Dyslexia Information

The Link Between Dyslexia and Dyscalculia

April 26, 2017 By Marianne 2 Comments

Imagine my joy at discovering that my kids were a part of the 20-60% of kids with dyslexia who also have dyscalculia! Now alongside teaching struggling readers, I’m teaching kids who struggle with math as well. Sigh…

If you prefer to listen to this post, click on the player below.

The longer I teach my kids with dyslexia, the more I learn about the complexities of this brain-based condition and its impact on how my kids learn.

It’s really no surprise that many kids with dyslexia also struggle with writing (or dysgraphia), organization (or executive function), and math (or dyscalculia).

The Link Between Dyslexia and Dyscalculia: 4 Underlying Areas of Weakness

Students with dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia all have underlying weaknesses in the same areas:

auditory processing
visual processing
working memory
executive function

Understanding Processing Issues

Typically, students with slow processing speeds (either visual or auditory processing) lack the underlying perceptual and associative processing tools that enable them to successfully process numbers and math.

In essence, processing means information in, information out.

For example, how we:

receive information,
make sense of it,
store it,
retrieve it,
and express it.

These processing ‘tools’ help us to express what we know.

If the mathematical processing skills are not developed, then it appears as if we do not know the math. So while our kids may have perfect vision and hearing, once the information enters the brain through the eyes or ears, things get messy and the information doesn’t quickly and efficiently go where it needs to go.

Understanding Working Memory Issues

Working memory refers to the brain processes used for temporary storage and use of information and affects our ability to remember instructions and recall rules such as in games, reading or math.

It is similar to processing as in the previous example but involves manipulating the information that is being taken in as well – therefore the term ‘working’ memory.

Working Memory operates over only a few seconds, and it allows us to focus our attention, resist distractions, and guide our decision-making.

Doing math in “your head,” or mental math, requires significant amounts of working memory. Children need to store the information, hold it in mind for the time necessary to use it, retrieve the math facts that they have presumably learned, and then process the information.

Consider doing a math word problem in which one needs to keep in mind all of the facts that they have just heard, engage in calculations, and then recall additional math facts in order to arrive at a solution

Example problem: There were 1768 cars in the convention center parking lot. Half of the cars left after an afternoon concert and 1020 more cars came in for the evening show. How many cars were there before the evening show let out?

Word problems can be particularly difficult. Our kids may know how to do different kinds of calculations. However, many kids can run into trouble with word problems. It’s difficult to listen for clue words that indicate which operation to use, while at the same time remembering the numbers that need to be plugged into the equation.

Low working memory causes problems with the efficient learning of both calculations and higher level problem-solving.

Research shows that the most common deficit among all students with dyscalculia, with or without co-occurring dyslexia, is their difficulty in performing on working memory tasks.

Understanding Executive Function Weaknesses

Executive function refers to the network of the brain that is responsible for planning, organizing, prioritizing, and recognizing errors and also involves working memory.

Executive functioning issues can produce a wide range of symptoms. Depending on which skills your child struggles with the most, and the particular task he or she is doing, you might see the following signs:

Finds it hard to figure out how to get started on a task
Can focus on small details or the overall picture, but not both at the same time
Has trouble figuring out how much time a task requires
Does things either quickly and messily or slowly and incompletely
Finds it hard to incorporate feedback into work or an activity
Sticks with a plan, even when it’s clear that the plan isn’t working
Has trouble paying attention and is easily distracted
Loses a train of thought when interrupted
Needs to be told the directions many times
Has trouble making decisions
Has a tough time switching gears from one activity to another
Doesn’t always have the words to explain something in detail
Needs help processing what something feels/sounds/looks like
Isn’t able to think about or do more than one thing at a time
Remembers information better using cues, abbreviations or acronyms

That’s nice, but now what?

Knowing about these co-existing weaknesses helps us to understand the bigger picture when it comes to these outside the box thinkers of ours, doesn’t it? We can’t fix the problem unless we know what’s broken.

If you’ve been around this site for long, you know that I don’t for one second think that our kids are broken. To the contrary, I believe that our kids (and husbands or wives) have been created this way for a purpose – for great purpose. See all of these dyslexia success stories.

The reality is though that we need to teach these guys how to read and write and do math. When parents take the time to learn how their kids learn (and don’t learn) they are better able to teach their kids.

Teaching Math to Kids With Dyscalculia

Take a class. Teaching Math to Kids With Dyscalculia is a one-hour, online, parent class full of the latest research and tons of effective teaching tips for kids who struggle with math.

How about you? Do your kids struggle with math?

Teaching the Profoundly Dyslexic Child

April 21, 2017 By Marianne 2 Comments

If you prefer to listen to this post, click on the player below.

Every child with dyslexia is unique. There is no one profile of strengths and weaknesses that typifies every person with dyslexia. There are signs of dyslexia that can be known, but not every person will have all the signs or struggle with the same things. One of the reasons for this is that there are a variety of underlying weaknesses that affect dyslexia.

Almost every person with dyslexia will have weaknesses from one degree to another in the following areas:

visual processing
auditory processing
working memory
executive function

Intelligence also plays a role. It can be difficult to detect dyslexia in dyslexic people with higher than average intelligence because they often figure out compensation strategies that can mask dyslexic weaknesses. The degree of dyslexia a person has will be affected by their relative strengths in each of these areas and result in either mild, moderate, or profound dyslexia.

Mild Dyslexia

Having seven kids (and one husband) with dyslexia, I’ve just about seen it all. My mildly dyslexic kids learned to read independently, despite my early years of bumbling through programs that didn’t work, at about 9 or 10 years of age. The more they read, the better they spelled, and today as teenagers and adults you cannot tell that they are dyslexic except for the occasional incorrect homonym spelling (too, to, there, their, your, you’re).

Moderate Dyslexia

My moderately dyslexic kids learned to read independently (without intervention with an OG reading program) when they were older – between 11 and 12 years old. They seemed to have more coexisting learning issues, like dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and attention issues (executive function weaknesses).

They can read, but they don’t enjoy it much and prefer to listen to books and podcasts and watch YouTube videos to learn. Their spelling, even as adults, still has errors although they are all becoming masters of assistive technology helps such as speech-to-text apps and phonetic spell checkers.

