. > > >> > > >>Concerning the first question I asked, what kind of particular problems > do > > >>people with LD have with reading. Is there anything different from the > > >>"specific" learning difficulty, which is dyslexia (or at least embraces > > >>dyslexia)? Is the difficulty in phonological awareness, or in blending > > >>skills, or in spelling/decoding rules, or in comprehension, or a mixture > > >>of > > >>all these? If it is a mix, is there a characteristic mix? Has any > > >>research > > >>been done on this? > > >> > > >>On the second question, I have heard of people with LD being taught to > > >>recognise whole words by associating them with symbols. This seems to be > > >>a > > >>denial of the fact that letters represent sounds, and they should be > > >>taught > > >>how to decode words, by sounding out the letters and blending those > sounds > > >>together. But one person I asked said that "phonics was not suitable for > > >>children with LD". I cannot believe this. Is there research evidence > on > > >>whether intensive phonics teaching is effective or not for people with > LD, > > >>regardless of age? > > >> > > >>The third question is about cause and effect. If poor readers are > > >>utilising > > >>their right brain when they should be using their left brain, they could > > >>end > > >>up with underdeveloped left brains, i.e. not as relatively large > (compared > > >>to right brain) as normal. That would be an _effect_ of lack of use. > > >>Alternatively a left brain problem (e.g. damage) could be the _cause_ of > > >>their poor reading, from a young age, and they would grow up with a > > >>relatively small left brain. So is it cause or effect? What does the > > >>research say? And is there anything that can be done for the older child > > >>or > > >>adult person to help in left brain development? > > >> > > >>---------- > > >> > > >>----- Original Message ----- > > >>From: "John Nissen" <jn@cloudworld.co.uk> > > >>To: "Multiple recipients of list" <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> > > >>Sent: Friday, September 23, 2005 10:26 PM > > >>Subject: [NIFL-LD:4872] LD and intensive phonics > > >> > > >> > > >> > > > >> > Hello Christopher, > > >> > > > >> > I am sorry I coming into this session rather late. I hope I am not > too > > >> > late > > >> > to join in with some questions. > > >> > > > >> > 1. Do people with LD have different teaching requirements? > > >> > > > >> > I am trying to find out whether there is any difference in the > teaching > > >> > requirements for teaching people with LD to read, and teaching people > > >> > with > > >> > dyslexia to read. I haven't found any factor to distinguish them, as > > >> > regards their reading (dis)ability. > > >> > > > >> > 2. Is poor reading due to poor teaching? > > >> > > > >> > Also I want to find out to what extent the poor reading, or > > >> > non-reading, > > >> > is > > >> > due to misguided teaching. I often see that there are attempts to > > >> > teach > > >> > whole word recognition rather than word decoding, especially for > people > > >> > with > > >> > LD, who may be considered incapable of the necessary phonological > > >> > awareness. > > >> > In the Clackmannanshire study, it was shown that a 'phonics first and > > >> > fast' > > >> > approach worked marvels for all the children, and by the end of > primary > > >> > school they were three years ahead in reading age compared to their > > >> > peers > > >> > taught by the 'conventional' teaching of a mixture of methods > > >> > (including > > >> > an > > >> > element of phonics, together with guessing strategies, etc.). I > > >> > suspect > > >> > that anybody who has learnt to speak is also capable of the > > >> > phonological > > >> > awareness required for reading and writing, given appropriate > teaching. > > >> > > > >> > 3. Left brain development for rapid decoding > > >> > > > >> > Finally I wonder whether the right brain development in some poor > > >> > readers > > >> > is > > >> > because they have developed skills for whole word recognition, and > with > > >> > the > > >> > right teaching, their left brain would be developed to enable rapid > > >> > decoding, even in older children. > > >> > > >>BTW, I've written about the teaching of a brand of intensive phonics > > >>called > > >>"synthetic phonics" here: > > >>http://www.cloudworld.co.uk/teaching-synthetic-phonics.htm > > >>and I'd be grateful for comments. > > >> > > >>Cheers from Chiswick, > > >> > > >>John > > >> > > >>John Nissen, > > >>director Cloudworld Ltd > > >>maker of the WordAloud assistive reader > > >>http://www.cloudworld.co.uk > > > > > > Aaron Kohring > > > Coordinator, LINCS Literacy & Learning Disabilities Special Collection > > > > > > Center for Literacy Studies, University of Tennessee > > > EFF Center for Training and Technical Assistance > > > Phone:(865) 974-4109 main > > > (865) 974-4258 direct > > > Fax: (865) 974-3857 > > > e-mail: akohring@utk.edu > > > > > > > > Aaron Kohring > Coordinator, LINCS Literacy & Learning Disabilities Special Collection > > Center for Literacy Studies, University of Tennessee > EFF Center for Training and Technical Assistance > Phone:(865) 974-4109 main > (865) 974-4258 direct > Fax: (865) 974-3857 > e-mail: akohring@utk.edu >
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