2012年5月6日 星期日

An Introduction to Overcoming Dyslexia


Children with dyslexia have difficulty in learning to read despite having average or above average intelligence and receiving regular instruction, Dyslexia is caused by impairment in the brain's ability to translate images received from the eyes or ears into understandable language. It never results from vision or hearing problems, neither from mental retardation, brain damage, or a lack of intelligence.

Dyslexia like other learning disabilities can be very difficult to diagnose often going undetected until the later grades of school. There can be other problems that disguise Dyslexia. The child becomes frustrated by the difficulty in learning to read often resulting in behavioral problems at school and in the home environment. The child may also display signs of depression and low self-esteem. All these problems often lead to a lack of motivation to attend school.

Diagnoses and Types of Dyslexia

There are different types of Dyslexia.

"Trauma dyslexia" usually occurs because of brain trauma or injury to the area of the brain that controls reading and writing. This is rare.

"Primary dyslexia." This type of dyslexia is a dysfunction of the left hemisphere of the brain (cerebral cortex) and does not change with age. Individuals may struggle with reading, spelling and writing as adults. Primary dyslexia is passed through their genes (hereditary). It is found more in boys than in girls.

"Secondary" or "Developmental dyslexia" is felt to be caused by hormones during the early stages of fetal development. Developmental dyslexia diminishes with the maturity of the child. This also is more common in boys.

Dyslexia is a difficult disorder to diagnose. Testing for Dyslexia should determine the child's functional reading level and compare it to reading potential, which is evaluated by an intelligence test. The aspects of the reading process are examined to pinpoint where the breakdown is occurring. The test further assesses how a child takes in and processes information and what the child does with the information. The tests help determine if a child learns better by hearing information (auditory), looking at information (visual), or doing something (kinesthetic). The test also assess if a child performs better when allowed to give information (output), by saying something (oral), or by doing something with their hands (tactile-kinesthetic). The test also would evaluate as how all of these sensory systems (modalities) work in coordination with each other.

Some requirements for a child before they are tested is that the child should get a good night's sleep and have a good breakfast. If the testing needs to be done in a school setting, the teacher can prepare the child by talking about the person who will come and do special work with the child.

A standard set of tests can include, but is not limited to, the following:

1. Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III)

2. Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (KABC)

3. Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale

4. Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery

5. Peabody Individual Achievement Tests-Revised (PIAT)

6. Wechsler Individual Achievement Tests (WIAT)

7. Kaufman Tests of Educational Achievement (KTEA)

8. Bender Gestalt Test of Visual Motor Perception

9. Beery Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration

10. Motor-Free Visual Perception Test

11. Visual Aural Digit Span Test (VADS)

12. Test of Auditory Perception (TAPS)

13. Test of Visual Perception (TVPS)

14. Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised

15. Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test

16. Test for Auditory Comprehension of Language

Treatment & Teaching Methods

Before any treatment is started, an evaluation must be done to determine the child's specific area of disability. The school can develop a plan with the parent to meet the child's requirements. A treatment plan will focus on strengthening the child's weaknesses while utilizing the strengths. Another approach may be a systematic study of phonics. There can be techniques designed to help all the senses work together efficiently can also be used. There can be reading approaches that require a child to hear, see, say, and do something (multisensory), such as the Slingerland Method, the Orton-Gillingham Method, The Spalding Method, Alphabetic Phonics, The Herman Method, The Wilson Method or Project READ can be used.

The child should be taught compensation and coping skills. Good attention should be paid to optimum learning conditions and alternative avenues for student performance.

Although alternative treatments are commonly recommended, there is little research supporting the effectiveness of these treatments. In addition, these treatments are very costly, quite easy for frustrated parents to be misled by something that is expensive and sounds attractive. Perhaps the most important aspect of any treatment plan is attitude. The child will be greatly influenced by the attitudes of the adults around him.




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