For a list of the best assistive technology for people with dyslexia, visit our Resources Page.

Profound or Severe Dyslexia

I have two kids who are profoundly dyslexic. They have a lot more confusion about just about everything. One of my kids simply could not remember how old he was even at 9 years old with much prompting!

They definitely had more co-existing learning issues but their weak executive functioning skills were by far the most debilitating of their issues. Executive functions help us to plan, organize and prioritize our thoughts. This disorganized thinking, in addition to dyslexia, makes learning that much harder.

How to Test for Different Degrees of Dyslexia

There is no clear set of criteria for determining an individual’s degree of dyslexia. It can be predicted by how far certain test scores are away from each other, or standard deviations. Every case is relative and will depend on how the diagnostician determines it. We were not told a level with our profoundly dyslexic son. Yes, his test scores had some extreme numbers, but it was the long-term struggle he had learning to read even with the right kind of dyslexia instruction that led to him being labeled as profoundly dyslexic.

Dyslexic kids will grow up to be dyslexic adults, but with help, they can increase cognitive functions and can move out of the mild, moderate, or profound levels which is why many diagnosticians don’t classify.

How to Teach Profoundly Dyslexic Kids

The number one warning sign of a profoundly dyslexic child is their painfully slow progress, even with solid, professional dyslexia tutoring. By the time our first profoundly dyslexic child was school-aged, we knew a lot more about dyslexia.

We knew that he was dyslexic, but when he wasn’t learning well at home, we found a local certified dyslexia tutor. Progress was slow so we upped his sessions to 3 times a week. He even went to the tutor all summer with little improvement.

After three years, he still couldn’t pick up a book and read. He was almost 12 years old.

We switched to a program in our area that incorporated more working memory exercises, visual and auditory memory exercises and crossing the midline activities. His reading took off that year!

That awesome multi-sensory, Orton-Gillingham program is called NILD. Visit the NILD website to learn more or to find a tutor in your area.

Besides finding a qualified educational therapist to teach, these are other support strategies for teaching the profoundly dyslexic student:

Scaffolding: Scaffolding providing additional support for kids while teaching. It could mean breaking up the learning into chunks and then providing individualized instruction with each chunk. When scaffolding reading, for example, you might preview the text with your child, discuss key vocabulary, or chunk the text and read and discuss as you go.

Teach them strategies: One hallmark strategy across all subjects for kids with profound dyslexia is to explicitly teach them strategies for completing their work. Examples of useful strategies are: mind-mapping for organizing their thoughts, lists of procedures and ‘cheat sheets’ for math, acronyms for remembering facts, and so on.

For more information on teaching strategies and providing scaffolding for dyslexic learners, check out my Parent Course: Teaching Organization with tons of tips for teaching organization to kids with executive function weaknesses.

Accommodations: Maybe your child your child is not able to read their assignment at all. In this case an appropriate accommodation would be to give them an entirely different piece of text to read, read it to your child, or allow the use of an audio version, and you may modify the writing assignment that follows. For more on the best accommodations for dyslexia, read this.

Assistive technology: Since kids who are profoundly dyslexic will be reading below their grade level longer, introducing assistive technology as soon as needed is super helpful. Speech-to-text apps record their words so they can express their true thoughts on a subject without worrying about spelling. Text-to-speech apps can read text online or e-books out loud to them. Phonetic spell checkers can actually decipher their attempts to spell and help them find the correct word.

For lists of the best assistive technology for people with dyslexia, see our Resources Page.

Some Encouragement for Parents of Profoundly Dyslexic Kids

Yes, these kids need a lot of support!

It is important to remember that dyslexia and its accompanying learning struggles make school endeavors difficult. That is why it is called a learning disability my many.

In my experience, dyslexia is a learning difference. Our friends and family that have so much trouble in school often take off once they leave school. The reason for this is that their strengths often lie in non-academic areas. That is not to say that they lack intelligence. It is to say that we are all created for unique purpose with a unique set of strengths that equip us to achieve that purpose.

For more information on the strengths unique to people with dyslexia, read this post on Dyslexic Strengths.

Do you have a child with profound dyslexia? How do you help them?

Educational Options for Kids With Dyslexia

February 16, 2017 By Marianne Leave a Comment

If you are visiting this site today, chances are you either already are homeschooling or are considering homeschooling your dyslexic child or grandchild. Our school system is failing our kids, despite good intentions, and until that changes, parents are being faced with the responsibility of forging a new path for their struggling kids.

What are the educational options for a parent of a dyslexic child?

There are essentially three options for families in this situation:

Specialized Dyslexia Schools
There are a few schools specifically designed to teach dyslexic students. Click here for a list of private dyslexia schools. Although excellent, these schools tend to be very expensive.

Hire a Private Tutor
Parents of dyslexic kids can find and hire a private tutor, better known as an educational therapist or certified dyslexia tutor, for their kids. Many parents tend to resist this option because we have been raised to believe that the public schools are the educational experts and that they will provide the best options for our kids. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. If your child is not receiving the help that he or she needs within their public or private school setting, they will greatly benefit from being taught by someone who understands dyslexia and its accompanying issues. Time is of the essence. The sooner you intervene on behalf of your child, the better. However, since dyslexia affects many facets of a child’s learning experience aside from reading, there is another option.

Homeschooling the Dyslexic Child
Dyslexia does not just affect a person’s ability to read. It can also affect, spelling, handwriting, math and organizational skills. Although very bright, dyslexic kids learn differently. The freedom to individualize your child’s education by homeschooling allows for children to be taught at their own pace with the methods in which they learn best.

Having homeschooled 7 dyslexic kids over the past 20 years, I am a huge believer in homeschooling dyslexic children because of the simple fact that dyslexic children thrive in the homeschool environment.

Benefits to Homeschooling a Child With Dyslexia

Allows for the necessary individualized instruction in all subject areas: reading, spelling, composition and comprehension.
Allows for kids to focus on areas of interest and for lessons to be planned around those interests.
Allows for freedom from being measured against peers, day in and day out, with no learning difficulties.
Allows for your child to work at their own pace using resources that work best with thier individual strengths.
Homeschooling necessarily avoids the rigid scheduling and standardized testing {and the practice of teaching to the test} that is required in the public schools.

