Have you ever read something and got your words mixed up? Like maybe browsing through a grocery delivery app looking for lemons and buying melons instead? It could have been a funny mistake; perhaps you weren’t paying enough attention. Were you aware that in the United States, NIH ( National Institutes of Health) research has shown that dyslexia affects 20% of our population, that’s 1 in every 5 humans! Much of this poses a challenge to teachers, we work hard to identify struggling readers early, but it’s difficult when many students are struggling with getting letters and words accurate in the first years of school.

What is Dyslexia and How can I help my students?

As teachers, we document many of these occurrences in the classroom. Of course, we help our students but many teachers are not trained on ways to support students in the classrooms before a diagnosis. We have come to understand that, Dyslexia is a learning disorder that revolves around the difficulty of reading. People with dyslexia have difficulty associating the letters they see with the sounds that go with pronouncing them. We also know that Dyslexia occurs both in adults and children. However, some who have a milder form of dyslexia often don’t realize they have the disorder until they are older. 

Importance of Early Documentation and Identification

Dyslexia can often be mistaken as a behavioral issue in the classroom. Children who have the disorder can sometimes appear lazy, or it may seem that they are acting out. As teachers we are really identifying the triggers behind acting out, we work to identify what type of activities students are struggling with and how to help students with classroom reading materials. When teachers see that students are struggling we immediately document what we have noticed, and what are strategies to help the student, and each time we try the strategy for 3 days to a week before we document our results, and move on to the next strategy. As teachers, our goal is to catch students prior to them This neurological difference allows them to excel in other areas too, like creativity and spatial reasoning. Many successful people like Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, Leonardo da Vinci, and Pablo Picasso who possessed some of the greatest minds were dyslexic.

Assessing Reading Performance in Students

Uta Firth identified reading structure in three stages: logographic, alphabetical, and orthographic. The logographic stage is where a person starts to recognize the shapes of letters and words that they see. The alphabetical step is where a person associates the sound with the letter. This is the sounding out stage, especially helpful when seeing unfamiliar words. The orthographic stage is where a person recognizes the word without having to read it letter by letter. Instead, the brain automatically acknowledges the word for what it is. For example: reading in the logographic stage, the terms “comfortable chair” are recognized by how the letters and words are shaped; the curve of the o’s, the c’s, and the a’s. The alphabetical stage is the sounding out stage, pronouncing the words per letter. The orthographic stage is where the terms have meaning and are recognized immediately. Firth further identifies the alphabetical stage as the stage in which people with dyslexia have the most trouble. And because they trip up at the alphabetical stage, they have a hard time moving from the alphabetical stage to the orthographic stage. Therefore, consider these three stages when assessing a student’s reading performance. You can check your student’s reading performance by checking the following:

A Phonics assessment can help but in Kinder, in First, this is a challenge

Students with dyslexia often have trouble with low-level language skills. This means that dyslexic students may have a hard time reading and spelling words based on the sounds alone. A phonics test allows you to assess your student’s ability to recognize letter-sound relationships. You can use a list of actual and made-up words. If they struggle with certain words, take note of them. If they start to get frustrated, take a break. Comprehension helps, have them retell what they have read—not just memorizing what they’ve read but retelling the story based on how they understood it. Last, is Vocabulary, do they know the meaning of the words they have read? Many times students use context clues, but if a students fluency is low then they struggle with decoding and this can be an issue as well.

What can I do as a teacher to help?

Well, unless a student has an Individualized Educational Plan or has qualified for services, all you can do is document your work, continue using strategies, and learn more about Dyslexia and ways to support your students. It is challenging when you have several students in your classroom to keep engaged. However, there are some scaffolding strategies and interventions you can use to help your students below.

1. Record their voice or reflection on a phone recorder or a tape recorder so they can gather their thoughts before they write them.

2. Make directions very clear and use an economy of language (Short and Sweet)

3. Small groups help with chunking assignments while presenting a small amount of work at a time.

4. Using a highlighter can be your friend especially when you are trying to focus on explicit information.

5. Work on parts of the reading guides and circle back to continue at another time. Remember, once you modify or shorten their reading guide for students, that’s considered a modification and this is not allowed without documentation.

So What are the Major Takeaways

Reading performance assessments are important ways of identifying struggling areas for students. Try to identify various ways to support your students and express to your team the many ways you have tried up until you get permission to provide accommodations. Again, as teachers, we must pay particular attention to where they are struggling, and focusing on resolving any learning issues can help students overcome reading difficulties and reduce their feelings of shame and frustration. 

Citations:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Dyslexia. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://www.ninds.nih.gov/health-information/disorders/dyslexia

16 historic figures and celebrities who have dyslexia. Touch-type Read and Spell (TTRS). (2022, November 11). Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://www.readandspell.com/us/famous-people-with-dyslexia#:~:text=Albert%20Einstein%2C%20Stephen%20Hawking%2C%20Leonardo,history%20and%20they%20were%20dyslexic.

Submitted by Eliana Meretta on April 20, Submitted by Renee Nash (not verified) on June 30, & Submitted by Lynn Cooper (not verified) on December 31. (2019, December 2). Accommodating students with dyslexia in all classroom settings. Reading Rockets. Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://www.readingrockets.org/article/accommodating-students-dyslexia-all-classroom-settings