The Challenges of Dyslexia: Finding the Courage to Teach,

Learn and Parent

Nancy Hennessy, M.Ed.

ORBIDA

Feb. 23, 2007

Purpose

Create hope, possibility and partnershipso that every individual has the opportunity to lead a productive and fulfilling lifeand society benefits from the resource that is liberated.

Acquisition and application of knowledge that allows us to tap into and participate fully in life’s

journey.

So, what knowledge, skills, attitudes might empower us to

achieve our purpose!

Every Child Reading

Let’s begin by acknowledging that…

If we are to activate our abilities and avoid energy traps so that we can serve our children, we need to accept and acknowledge our connectedness.

“When I accept my connectedness, I give up my attempt to manipulate and win.”

Blend and dance….

And then, let go of need to be right. Recognize the realness of the other’s

emotions and position. Seek to understand. Balance tools of advocacy and

inquiry.

Follow the “yellow brick road” or path of understanding to our

destination….

Change is needed if we are to reach our destination-a place called Success where every child learns to read…..

Recognize reality

Visit courage

Listen to experience

Explore the competency-confidence connection

Take charge!!!!!

Fall out Startling Statistics

We see, we feel, we change….

“People change what they do less because we give them

analysis that shifts their thinking than because we show them a

truth that influences their feelings.”

John Kotter and Dan Cohn-Heart of Change, 2002

“Statistically, more American children suffer long term life harm from the process of learning to read than from parental abuse, accidents and all other childhood diseases and disorders combined. In purely economic terms, reading related difficulties cost our nation more than the war on terrorism, crime, and drugs combined.”

Children of the Code www.childrenofthecode.org

National Institute for Family Literacy www.nifl.org

academic social emotional economic cognitive

38% of students with learning disabilities drop out of school-significantly more than students without learning disabilities.

Previously undetected learning disabilities have been found in 50% of juvenile delinquents. Once remedial services are provided, this population's recidivism rate drops to just 2%.

Adults with learning disabilities earn an average of 36% less per hour than their peers without disabilities

And…

1 out of every 5-10 students has some degree of dyslexia

60-80% of students with an identified specific learning disability have that disability in the area of reading and language

National Institute of Health:Child Health and Human Development

Can you think of some other “truths” that could prompt or support us as we attempt to find the courage to change??

Perhaps, our next stop will help us to better understand how we can deal with those flying monkeys!!!!

How do you define? Why do we need it? Where can you find it?

An unfathomable ability to find the wherewithal to face and handle unbelievably difficult events and episodes in life.

Witness the experiences of….

the parent the child the teacher/therapist the adult dyslexic the diagnostician the administrator

What emotions do school evoke for you?

“Teaching and parentingtug at the heart, open the heart and can even break the heart.

The more one loves teaching/parenting,

the more heartbreaking it can be. We find courage to

teach/parent by keeping our heart open

in those very moments when the heart is

asked tohold more.”

Need a reason…..

“To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.”

Victor Hugo

Connect and relate-the perspective of:

the dyslexic the parent the educator

“I am what I can make work.”Erik Eriksen

“….reading is a proxy for how individuals perceive their intelligence.”

“….reading problems potent perpetrators of low self-esteem.”

Reid LyonNYIDA, 2004

Chris’ StoryPerseverance

A man of action not words……

“Too many cooks spoil the broad.”

“Deep within you is a song that plays softly-a song you can hear only if you’re very quiet, and very still. Stop, take the time to listen to the soul of your song. Then travel the road it leads you to. Let its melody carry you over your self-doubts and fears as you move forward. I, like many people, listened to the negativity in my head instead ofconnecting with the song within my soul-I believed I was dumb because of my inability to read-this is the shamethat governed my life and kept me locked in a small world.“

Building Blocks for Resiliency(Orville Dean)

Awareness of strengths Positive relationships-the

charismatic adult…….

Loss

The loss of the child they believed they had or the child they dreamed of having….

Loss

Mourning Denial

FearGuilt Bargaining

Blame

EnvyIsolation Anger

Armed Services Officer

“When I was in first grade, my poor mother would cringewhen she saw the teacher standing with me in the carpool line, my plump, white-knuckled fist full of the red-inked casualties that were my handiwork. Somehow I survived first grade. My performance in second grade,however, called for drastic measures.”

Parent advocate…

…when are they going to understand they do this every day and I have only one chance to learn how to do it and get it right.