How On Earth do I get Started Homeschooling my Kids With Dyslexia?

I get emails every day asking this question. That is why I created this free ebook. Homeschooling With Dyslexia 101: What You Need to Know About Homeschooling Your Kids With Dyslexia includes the following information:

Encouragement and statistics to help you overcome your doubts about homeschooling
Understanding legalities
How to create a positive learning environment
The best teaching methods for kids with dyslexia
How to find the right curriculum
How to set realistic goals
How to create a schedule that really works

Download your free copy today!

For more information on homeschooling with dyslexia, visit my Dyslexia FAQs page. My book, Dyslexia 101: Truths, Myths and What Really Works, is available here. If you are interested in a private consultation to discuss your unique family situation, visit my Homeschool Consulting Page.

8 Things You Need to Know After a Dyslexia Diagnosis

November 28, 2016 By Marianne 1 Comment

I’ve been homeschooling and parenting kids with dyslexia for a long time – over 20 years! I still clearly remember how it felt to finally receive a dyslexia diagnosis after years of struggles and frustration teaching our oldest to read. Eight kids later (7 of whom are dyslexic), I am confidently teaching my kids with dyslexia and have become a certified Orton-Gillingham dyslexia tutor.

If I could go back in time to when our oldest was diagnosed with dyslexia all those years ago, I would wrap my arms around myself, give myself a big hug and say:

8 Things You Need to Know After Your Child is Diagnosed With Dyslexia

Aren’t you glad you know why your son was struggling so? Having a dyslexia diagnosis, whether an official or unofficial one, is such a relief! Now you know that it wasn’t your poor teaching or poor parenting that was the cause of all the struggles you’ve been having. Dyslexia is the most researched learning issues around and there are many, quality resources available to help you understand and help your dyslexic child. See our Resources Page for lists of reliable dyslexia products, services, books, and websites.

Your child will learn to read! Even though it may seem some days like he never will. ((another hug here)) Dyslexia does not need to be a mystery. Research has confirmed, not only what dyslexia is, but how to teach the people who are dyslexic. For more information, read how to teach your child with dyslexia to read.

Dyslexia is not an illness that needs to be cured or a disability that needs to be treated. Dyslexia is a genetic difference in brain wiring that results in a different way of processing the written word. Some would go so far as to say that it is not a learning disability, but a teaching disability. It is not a sign of weaker intelligence. It is a different kind of intelligence. Learn more about the strengths of dyslexia.

Your child is smart and you’re not a bad parent. These are just two of many other ridiculous and harmful myths about dyslexia. Start by reading this list of myths about dyslexia and consider taking one of our parent classes to get up to speed on what dyslexia really is, and isn’t.

You can teach your child with dyslexia to read. Pick one of these research-based reading programs that have been proven to work with students with dyslexia. I wish I had known more about these programs when my kids were younger. I would have saved a lot of time, tears, and money!

You don’t need to be afraid to homeschool him. Experts actually agree that the traditional school setting does not allow for the individualized teaching that students with dyslexia (and dyscalculia and dysgraphia) need. Download my free ebook, Homeschooling With Dyslexia 101: What You Need to Know About Homeschooling Your Kids With Dyslexia.

Don’t be overwhelmed by all of the products and programs that claim to ‘cure’ dyslexia. First of all, dyslexia cannot be cured because it isn’t an illness. If a company claims to be able to cure your child of their dyslexia, they don’t know the research on dyslexia. Resources Page for lists of reliable dyslexia products, services, books, and websites.

Success Despite the Dyslexia Diagnosis

Researchers asked successful adult dyslexics what things they attributed to their success. The number one factor was the presence of one caring adult who believed in them and took the time to learn about dyslexia and advocate for them.

If you’re new to the world of dyslexia, we are here to support you. I created a series of Parent Dyslexia Classes designed to teach parents and teachers what I have learned over the past 20+ years of teaching my own dyslexic kids.

My Gift to You

Visit our Parent Dyslexia Class page and enter discount code NEWBIE on checkout to receive $10 off your first class.

Signs of Dyslexia in Children

November 27, 2016 By Marianne 1 Comment

Most people think of dyslexia as some quirky habit of reversing letters and numbers. There are many different signs of dyslexia in children, especially in the classroom! If you are seeing any of these signs in your kids, it could be dyslexia.

What are some common signs of dyslexia in children?

This simple infographic details 10 of the most common signs of dyslexia that are noticeable in the classroom.

How to know if your child has dyslexia

If your child has 3 or more of these dyslexia symptoms and a close family member with dyslexia, it is likely that your child is dyslexic. As you can see, dyslexia affects more than letter reversals. Dyslexia can affect many areas of learning, including:

reading
spelling
writing
handwriting
math
attention
organization
social skills

For a complete list of signs of dyslexia in the teen and adult years, visit our Dyslexia FAQs page.

Understanding what these signs of dyslexia mean

Because dyslexia affects so many different areas of learning, it is critical for parents and teachers to understand dyslexia. Since receiving our oldest son’s dyslexia diagnosis almost 20 years ago, we have learned a ton about dyslexia, including what works and what doesn’t work. I created my parent dyslexia classes to share what I’ve learned over the past 20 years of teaching my own 7 kids with dyslexia. Learn

To learn more about dyslexia, consider taking our Parent Dyslexia Class #1 Understanding Dyslexia:

In Course One of the Parent Dyslexia Courses you will learn:

To more fully understand the many facets of the dyslexic mind
To understand how dyslexics learn and methods you can implement today to dramatically improve learning
To be aware of the other areas affected by dyslexia
To better understand and nurture the seldom mentioned, inherent strengths of the dyslexic mind

You will leave this course feeling educated and empowered to help the dyslexic people in your life. You will be able to reject the myths and embrace the strengths associated with dyslexia so your kids can live and learn freely.

How our Parent Dyslexia Classes Work

All of our online parent education courses come to you in both video and audio formats that are simple to use. Each course includes a printable outline for note taking and a downloadable audio recording of the class. You can listen anytime, anywhere (and your spouse can listen too.)

We are also offering support in our private Facebook group for class attendees only.

I know what it is like to be overwhelmed with the task of raising and educating dyslexic kids, so I want to make this simple. My goal is to make your learning as easy and efficient as possible.

