Dyslexia is more than a reading problem
Dyslexia is most commonly associated with trouble learning to read. It affects a child’s ability to recognize and manipulate the sounds in language. Kids with dyslexia have a hard time decoding new words, or breaking them down into manageable chunks they can then sound out. This causes difficulty with reading, writing and spelling. They may compensate by memorizing words, but they’ll have trouble recognizing new words and may be slow in retrieving even familiar ones.
Dyslexia is not a reflection of a child’s intelligence — in fact it’s defined as a gap between a student’s ability and achievement. Some youngsters with dyslexia are able to keep up with their peers with extra effort at least for the first few grades. But by the third grade or so, when they need to be able to read quickly and fluently in order to keep up with their work, they run into trouble.
With help and strategies for compensating for their weakness in decoding, students with dyslexia can learn to read and thrive academically. But dyslexia is not something one grows out of.
How common is dyslexia?
It is estimated that as many as one in five kids has dyslexia, and that 80 to 90 percent of kids with learning disorders have it. Sally Shaywitz, MD, co-director of the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity, notes that many children go undiagnosed as struggles in school are incorrectly attributed to intelligence, level of effort orenvironmental factors.
Although experts used to say that dyslexia occurred more often in boys than in girls, current research indicates that it affects boys and girls equally.
Signs of Dyslexia
A young person with dyslexia may:
- Struggle with learning even simple rhymes
- Have a speech delay
- Have trouble following directions
- Repeat or omit short words such as and, the, but
- Find it difficult to tell left from right
In school, children with dyslexia are likely to:
- Have difficulty sounding out new words
- Lack fluency compared to other children their age
- Reverse letters and numbers when reading (read saw as was, for example)
- Find it difficult to take notes and copy down words from the board
- Struggle with rhyming, associating sounds with letters, and sequencing and ordering sounds
- Stumble and have difficulty spelling even common words; frequently they will spell them phonetically (hrbr instead of harbor)
- Avoid being called on to read out loud in front of classmates
- Become tired or frustrated from reading
- Dyslexia affects children outside of school as well. Kids with dyslexia may also:
- Become incredibly frustrated, which can effect their mood and emotional stability
- Find it difficult to decode logos and signs
- Struggle when trying to learn the rules to games
- Have difficulty keeping track of multi-step directions
- Struggle with getting the hang of telling time
- Find it especially challenging to learn another language
Resources
- Bookshare is a government-funded program that provides free access to electronic or ebook text and digital texts to people and students with disabilities. It’s free for anyone K through 12 in the United States, and adults can buy access for $80/year. Bookshare operates under a copyright exemption, a proof of disability (POD) form or documentation from the school is required.
- Carroll School, Eagle Hill School, and Landmark School serve children with language-based learning differences, such as dyslexia, to become academically skilled students who are strong self-advocates and confident lifelong learners.
- DyslexiaHelp by the University of Michigan: providing an extensive list of topics for those with dyslexia, parents and educators.
- Mass Literacy, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education: a statewide effort to empower educators with the evidence-based practices for literacy that all students need.
- Reading Rockets Dyslexia: Reading Rockets is a national public media literacy offering free, research-based information on how kids learn to read.
- The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity: (YCDC) also provides many resources for those with dyslexia, parents and educators.
Book Publishers
Decodable Text Sources: this list is not an endorsement of any specific options, it aims to provide you with a starting point to explore and discover decodable text choices that best align with your instructional goals.
Simple Words Books– decodable books use words taught at early levels so striving readers can enjoy ‘big‐kid’ books with engaging and fun stories that build vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. Here are several linked the library catalog.
High Noon Books– offers ‘just right’ books at many levels from kid to adult. Here are several linked the library catalog.
Orca Book Publishers: offers multiple levels of hi-lo books for multiple ages. Orca calls their various publications different names dependent on the level, but Orca is almost always in the publishing name.
Orca Two Read– for some of the younger readers that are past the point of ‘first reader’ level and are interested in something more complex and longer.
- Orca worksheets that pair along with the Meg and Greg series!
Inclusion in the list may not be interpreted as the library’s endorsement.