“Teaching is an act of courage and as such, it is

an act of love.”

“Teachers’ beliefs about their effectiveness are

directly linked to their own self-esteem and sense of

competence.”

Teachers are just like the kids…..

True Confessions

I was dysteachic…….

“As a young teacher, I yearned for the day when I would know my craft well, be so competent, so experienced, so powerful that I could walk into any classroom without feelingafraid-now know the day will never come.”

My story…….

RESISTANCE

Fear of failure

Value status quo

Lack the knowledge necessary to implement

Inability to compare effectiveness

Lack of administrative support

Culture of the school

“We need the courage to start and continue what we should do, and the courage to stop what we shouldn’t do.”

Richard Evans

Come on down the road….

Where else might we need to go to seek the “wisdom of the wizard???”

Dyslexia Defined The Science of Reading Informed Instructors and

Learning Envirionments

Dr. Samuel T. Orton’s contributions….

More widespread than recognized Exists on a continuum Differences in neurophysiology Not product of poor teaching Not properly treated can have lifelong

consequences Requires explicit, systematic,

intensive instruction about the structure of language

DyslexiaIDA Research Definition, 2002

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.

…..phonological component-the sound factory

“A child has to develop the insight that spoken words can be pulled apart into phonemes and that letters in a word represent these sounds.”

“Oh, I get it-sounds make words!”

Phonology/Orthography Connection-the code of written language

Mapping of phonemes onto the letters that represent them

Dyslexia

Ginger Berninger, who directs the University of Washington’s Learning Disabilities Center, has stated that “Most people think dyslexia is a reading disorder, but it is also a spelling and writing problem." She adds that “children who can not spell can not express their ideas in writing."

secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and

reduced reading experience…

“attention to code is capacity draining-results in inability to attend to meaning that results in

less exposure to text, less practice that results in………..

diminished capability in areas of vocabulary, syntactic structures and declarative knowledge

that influences verbal intelligence.”

Cunningham & Stanovich, 2002

Diagnosis and Remediation of Reading Disabilities-Joshi, 2004

The use of discrepancy between reading comprehension and listening comprehension for the diagnosis and treatment of reading disabilities has strong theoretical backing.

Beyond grade three, the speed of word recognition becomes an important factor.

Spelling is a more rigorous test of decoding than non-word reading.

While the student with dyslexia may exhibit other language-based difficulties, the essence of dyslexia is

an inability to decipher the code or structure of the language resulting in significant problems with accurate and automatic word recognition skills

essential to skilled reading. Dyslexia is treatable. It is not outgrown and persists over the lifetime. It occurs

across cultures and language and thus can be

described as a “universal vulnerability.”

A-ha!!!!

Orton, like his colleagues, recognized that dyslexia may be neurologically based, but that the treatment must be educational.

Samuel Orton, Anna Gillingham, Bessie Stillman,June Orton and……were on to something!!!!!

A little history…….Orton Gillingham

Multisensory Structured Language

Samuel T. Orton

Anna Gillingham

Bessie Stillman

Romalda Spalding

Beth Slingerland Aylett Cox Tori Greene andMary Lee Enfield

IMSLEC, AOGPE, ALTA and Independent MSL Programs…….

“Whether we enter the best of times is dependent on whether or not we use the gifts research has provided wisely or foolishly.”

Marzano, 2003

Critical Research Reviews…..

National Research Council (1998)

National Reading Panel (2000)

RAND Report, Subgroup on Reading Comprehension (2002)

What else????

Research Based Building Blocks for Instruction

phonemic awareness phonics fluency vocabulary text comprehension

Put Reading First, The Research Building

Blocks for Teaching Children to Read, 2001

www.nifl.gov

Abandon the band-aid approach”

“If a child is dyslexic early on in school, that child will continue to

experience reading problems unless he is provided with scientifically based proven

intervention.”

Find the courage to change!

Best practices….

Ongoing assessment:Benchmark, screening, progress monitoring and diagnostic

A tiered approach to intervention: -Core reading program-Small group supplemental -Intensive strategic 1:1 or

small group

Most powerful instruction…..Torgeson, 2005

More time Smaller group Targeted at right level Clearer, more detailed explanations,

more systematic instructional sequence

More extensive opportunity for guided practice

More opportunity for error correction and feedback

“Fruits of these scientific labors can not be realized however, unless teachers

understand and are prepared to implement them.”