You’ll receive MP3s, PDF summaries, links to resources and access to small group encouragement.

This course is based on research-based methods of teaching dyslexics and a plethora of my own unique, personal experience. This is an opportunity for you to learn what has taken me many years to learn – how to teach dyslexic kids so that they can learn and thrive with tips and strategies along the way.

You could buy the top 10 dyslexia books and use trial and error to learn what this class will teach you or you can sign up and get started on the right path today.

Visit our Parent Dyslexia Course page for more information on this and our other courses.

What to do When Your Child is Diagnosed With Dyslexia

September 21, 2016 By Marianne 4 Comments

If you would prefer to listen to this post, click the play button above.

I get a lot of emails from concerned parents who have recently discovered that their child is dyslexic. Their heads are swimming with questions; what next? will my child ever read? how will they go to college or get a good job?

I clearly remember the day our oldest received his dyslexia diagnosis. I never knew that intelligent people could struggle with reading, writing and spelling. Ironically, the day our son was diagnosed, my husband was also unofficially diagnosed. It took some time for the pieces to fall into place and for us to gain the knowledge we have today about this genetic wiring difference in the brain called dyslexia.

The main reason that this site was started was to help people on their unique dyslexia journeys.

I understand the panic, the disappointment, the fear and the worry. If you are just beginning your dyslexia journey, this is what you need to know.

Get Educated

For parents of kids with learning struggles like dyslexia, knowledge truly is power. Whether your kids are enrolled in a public, private or home school, you need to understand what dyslexia is in order to provide the right kinds of support. Fortunately, there is way more reliable information available today than there was 20 years ago when our family started learning about dyslexia.

Best Resources for Dyslexia Education

Our Resources Page is full of helpful and reliable resources for learning about dyslexia but if I were starting out all over again, these resources would be top on my list:

Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz is by far the most comprehensive and reliable book on dyslexia available today. Reading it, literally changed the course of our journey many years ago. Based off of research conducted by Dr Shaywitz and her colleagues at Yale University, Overcoming Dyslexia will help you build a strong foundation in your understanding of what dyslexia is – and isn’t. I hefty 414 pages, I have referenced this book again and again in my quest to help my kids with dyslexia.

My Parent Dyslexia Classes – specifically Course 1: Understanding Dyslexia.
I created my online video-based parent classes to help families to more fully understand the many facets of the dyslexic mind. Dyslexia affects far more than reading! We have been on this dyslexia journey for 20 years and have not only read a ton on the subject, but lived it as well! Our parent classes combine both research-based information and real life experience raising and educating kids with dyslexia.

Learn all you can about dyslexia and teach your kids as they need to know. You will be your child’s advocate until they can learn to advocate for themselves.

Get Help

Finding the right kinds of help for your unique situation is important.

Hiring an Educational Therapist or Dyslexia Tutor
If your child is older, say 9+, and is beginning to notice that they are not learning like other kids their age or are struggling significantly in school, hiring an educational therapist or certified dyslexia tutor is one of the best things you can do to help your child get the help they need with reading quickly.

Because tutoring is often expensive ($50-$75/hour) there is a lot of talk about how to get the public schools to both test and tutor our dyslexic kids. If you try this route be prepared for a long fight. For the purpose of this post and in the interest of helping families just starting out on their dyslexia journeys, my advice would be to either hire your own dyslexia tutor or teach them yourself.

There are some families who have been able to get services through the schools but they are few. In the interest of getting your child the help they need as soon as possible, I don’t recommend this route.

Read this article on how to find free or inexpensive dyslexia tutoring.

Getting Tested for Dyslexia

There is no one test for dyslexia, rather a battery of tests that need to be interpreted by someone who understands the nuances of dyslexia. I recommend testing under the following circumstances:

Your child is losing confidence as a result of his or her dyslexia and would benefit from seeing the results of their IQ test. People with dyslexia do not lack intelligence!
Concerned family members are doubting your current course of action (ie blaming your parenting or education choices) with your dyslexic child.
Your child is not getting the services he or she needs in school and testing would reveal dyslexia and thus get that ball rolling.

To learn more about how and when to get tested for dyslexia, read this post:

Find Community

I’ve tried to keep this post as simple as possible, however, receiving a dyslexia diagnosis can still be overwhelming. One crucial component to your success is to find the companionship of other families who are on the journey with you. When I began being open about our kids’ dyslexia, I was pleasantly surprised by how many other families were also experiencing the same things.

Homeschooling With Dyslexia Facebook Page: This is my Facebook Page. Whether you are homeschooling or not, you will find encouragement and support from experienced parents of dyslexics like you.

For example, look at this amazing list of comments from the members of the Homeschooling With Dyslexia FB page on what to do when your child is diagnosed with dyslexia:

