Educating Children With Learning Difficulty Dyslexia

Educating Children with Learning Difficulty Dyslexiaaccount of this.
IntroductionLimited career prospects
             Given proper support, dyslexic
If we are to teach real peace in this world,and if westudents are perfectly able to go on to achieve
are to carry on a real war against war,we shall havedegrees at university and pursue successful careers.
to begin with the children.Many dyslexic people find success and fulfillment in:
 - Creative areas,
...M.K.Gandhi- In areas which allow them to use their physical
 co-ordination skills, and
 - In areas that allow them to use their ability to
If hope and salvation are to come,they can onlyempathize with others.
come from the children,for the children are theHow can a parent help their dyslexic child?
makers of menThe most important thing you can do is to build up
…Maria Montessorithe damaged confidence and self-esteem of your
 child. Make sure s/he knows s/he is loved for himself,
            We know ‘Today’sand that this love is not dependent on how well s/he
children are tomorrow’s citizens’. It isdoes at school.
necessary to take care about children. Education is·         Make it clear that the child's difficulties
the solution for all types of problems. Throughare not his fault. Be very encouraging and find things
education we can solve all types of problems in thehe is good at.
society. Education gives strength, power, character,·         Praise him for effort - remember how
courage and knowledge. So, it is necessary to givehard he has to try to achieve success in reading,
education for all in the world without consideringwriting and math/s.
castes, religions and regions.·         Help with homework from school, or
 from any special needs lessons.
Ø      Specific Learning Disabilities·         Help him to be organized.
Ø      Reading Disability- Encourage areas in which he can experience
Ø      Writing Disabilitysuccess, such as creative areas and activities such as
Ø      Nonverbal learning Disabilitysports, which involve physical co-ordination.
Ø      Disorders of Speaking and Learning- Encourage hobbies, interests and out of school
Ø      Auditory processing Disorder DYSLEXIAactivities.
 Treatment and intervention
            Dyslexia is a learning disability thatPoor academic achievement can be addressed with a
manifests primarily as a difficulty with writtenvariety of interventions. Although the underlying
language, particularly with reading and spelling. It isprocessing difficulty is usually considered to be a
separate and distinct from reading difficulties resultinglifelong disorder, academic skills themselves can be
from other causes, such as a non-neurologicalimproved with targeted interventions. Some
deficiency with vision or hearing, or from poor or(adjustments, equipment and assistants) are designed
inadequate reading instruction.to accommodate or help compensate for the
Evidence suggests that dyslexia results fromdisabilities while others (specialized instruction) are
differences in how the brain processes written andintended to make improvements in the weak areas.
or verbal language. Although dyslexia is the result of aPractice is a particularly important component in
neurological difference, it is not an intellectual disability.developing competence, regardless of the starting
Dyslexia occurs at all levels of intelligence;point. Children who start out with a weakness in a
sub-average, average, above average, and highlybasic skill, such as reading, may miss out on the
gifted.necessary practice because of the need to catch up
According to the findings of a University of Hongwith their chronological age peers. Thus a small
Kong study, dyslexia affects different structural partsweakness can snowball into a larger problem.
of children's brains depending on the language they Interventions include:
read. The study focused on comparing children thatMastery model:
were raised reading English and children raised reading·         Learners work at their own level of
Chinese. Using MRI technology researchers found thatmastery.
the children reading English used a different part of·         Practice
the brain then those reading Chinese. Researchers·         Gain fundamental skills before moving
were surprised by this discovery and hope that theonto the next level.
findings will help lead them to any neurobiologicalNote: this approach is most likely to be used with
cause for dyslexia.adult learners or outside the mainstream school
The word dyslexia comes from the Greek words system.
dys and lexis . People with dyslexia are called dyslexicDirect Instruction:
or dyslectic. Causes of Dyslexia 
 Ø      Highly structured, intensive instruction.
Dyslexia has not been generally recognized as aØ      Emphasizes carefully planned lessons for
learning difficulty until the last decade or two. Johnsmall learning increments.
Bradford presents an overview of the latestØ      Scripted lesson plans.
research on its causes, and suggests further reading.Ø      Rapid-paced interaction between teacher
            Dyslexia is brought about eitherand students.
though inherited traits (developmental dyslexia) or byØ      Correcting mistakes immediately.
early ear infections such as 'glue ear’, whichØ      Achievement-based grouping.
cause hearing loss (acquired dyslexia). Its cause hasØ      Frequent progress assessments.
not been fully established, but the effect is to create 
lifelong neurological anomalies in the brain. TheseClassroom adjustments:
anomalies bring about varying degrees of difficulty in 
learning when using words, and sometimes symbols.Ø      Special seating assignments.