Louisa Moats

“Good teaching matters!”“Good intentions are not enough!”

“ Recent studies and review of the literature have shown that there is a consistently positive relationship between teacher preparation and student outcomes.”

Snow, Griffin & Burns, 2005

“Teaching matters and good teaching can change the brain in a way that has potential to benefit struggling readers.”

Sally Shaywitz, 2004

What Education Schools Aren’t Teaching about Reading…

National Council on Teacher Quality, 2006 Most education schools are not teaching the science of reading Even courses claiming to provide a ‘balanced approach” ignore

the science of reading Characteristics such as national accreditation do not increase the

likelihood. Phonics is taught more frequently than any other component of

reading suggesting that ideological resistance to the ”phonics camp” does not really explain why the science is being ignored

Much of current reading instruction is incompatible with the science

Teacher educators portray the science as one approach that is no more valid than others

Many courses reflect low expectations with little evidence of college level work

The quality of almost all reading textbooks is poor. Their content includes little to no hard science, and in far too many cases, they are inaccurate and misleading

There is no agreement in the field about what constitutes “seminal text.”

“Teachers can not teach what they do not know.” Nolan, Mc Cutcheon & Berninger, 1990

“Reading experts agree by consensus that if teachers are poorly calibrated and significantly overestimate their knowledge of important reading related information, they will not seek to acquire or be open to new constructs presented in professional development.”

Cunningham, Perry, Stanovich and Stanovich, 2004

Informed instruction depends on….

Our knowledge of declarative and procedural knowledge-we can only teach what we know

Our metacognitive skills-know what we know, seek what we don’t

So, how do we develop and nurture highly qualified educators?

“Literacy is a secondary system, dependent on language as the primary system so effective teachers know a good deal about

language.”Snow, Griffin & Burns, 2005

Phonology Morphology Syntax Semantics Pragmatics Orthography Etymology

“Metalinguistic Awareness”

Water up and differentiate the curriculum!

How many phonemes in book? What is the third speech sound in

dodge? How many syllables in talked? Identify the closed syllable

quot lise teep Why does the t double in admit when

adding ing? How many morphemes in destruction? What is the origin of the word

dyseidetic?

What about process?

“However, in addition to being taught the knowledge and skills through workshops, institutes or courses, educators, much like our children, need multiple opportunities for practice, feedback, and application under a mentor’s guidance.”

If, as a teacher, (Glickman, 2002)

I present the same lesson in the same manner that I have used in the past;

I seek no feedback from my students; I do not analyze and evaluate work in a manner

that changes my own emphasis, repertoire or timing;

I do not visit or observe other adultsas they teach;

I do not share the work of students with colleagues for feedback, suggestions and critique;

I do not attend particular workshops or seminars and read professional literature on aspects of my teaching;

continued

I do not welcome visitors with experience and expertise to observe and provide feedback on my classroom practice;

I have no individualized professional development plan focused on classroom changes to improve student learning; and finally,

I have no systematic evaluation of my teaching tied to individual, grade/department, and schoolwide goals,

THEN

I have absolutely no way to become better as a teacher

Skill Development Ladder (Gordon)

Unconsciously Skilled/Talented

Consciously Skilled

Consciously Unskilled

Unconsciously Unskilled

What about teaching/learning environment?

culture that encourages risk-taking fosters continuous growth studies student results provides opportunities for collegial

exchange believes that professional

development is not a single event!

Final thoughts..

Evidence from genetic influence does not deny the powerful influence that parents, teachers and therapists can have.”

Richard Olson, 2004

“We are all connected in chains of care, not only to friends and families but to others we can not see.”

Arlie Hochschild, 2002

Let’s take a lesson fromLady Dyslexia (instead of the wizard)….

“If something comes to life in others because of you,

then you have made an approach to immortality.”

Norman Cousins

We know….

“The world connects not by molecules. It connects through ideas, hopes, faces, dreams, actions, stories and memories.”

Bonnie Sanford Grief

Recognized reality

Visited courage

Listened to experience

Explored the competency-confidence connection

Seize the moment and become equity champions!!!!!

Equity champions-individuals who regardless of their role (parent, educator…) passionately lead and believe in the mission (success)

regardless of the challenges!

Take action and change our thinking and practices based on knowledge!

SUCCESS-A place where

every child can read!