Read, learn, mourn and move on. It’s not the end of the road, it’s just learning to drive down the road a different way – same goals and direction, just a different car. Enjoy the differences in everyone. Teach your child to advocate for themselves, and let them see you fighting for them, standing with them and rejoicing for them when they succeed.
Be patient and embrace out side of box thinking as a gift.
It will be okay. It will be hard. It will take patience but your child will be ok. And so will you. Educate yourself. Fight for your child. Embrace the gift that is dyslexia.
Take a deep breath. Your child is not broken. Ask for help. You are not alone. Things will get better.
I was relieved to learn of tons of highly successful CEO’s, inventors, writers, etc that are themselves dyslexic. That there is just a special path for these learners, to keep things very positive and look at it as a total gift. Yes, the learning process is different, BUT what they offer the world is different too. Dyslexia is a gift.
Our son wants to be an engineer, so when we found out about his dyslexia, we started to research aerospace engineers with dyslexia and found several who have done AMAZING things with NASA and JPL. Knowing this has made my son proud of his dyslexia! He sees it as a strength!
Educate yourself, educate your child and educate family members about dyslexia. Then like a child at Christmas, try to guess what gifts your child has! Help them grow with their gifts and be prepared to be amazed.
Celebrate! As a dyslexic who was not given a clear diagnosis until college and three daughters-one diagnosed and two with mild forms, we realized they it is a blessing in many ways. I celebrated because I learned that I am not broken, not stupid, very capable and have a lot to offer. Once we realize that these kids all have high IQs and extremely creative we realize that it is not our kids that are broken just the system that is trying to educate them. Step back, take another look at your kid and see how amazing they are and that you are just going to have to work a little harder to get them where they are going, but they will get there.
Do not hide it from your child. Learn about it together. Give him a voice. Teach him how to advocate. Talk about it often. Then talk about it some more. Point out other dyslexics so they won’t feel alone. Find a community. Join all of the dyslexia Facebook groups you can to learn from others. After you have grieved and moved on, work to help change the system. Give yourself a break.
Get the books – Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shawitz, Dyslexia Empowerment Plan by Ben Foss.
It’s SO important to connect with other families in the same situation for support. It’s key for your kid to know other dyslexic children and for you to be among parents facing similar parenting and educational challenges. Start a support group if you can. I did.
We don’t homeschool, but we are in a wonderful alternative school with a no homework policy. This is key for my daughter’s mental health and ability to do what she’s good at after school (roller derby, cooking, photography, etc.)
The vast majority of dyslexic people are average to high IQ. This makes it particularly frustrating when their ability to process the written word doesn’t match their innate curiosity and intelligence. Once you learn more about dyslexia, you’ll start to see that his gifts are often not “in spite” of dyslexia, but directly related to his dyslexic brain. Excellent books to read to ground you in these ideas are “The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan” and Dyslexic Advantage.
READING REMEDIATION THERAPY: This is essential. You want to find teachers trained in Orton-Gillingham methodologies to teach your child read. You’ll begin to learn how differently dyslexic children must be taught. It is explicit, multi-sensory, everything must be broken down and the rules explicitly taught for our kids to learn to read with their eyes.
AUDIO BOOKS: My daughter mostly relies on audio books rather than eye reading. Over the years, we have come to understand that eye reading was not the only or best way for her to ingest information and stories. That shift has been LIFE CHANGING for her, and for us. Get your kid signed up for Bookshare and Learning Ally ASAP. You, as a parent, should connect withLearning Ally Parent Chat.
Continue to educate yourself because the road is winding and changes a lot as your kid grows up. Good luck!
Feel happy. You are no longer lost. You can work out how to encourage your child best. There are lots of strategies, technology, learning aids, reading schemes to help your child achieve their academic potential. Don’t forget to also nourish their well- being and soul.
It is a gift! Use audiobooks so the child can access language above their reading level but at their comprehension level, and also foster a love of literature, separate from the struggle of reading.
Break things down into small pieces. Smaller pieces than you thought could exist. Connections that are made in the typical brain are frequently not being made and need to be pointed out explicitly.
Don’t stress if you have to change schools. Your child wild flourish in a environment that understands her needs
It is overwhelming, you will get through it. It’s okay to cry, it’s okay to say the word DYSLEXIA. You may go through some stages similar to mourning. If you feel you are in quicksand, ask for help and wait for others to assist. Most of all embrace it and allow it to make you shine.
Embrace reading aloud to your child, audiobooks, and voice-to-text!
Breathe. It’s just a different way of doing things, approaching things. Encourage, be positive, and look for the adaptations that really work for your learner. Limit screen time. Load up on audiobooks and tactile learning opportunities!
Two steps forward one step back, you are not alone, fight for your child, read a lot and it is real! Ask questions and educate yourself! You can do it…you may have hard days but the next day will be good. Focus on their strengths!
Dyslexia involves more than just reading. It also brings many, many gifts with it. Get a tutor to work on the reading…as a parent you get to help them grow their newly diagnosed “super powers.” Rely on technology for the reading, but embrace the little person who is SO. MUCH. MORE. than a diagnosis, especially a diagnosis as often misunderstood as dyslexia.
Let them learn at their own pace, it’s when they grow the most.
Look up all the famous people that have it and show them.

Other excellent FB pages are:

Homeschooling Dyslexic Kids (not necessarily only for homeschoolers)

Dyslexic Advantage

The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia (great film, too),

Dyslexia Training Institute,

Headstrong Nation

Understood

One Thing You Need to Know

Probably the most important thing that I have learned over the course of our 20 year dyslexia journey is that people with dyslexia are not disabled. Oh believe me, I know it can look like a disability, especially when you’re trying to teach them to read, write and spell. People with dyslexia have a unique set of strengths that enable them to do amazing things in science, art, business, politics etc. These unique strengths are a direct result of the brain wiring that makes reading and writing so difficult.

Be encouraged, get educated, and get connected!

How about you? What would you suggest to a family with a brand new dyslexia diagnosis?

10 Myths About Dyslexia and How They are Harming Your Kids

September 10, 2016 By Marianne 4 Comments

I clearly remember the early days of our family’s dyslexia journey. I remember being confused about what this new dyslexia diagnosis meant to my son and his future. Not understanding what dyslexia really was and not being able to differentiate between what was myth and what was fact caused me a lot of worry.

As many of you know, nearly 20 years since that diagnosis (the first of 7 diagnoses), I have come to look at dyslexia largely as a learning difference – choosing to focus on the many inherent strengths of dyslexia instead of the weaknesses that have traditionally defined it.

Myths About Dyslexia

The following ten myths are widely believed and are harming our kids. How? Keep reading.

Dyslexia doesn’t exist. I’ll never forget when someone I greatly admired, scoffed at the idea of dyslexia, boldly stating that dyslexia didn’t even exist! How frustrated I was for my child, who was being judged by a myriad of other dyslexia myths. On the contrary, dyslexia is one of the most researched and documented conditions that impacts children. Dyslexia is genetically based and has been shown to be clearly related to neurophysiological differences in brain function.

Learning disabilities are correlated to IQ. In my experience, this myth is one of the most damaging. Dyslexia is not related to intelligence. In fact, one of the hallmark signs that a child may have dyslexia is that there is a discrepancy between their intelligence (average to above-average) and their processing speeds and academic performance. Unfortunately, many kids with undiagnosed dyslexia grow up thinking that they are dumb – a false belief that affects them for the rest of their lives.

