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 j9JKnhG03858; Wed, 19 Oct 2005 16:49:44 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 19 Oct 2005 16:49:44 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <8C7A304F00AC522-FA0-114E@FWM-D40.sysops.aol.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: robinschwarz1@aol.com To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-LD:4944] RE: Fwd: 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"; format=flowed X-Mailer: AOL WebMail 1.1.0.14204 Status: O Content-Length: 12811 Lines: 431 -----Original Message----- From: Robinschwarz1 To: nifl-ld@nifl.gov Sent: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 11:36:50 -0400 Subject: Re: [NIFL-LD:4934] RE: Brain researchers at NAASLN, too! Jim Russell and others will be at the NAASLN Conference in Denver in mid-November. Jim and three others will be doing sessions on the brain to help us understand challenges for adult learners with special learning needs. In an earlier e-mail I mentioned visual difficulties that impact reading. There will be also be several sessions at NAASLN with various points of view on visual issues that impact learning in many ways. I urge you all to check out the program at NAASLN-- note also that we are having a special poster session on Sunday, Nov. 13 featuring adult education/ABE/ GED programs that have effective ways of helping learners with all kinds of special learning needs. This session is being sponsored by the state directors of adult education, whose conference overlaps with NAASLN by one day. NAASLN comes right at the end of the International Dyslexia Association conference, also in Denver, but unlike IDA or LDA, NAASLN focuses ONLY on adult learners. Check it out!! Robin Schwarz NAASLN Board member -----Original Message----- From: Michele Anne Craig <shellcraig@ix.netcom.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> Sent: Thu, 13 Oct 2005 14:03:45 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [NIFL-LD:4934] RE: Fwd: LD and intensive phonics 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 >
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon Oct 31 2005 - 09:49:55 EST