As You Continue the Difficult Journey of Being a Supportive Parent, Advocate, Teacher, or Tutor,
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"Dyslexic kids are creative, 'outside-the-box' thinkers. They have to be, because they don't see or solve problems the same way other kids do. In school, unfortunately, they are sometimes written off as lazy, unmotivated, rude or even stupid. They aren't. Making Percy dyslexic was my way of honoring the potential of all the kids I've known who have those conditions. It's not a bad thing to be different. Sometimes, it's the mark of being very, very talented." --RickRiordan.com |
Research & ReviewTHIS IS THE DEFINITIVE BRAIN SCAN STUDY
"Learning to read requires an awareness that spoken words can be decomposed into the phonologic constituents that the alphabetic characters represent. Such phonologic awareness is characteristically lacking in dyslexic readers who, therefore, have difficulty mapping the alphabetic characters onto the spoken word... Brain activation patterns differed significantly between the groups with dyslexic readers... These results support a conclusion that the impairment in dyslexia is phonologic in nature and that these brain activation patterns may provide a neural signature for this impairment." HERE IS AN IMPRESSIVE 40-YEAR SUMMARY of READING RESEARCH...FASCINATING
"We summarize some of the most important findings from research evaluating the hypothesized causes of specific reading disability (‘dyslexia’) over the past four decades. After outlining components of reading ability, we discuss manifest causes of reading difficulties, in terms of deficiencies in component reading skills that might lead to such difficulties. The evidence suggests that inadequate facility in word identification due, in most cases, to more basic deficits in alphabetic coding is the basic cause of difficulties in learning to read. We next discuss hypothesized deficiencies in reading-related cognitive abilities as underlying causes of deficiencies in component reading skills. The evidence in these areas suggests that, in most cases, phonological skills deficiencies associated with phonological coding deficits are the probable causes of the disorder rather than visual, semantic, or syntactic deficits, although reading difficulties in some children may be associated with general language deficits..." READING DISABILITY IS NOT CAUSED BY A VISUAL ISSUE...HERE IS THE RESEARCH EVIDENCE YOU NEED TO DISPEL THE MYTH!
"To date, there appears to be no consistent scientific evidence that supports behavioral vision therapy, orthoptic vision therapy, or colored overlays and lenses as effective treatments for learning disabilities." It seems intuitive that oculomotor abilities and visual perception play a role in learning skills such as reading and writing. However, several studies in the literature demonstrate that eye movements and visual perception are not critical factors in the reading impairment found in dyslexia, but that brain processing of language plays a greater role. Furthermore, the vast majority of individuals with known ocular motility and eye movement defects appear to read and comprehend normally. Many individuals born with severely misaligned eyes excel in reading and academics." Other Helpful WebsitesCHADD.org Understanding AD/HD
State Laws on Homeschooling Praising Your Child: RSA Animate YouTube video |
Knowing Your Legal RightsOne of the most important things for public school parents is to understand their child's right to a "free and appropriate public school education" (FAPE). This is a legal term with legal rights under IDEA.
I highly recommend all the books and seminars offered by Wrightslaw. In order to be an effective advocate for your child, YOU need to understand your legal rights. You may be highly surprised to find out what you did not know or in what ways you have been misinformed. CLICK HERE: Wrightslaw Special Ed & Advocacy How We Learn
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