Children will outgrow dyslexia. Have you ever heard someone say, “I used to be dyslexic.”? That’s not true. They may struggle less with reading and writing than they used to but dyslexia is never outgrown. Research shows that if a child is struggling with reading, writing and spelling in mid-first grade, there is a 90% chance that the child will still be struggling in 8th grade and into adulthood. With early intervention, kids with dyslexia can avoid the embarrassment of falling behind their peers. They also learn and progress much more quickly in the younger years. Don’t worry though – it is never too late to learn to read!

Dyslexia is caused by bad diet, bad parenting or watching too much TV. I know that I bought into this myth quite a bit early on. While bad diet, bad parenting and watching too much TV aren’t good for any child and certainly won’t help a child with dyslexia, dyslexia is genetically based. One of the criteria for determining if a child is dyslexic, is that they have a close family member that is also dyslexic.

Dyslexia can be helped with medication. There is no medication to help with dyslexia. As many as 40% of kids with dyslexia also have Attention Deficit Disorder {ADD}. There are some medications for ADD, but they won’t help with reading, writing and spelling – only attention issues.

Dyslexia is a visual problem. Dyslexia is far more than just reversing letters and numbers. Most kids reverse letters or numbers while they are learning. Continued reversals after 2 years of instruction is considered one sign of dyslexia. Dyslexia, however, is not a vision issue. Dyslexia is a language processing disorder. The confusion lies within the brain and how it processes written material.

Dyslexia affects more boys than girls. More boys are sent in for dyslexia testing than girls, but research shows that an equal amount of boys and girls are affected by dyslexia. Because boys tend to act out their frustrations of not doing well in class, they are noticed and sent in for testing. Girls who aren’t doing well in class tend to be more quiet and try to avoid being noticed. Sometimes they are only diagnosed in high school or college.

Dyslexics are lazy and need to work harder. This is perhaps the single most damaging myth about dyslexia out there. Research has shown by the use of functional MRIs and brain mapping that slower readers use different parts of their brains when reading and working with language. The findings provide evidence that people with dyslexia are not poorly taught, lazy, or stupid but have an inborn difference in brain function that has nothing to do with intelligence. The sad irony of this myth is that most dyslexic kids are trying harder than other kids – yet are still falling below the mark. Adding to this unfortunate truth, the accusation of being lazy and you have added insult to injury.

Accommodations for kids with dyslexia are a crutch. On the surface, allowing certain students more time on a test seems unfair. We have learned that students with dyslexia are just as intelligent as their peers, however because of slower processing speeds, they may need more time on tests to be able to reflect what they really know. The difficulties in taking notes can be so profound that students will often miss the entire meaning of a lecture just trying to copy down the pertinent words. Accommodations for dyslexia allow students with dyslexia to perform at their intellectual ability.

Dyslexia is untreatable. There is no miracle ‘cure’ for dyslexia. It is not a disease that can be treated with a pill. It is a way of thinking, the way the brain is wired and how it processes information. Research has shown that the brain can actually be rewired to process the written word the same way as ‘good readers’ if the individual is taught with systematic, explicit, sequential phonics taught in a multi-sensory way.

Wrong Beliefs Lead to Wrong Behavior

Dyslexia in the school years can be hard. Without the right interventions, students with dyslexia can struggle with reading, writing, spelling and other subjects without ever realizing that there is a reason for their difficulties. This can lead to feelings of severe inadequacy and anxiety. Parents and teachers, who can clearly see that the dyslexic student is intelligent, often fall into believing these myths about that student.

What’s Next? Moving Past the Myths About Dyslexia

If you believe that your child may be dyslexic, read these:

Get Educated!

When interviewed, successful students with dyslexia said that the single most influential experience that helped them to handle their dyslexia and come out strong was the presence of one caring adult. One adult that learned about dyslexia and how to help that child succeed. That is you!

I created a series of Parent Dyslexia Classes to help quickly educate parents (or teachers) of dyslexic kids.

Current classes offered are:

Understanding Dyslexia
How Dyslexics Learn and How to Teach Them
Teaching Reading to Kids With Dyslexia
Teaching Spelling to Kids With Dyslexia
Strategies for Building Fluency and Comprehension
Teaching Organization: Help for the Hopelessly Unorganized (ADD/ADHD) Student
Teaching Writing to Kids With Dysgraphia

Visit our Classes Page for more information and to learn more or to sign up. Educate yourself so you can educate your child!

How about you? How many of these myths did you believe?

Are There Different Kinds of Dyslexia?

April 9, 2016 By Marianne 7 Comments

Have ever seen an article or heard someone say that they or their child has a particular type of dyslexia? Some names I’ve heard are:

dysphonetic dyslexia
auditory dyslexia
dyseidetic dyslexia
visual dyslexia
double deficit dyslexia
attentional dyslexia

Being on the alert for false claims about dyslexia, I set about researching these ‘different kinds of dyslexia’ to see if they are helpful for parents to understand.

Factors That Can Contribute to Dyslexia

The idea that dyslexia is fundamentally an issue with phonemic awareness or phonological processing (the ability to hear and manipulate the individual sounds of language) has dominated our understanding of dyslexia for years. However, this particular type of weakness is not the only factor that can contribute to dyslexia.

Other factors that can contribute to dyslexia:

Attention
Orthography, or the ability to recall spelling patterns.
Rapid automatized naming (RAN), or the quick naming of colors, objects, letters or digits.
Perceptual or processing speed – visual scanning speed
Working memory or recalling and rearranging information

No two people with dyslexia will have the exact same learning profile. Dyslexia can be mild, moderate or profound and can be caused by several different specific weaknesses or combination of weaknesses.

3 Subtypes of Dyslexia

In the book Proust and the Squid, Dr. Maryanne Wolf theorized that there are 3 subtypes of dyslexia.

Phonological Processing Deficit

The most common of these subtypes is a deficit in phonological processing and this impacts the ability to decode/sound out words. This particular type of weakness has also been called Dysphonetic Dyslexia or Auditory Dyslexia.

People with this subtype of dyslexia simply have a harder time processing the individual sounds that make up spoken words and they have a harder time mapping the sound, or phoneme, to the written letter, or grapheme.

