Chapters authored
The Contribution of Handwriting and Spelling Remediation to Overcoming Dyslexia
Part of the book: Dyslexia
Identifying and Remediating Dyslexia in Kindergarten and the Foundation Year
Dyslexia is a learning disability found across the ability range. It is an unexpected failure to learn to read and spell despite conventional classroom instruction. It is usually identified at about 7 years of age or beyond when the dyslexic fails to learn to read. The incidence varies in different countries in different languages and with teaching methods. This research presents a new method for the identification of dyslexia by the Reception or Kindergarten teacher as part of everyday teaching. The method uses a child’s freeform writing and a checklist that identifies a critical borderline point that must be reached if the child is to become literate. In order to overcome any difficulty, a specific intervention was identified and a training technique was introduced in a Reception Year cohort (N = 175 children). It was based upon previous research that found dyslexia was caused by a unique deficit that prevented them from developing early phonological awareness in the normal course of learning. The intervention strategy also enabled disadvantaged learners to catch up with more advantaged peers and close the 11-month learning gap found in the national statistics. Their Key stage 1 school SATs showed 30% uplift 3 years later.
Part of the book: Learning Disabilities
The Three Educational Faces of Dyslexia: Identification and Remediation in the Orthographic Phase
Frith defined a her 3-phase and 6-step psychological model of dyslexia. The three phases were named Logographic, Alphabetic and Orthographic in which sometimes the steps in reading and at other times spelling were in the lead. Using this model, it was possible to consider what teachers would experience when meeting dyslexic pupils in the different phases and resulted in being able to identify three different educational faces. In the process of this research the dyslexic characteristics were more clearly illustrated and identified in the written work of dyslexics rather than in their reading. What they wrote displayed in concrete terms their knowledge of the alphabetic system and the structure of words. Many able readers were identified who found it almost impossible to write a legible, coherent and correctly spelled script at any age but the poorest spellers were able to read much more than they could write. It was found that nearly 20% of pupils in a range of schools had dyslexic-type spelling problems but these were generally ignored if they could read adequately. In this publication the subject is the Orthographic face and what teachers may do to help.
Part of the book: Dyslexia