 Ø      Alternative or modified assignments.
Symptoms of DyslexiaØ      Modified testing procedures.
 Special equipment:
Children or students who are dyslexic have 
phonological difficulties, that is, they find it difficult toØ      Electronic spellers and
sort out the sounds within words. This means that                    
they have problems with reading, writing and spelling.Ø      World processors
The majority of dyslexic children have difficulty withØ      Talking calculators
text, memory and the sequencing processes of basicØ      Books on tape
mathematics. At what age does it become a 
problem?Classroom assistants:
Children are either born with dyslexia, or they acquire 
the difficulty during early childhood through hearingØ      Note-takers
loss, but it is when they begin to learn using wordsØ      Readers
and sometimes other symbols at school that itØ      Proofreaders
becomes a noticeable problem. 
What level of intelligence does it affect?Special Education:
Dyslexia can occur in children and students of all 
abilities, and dyslexic people are frequently ofØ      Prescribed hours in a special class
average or above average ability. It is found in allØ      Placement in a special class
socio-economic groups and in every country in theØ      Enrollment in a special school for learning
world. If no help is given, it often results in lowdisabled students
self-esteem. 
Can Dyslexia be cured?           Sternberg has argued that early
Each dyslexic person's difficulties are different andremediation can greatly reduce the number of
vary from slight to very severe disruption of thechildren meeting diagnostic criteria for learning
learning process. There is no total cure, but skilleddisabilities. He has also suggested that the focus on
specialist teaching of phonics, sequencing andlearning disabilities and the provision of
techniques to raise the person’s self-esteem canaccommodations in school fails to acknowledge that
alleviate the effects of dyslexia.people have a range of strength and weaknesses,
The neurological differences also give some dyslexicand places undue emphasis on academic success by
people visual, spatial, physical co-ordination and lateralinsisting that people should receive additional support
thinking abilities that enable them to be successful inin this arena but not in music or sports.
a wide range of careers. One famous architect'sConclusions:
practice gives preference to employing people who          Some critics of the concept of
are dyslexic because of their strong spatiallearning disabilities and of special education take the
awareness and lateral thinking abilities.position that every child has a different learning style
 and pace and that each child is unique, not only
How many people are affected by dyslexia?capable of learning but also capable of succeeding.
It is estimated that between 4% and 7% of theThese critics assert that applying the medical model
population are dyslexic.of problem solving to individual children who are pupils
Are boys affected more than girls?in the school system, and labeling these children as
Roughly equal numbers of boys and girls aredisabled, systematically prevents the improvement of
affected.the current educational system.
Does dyslexia affect a child's self-esteem?References:
            As literacy skills are so strongly1. Patil L. Harrison; Flanagan, Dawn P. (2005).
emphasized during the schooling process, dyslexicContemporary intellectual assessment: theories, tests,
children experience a great deal of failure which canand issues. New York: Guildford Press.
easily lower their self-esteem and make them feel2. Aaron, P.G. (1995). “Differential Diagnosis of
that they must be stupid.Reading Disabilities.” School Psychology Review
This is why it is important for dyslexic children to24(3): 345-60.
receive as much praise, credits, certificates, gold3. Marcia A. Barnes; Fletcher, Jack; Fuches, Lynn.
stars, etc. as the other children. To complete a pieceLearning Disabilities: From Identification to
of written work in class is twice as hard as for aIntervention. New York: The Guilford Press.
non-dyslexic child.4. Sternberg, R.J., & Grigorenko, E.L. (1999). Our
It is also important for a dyslexic child to have art,labeled children: What every parent and teacher
crafts, physical education and sports during theirneeds to know about learning disabilities. Reading, M.A.
week in school, as these are the only areas in whichPerseus Publishing Group.
they may excel and experience a feeling of5.      Bandian, N.A. (1999) Reading disability
satisfaction in learning.defined as a discrepancy between listening and
Having to learn a foreign language - like French - is areading comprehension: A longitudinal study of
virtual impossibility for a dyslexic child, and a surestability, gender differences, and prevalence. Journal
route to failure: schools need to be flexible and takeof Learning Disabilities, 32 (2) 138-148.