Signs of Phonological Processing Deficit:

Have at least average listening comprehension and oral vocabularies
Have problems with word recognition that usually center upon phonemic awareness and word decoding
Often have fluency problems involving inaccurate or non-automatic word reading
Have reading difficulties that often emerge early (i.e., K-3)
Reading comprehension problems are related entirely to word reading

Help for Students With Phonological Processing Weaknesses:

Kids with Phonological Processing weaknesses benefit from explicit, systematic instruction in phonics – also known as the Orton-Gillingham Approach. They often benefit from fluency activities targeting automaticity of decoding.

Rapid Naming Deficit

The second subtype of dyslexia, according to Dr Wolf, is a deficit in rapid naming. This particular set of weaknesses has also been referred to as Dyseidetic Dyslexia or Visual Dyslexia.

People with this subtype of dyslexia will have normal phonological processing, but their fluency and comprehension will be affected by the retrieval of language based information. These are the people that will have problems with word recall, either by saying the wrong word or the word is “on the tip of their tongue”. This affects fluency because it takes longer to retrieve language information. This also affects comprehension because sometimes the retrieved language information is wrong because retrieving the wrong definition or wrong word can change meaning.

Signs of Rapid Naming Deficit:

Have at least average word recognition and phonological skills
Have reading comprehension problems that frequently involve listening comprehension or oral vocabulary knowledge
Listening comprehension usually not low enough for speech and language services eligibility.
Have no history of early decoding problems
Any fluency problems tend to be based in language, not single word reading
Difficulties often, though not always, emerge later in schooling (around 4th grade and up)

Help for Students With Rapid Naming Weaknesses:

Students with rapid naming weaknesses benefit from instruction targeting the their specific comprehension weaknesses (e.g., vocabulary, background knowledge, pragmatic language.) Vocabulary and language comprehension development are more likely to improve fluency than are interventions focused on automaticity of decoding. These students may also benefit from slow reading as a strategy to improve comprehension. Click here to read more about strategies for building fluency and comprehension.

Double Deficit Dyslexia

The third subtype of dyslexia is double deficit: deficits in both phonological processing and rapid naming. This subtype is the least common and the hardest to remediate.

Signs of Double Deficit Dyslexia:

Have difficulties with word recognition and phonological skills
Have poor reading comprehension that is only partly accounted for by decoding (e.g., poor comprehension may occur even in text the child decodes well)
Listening comprehension or oral vocabulary also often weak (but again, not necessarily low enough for speech and language services)
Fluency frequently is poor due to problems in both word reading and language comprehension
Difficulties tend to emerge early in schooling (K-3) due to problems with word reading, but may persist even after remediation of decoding skills, because there is an additional comprehension component to the child’s reading difficulties

Help for Students With Double Deficit Dyslexia:

Students with Double Deficit Dyslexia benefit from both of the above types of instruction.

Research from neuroscientists at MIT and Stanford/UCSF now supports Maryanne Wolf’s theory on the 3 subtypes of dyslexia by showing different patterns of brain activation when reading and rhyming words. Children with a deficit in phonological awareness only, rapid naming only, or difficulty in both areas each showed different patterns of brain activation and connectivity as revealed by MRI.

What does all of this mean to parents?

I have always noted among my own kids that some of them struggled more with auditory processing (as in the first subtype) and some struggled more with visual processing (the second subtype). I have also noted that my more profoundly dyslexic son struggled in both areas. Ultimately, all of the subtypes respond to researched based intervention found in programs based on the Orton-Gillingham approach, like All About Reading, which also includes comprehension instruction.

Do we need to get our kids tested? Read this post on when and how to get your kids tested for dyslexia.

How about you? Have you heard of different kinds of dyslexia?

What is the Orton-Gillingham Approach to Teaching Reading?

March 11, 2016 By Marianne 5 Comments

In all of my years of dyslexia research, there has never been any method for teaching people with dyslexia that has come more highly regarded than the Orton-Gillingham approach.

How the Orton-Gillingham approach was developed

Dr. Samuel Orton, a neuropsychiatrist and pathologist was a pioneer in focusing attention on reading failure and related language processing difficulties. As early as 1925, he had defined dyslexia and developed effective methods of remediation for these reading weaknesses. Enter educator and psychologist, Anna Gillingham, who worked with Dr. Orton to compile and publish instructional materials as early as the 1930s that provided the foundation for student instruction and teacher training. This collaboration became known as the Orton-Gillingham (O-G) Approach.

Since the 1930s research has continued to support the effectiveness of the O-G Approach.

An approach, not a curriculum

It is important to note that Orton-Gillingham refers to an instructional approach, not any particular curriculum. There are a variety of reading curricula that follow the OG approach which we will define below.

What and How the Orton-Gillingham Approach Teaches Reading

The O-G Approach teaches children and adults with dyslexia how to read and spell.

O-G Approach teaches how to decode, or break words into their syllables and phonemes (the smallest unit of sound) to be able to read the word.
O-G Approach teaches how to encode, or break down words orally into their syllables and phonemes to be able to spell the word.
Develops automaticity and fluency at the word level.
Needs to be supplemented to teach continuous text fluency or composition. See our parent course, Building Fluency & Comprehension for tons of teaching tips to develop this skill.

Orton-Gillingham Instruction is:

Explicit: The rules and patterns of decoding and encoding are explicitly taught. While traditional learners can pick up these rules and patterns naturally, students with dyslexia need to be taught every rule and pattern directly (or explicitly). Students also need to be taught exeptions to the rules and patterns and be explicitly taught methods for learning non-phonetic words (15% of words in the English language do not follow the phonetic rules).

Systematic & Structured: Systematic instruction teaches new concepts in the exact same way every time. This way the brain is not expending energy trying to figure out a new method, rather expects the routine of learning and can focus on the new concept being taught. Structured instruction means that information is presented in an ordered way that shows the relationship between what was previously learned and the new material being taught.

Sequential & Cumulative: There should be specific steps and a clear plan to teach all the rules one at a time, building from the simple to the more complex. One step builds from the previous step. This is why it is extremely important to follow the program exactly as it is presented in the curriculum.

Multisensory: As many of the senses as possible should be used at the same time in order to help the information to be stored in long term memory.

Individualized: Although there are specific techniques and the program must be followed as it is presented, a student should move through the program at a pace that allows the student to develop fluency and automaticity for each step of the program. Students only move from one step to the next as they build fluency for each level of language skills.

