Sunday, December 16, 2018

Dyslexia - Random Thoughts

Here are a few snippets that have come up recently in my consults regarding dyslexia:

1- Dyslexia is on a spectrum - you can be mildly, moderately, or severely dyslexic

2- Phonological/phonemic awareness deficits are a part of this condition

3- Accurate speech/articulation skills are important to imprint phonological awareness skills

4-I see many students who do not have a systematic sequence for forming printed letters

5- Syllable segmentation is an important skill in decoding science and social studies texts

6- Packaged reading programs are important, but we also need to step back from them to make sure our students can generalize to the reading demanded of them in their curriculum

7- #6 also helps students build their reading confidence.

8- As literacy experts, we all have our favorite programs.  That does not mean we can put other programs down, if they are solidly research-based.

9- Teaching the decoding and also meaning of prefixes, suffixes, and roots will expand a student's vocabulary as well as reading ability.

10- Spelling (encoding) should be taught in conjunction with decoding lessons.

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