Dyslexia (also referred to as ‘specific reading disability’) affects around 10% to 15% of children. One size does not fit all when describing dyslexia and different students might manifest quite distinct reading problems.
Type 1: PHONOLOGICAL DYSLEXIA
Try reading these words out aloud:
WOOGLEMIT, BLAZNAK, CRIXGO
Students with Phonological Dyslexia have difficulty sounding out nonsense words, like those you just read out, as well as ‘regular’ real words, like FRIEND or BECAUSE.
However, they can recognize irregular words (ENOUGH, YACHT) on paper.
Why? Students with Phonological Dyslexia have very poor verbal (auditory) working memory and they struggle with remembering the sequence of information that is presented out aloud, such as instructions, new vocabulary words, and even names. Their poor verbal working memory means that they have a hard time saying verbal information that is new or unfamiliar to them. This can make them embarrassed to repeat information in front of others.
Type 2: SURFACE DYSLEXIA
These students have the opposite problem: they find it very difficult to recognize words when they are written down. They usually have poor visual working memory, which means that they struggle with reading. Students with Surface Dyslexia can even have difficulty reading words they regularly use in conversation because they can’t recognize written words very well or quickly.
Evidence from brain imaging supports the idea that these different types of dyslexia are the result of problems in different areas of the brain. Verbal (or ‘auditory’) working memory problems are associated with Phonological Dyslexia and visual working memory problems are linked to Surface Dyslexia.
It’s wonderful to hear strategies that teachers found useful in the classroom and I thought that I would share one of them with you. This is from Alison, a Special Need Teacher in Scotland.
“I was trying to teach initial blends to a child with enormous difficulties perceiving the two sounds in initial blends. The task was to identify whether 2 and then which 2 out of 3 words begun with the same blend. Initially I introduced this task orally but quickly realized that if I put out pictures of the words it reduced the memory load and he was able to focus on developing the key skill. Similarly word tracking tasks where I would like the child to change a letter to make a new word were enormously difficult and threatening for this child. He became distressed when I repeated the words in an attempt to help him. Making a visual picture strip of the word sequence helped to reduce the memory load and enabled him both, to feel a greater sense of control and to focus on the ‘working’ part of the task rather than the ‘memory’ part.”
Have you found something that worked in your classroom? I would love to hear about it.
The traditional reliance on IQ as a benchmark for academic success is misguided. The study*, which tested children at five years old and again at eleven, found that a child’s success in literacy and numeracy is down to how good their working memory is regardless of IQ score.
This finding is important as it addresses concerns that general intelligence, still viewed as a key predictor of academic success, is unreliable. An individual can have an average IQ score but perform poorly in learning.
The study also found that, as opposed to IQ, working memory is not linked to the parents’ level of education or socio-economic background. This means all children regardless of background or environmental influence can have the same opportunities to fulfil potential if working memory is assessed and problems addressed where necessary.
READ IT
*TP Alloway & RG Alloway. (in press) Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.