Diagnostic & Prescriptive: The tutor/teacher monitors skill development with each step. The instructional practices are built upon what was observed in the previous lesson and what is judged to be necessary to move the student forward in the next lesson.

What the Research Says

Evidence-based scientific research has shown that using O-G for individuals with dyslexia (children and adults) will actually restructure their brains to help them learn to read and spell. I can’t think of anything that would recommend a program to me more than that!

Choosing an O-G Program for Teaching Reading

Now you know what to look for if a program claims to be based on the O-G approach. Our favorites for the homeschooling family are:

All About Reading: Read my review here.

Reading Horizons: Read my review here.

Using O-G at home? Download our free OG Reading Lesson Planner with guide for free below!

FREE OG Reading Lesson Planner

Download and print to use at home!

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The Strengths of Dyslexia

January 17, 2016 By Marianne 1 Comment

What is Dyslexia?

In case you’re new around here and don’t know yet, dyslexia is a genetic difference in the wiring of the brain. It causes those whose brains are wired thus to struggle mightily with the written word – this in complete contradiction to the average to above average intelligence that they possess.

Defined by Weakness

Up until very recently, dyslexia has been defined, detected and diagnosed primarily based on the weaknesses associated with dyslexia. Namely, poor reading, writing and spelling ability despite being of average to above-average intelligence. Dyslexia has been called a ‘hidden disability’ because it isn’t obvious except in the school setting.

Many would go further to say that, although dyslexia appears as a disability in certain circumstances, it is actually just a learning difference.

The way that the dyslexic brain works is not bad, it isn’t wrong, and it isn’t deficient. It’s just different. And the difference is not a disability. In fact, the differences in a dyslexic brain bring with it many advantages that go unrecognized and are often mislabeled and even maligned. – graphic designer Madalyne Hymas

Dyslexic Strengths

Interestingly, researchers Brock and Fernette Eide have taken the time to study brain function and structure as well as real people with dyslexia with some profound findings.

These different wiring patterns in the dyslexic brain that cause so much trouble with 2 dimensional learning, also result in some pretty powerful 3 dimensional strengths – a structural trade off, if you will.

People with dyslexia are known for their lack of fine detail strengths – the strengths that result in accurate and precise reading and spelling.

On the flip side, the wiring of the dyslexic brain results in global big picture strengths such as strengths in comprehension, word associations, context and gist.

M-I-N-D Strengths

The Eides have documented 4 fascinating areas of strength that people with dyslexia possess. These are explained in their book, The Dyslexic Advantage, as follows:

M-strengths: Material or Mechanical Reasoning

M-strengths are described as an ability to reason about the 3-dimensional properties of the physical or material world – the shape, size, motion, position, spatial orientation and interaction of physical object.

This is the ability to think and reason in 3D People with these strengths are excellent at conceptualizing objects or systems and manipulating them in their minds. For example, the land developer who has the ability to see land and envision a building complete with landscaping that could be there – all in the mind.

I-strengths: Interconnected Reasoning

I-strengths are described as an ability to spot connections or relationships between different objects, concepts, or points of view.

This is the ability to make connections between things, see relationships, patterns, and view ideas or objects from different perspectives. People with I-strengths are known for making connections between or across different fields and for having very flexible minds.

Consider this example from the Dyslexic Advantage web site:

“I asked my 11 year old dyslexic son what do you think of when I say the word cat. After about 5 seconds I said, “I think of a fuzzy kitten.” Eventually he said, “Well first I wondered are you talking about someone named Cat or are you talking about a tiger or a lion or maybe you mean a mama cat with her kittens or maybe a cute little kitty or maybe you mean a cat walk up in the sky. This is what he thought of in 5 seconds! while I thought of a fuzzy kitten before I interrupted his train of thought.

What an eye-opening scene this is! People with dyslexia, who are often thought of as being slow, aren’t’ slow at all. They are just thinking of so many things – while we with our simple minds are thinking of one simple thing.

And this quote:

“I always had trouble with multiple choice questions in college because I’d think of so many different ways to interpret questions.” – Tech venture capitalist

This is perhaps where the idea of dyslexics being more creative comes into play. In one study, dyslexic subjects came up with 30% more possibilities on an alternative use task (i.e. asking subjects to name some alternative uses for a brick).

N-strengths: Narrative reasoning or ability

N-strengths are described as an ability to create stories by connecting a series of mental scenes from past personal experience, as well as the tendency to use stories to recall the past, understand the present, and imagine the future.

This is the ability to tell an amazing story and be able to imagine different scenarios. People with narrative strengths tend to think in stories. This is also called episodic memory. This strength in personal episodic memory results in weak rote memory – a memory paradox.

As the mom and teacher of many kids with dyslexia, I find this knowledge eye-opening because in the school setting, we are often asking our kids to focus on tasks that require rote memory. Check out this chart for more insights.

D-strengths: dynamic reasoning skills

People with D-strengths have the ability to recombine elements of past experience and use this information to predict or mentally simulate future outcomes with great accuracy.

People with dynamic reasoning strengths have great ability to project into the future and make predictions about the future based on their previous experiences.

Consider this quote from Gerry Wittenberg, CEO of Party City:

“I spend most of my time in business thinking, “What’s next?” I see it. I see it in my mind and I start working towards it. “

It’s easy to see how a person with dynamic reasoning strengths would also have strong entrepreneurial skills. Research has shown that, although dyslexia makes up about 20% of the population, about 40% of entrepreneurs are dyslexic.

Focus on Strengths

One of the most important things is to remember as the parent or teacher of kids with dyslexia is to focus on identifying and building strengths. Too often all the focus is on “fixing what’s wrong” rather than celebrating and nurturing what’s right.

Dyslexic brains are organized in a way that maximizes strength in making big picture connections at the expense of weaknesses in processing fine details.

Most of what is done in the classroom in the early grades focuses on acquiring the kind of rote skills that are dependent on perceiving visual or auditory things very clearly as well as learning skills automatically to the point where you don’t have to think about them. These are just the kinds of rote and fine detail skills that dyslexic kids tend to have difficulty learning. But because that’s where the focus is in the early grades, their strengths in big-picture processing or remembering personal experiences tend to get overlooked.

While dyslexic children may struggle in the early grades, they often grow into gifted story tellers, inventors and entrepreneurs.