Dyslexia and Specific Learning
Difficulties
Professor Amanda Kirby
Aims of the talk
1. Some basic facts around literacy,dyslexia and
specific learning difficulties
2. Highlights from the benchmarking study and
review of dyslexia and SpLD literature review
Key facts
• Early identification of reading difficulties is important
to highlight which children need additional support
• Phonics is generally good for all
• All specific learning difficulties overlap – so if you have
one difficulty you are likely to have some other
challenges
• Understanding typical development can help with
recognising atypical development
• Literacy difficulties can impact in all areas of learning
so need to be considered especially in secondary
school curriculum e.g. maths, geography and
reasonable adjustments made
Also need to think of reasons for
literacy challenges may be related to:
•
•
•
•
•
Specific language impairment
Inconsistent teaching approaches
Cognitive impairment
Emotional and behavioural difficulties
Lack of focus/concentration (ADHD)
Dyslexia Benchmarking Report
Key Findings
http://wales.gov.uk/topics/educationandskills/
publications/researchandevaluation/research/li
teracyreview/?skip=1&lang=en
>
Report commissioned by WAG
•
•
•
•
Prof Markéta Caravolas
Prof Angela Fawcett
Prof Amanda Kirby
Kathleen Glendenning
Review contains information on:
• Current definitions of dyslexia
• Main theoretical and empirical accounts of the causes of dyslexia
• Current knowledge of the manifestation of dyslexia in different languages
and in bilingual individuals
• A review of research into developmental disorders that may co‐occur with
dyslexia
• Review of the longer‐term educational and psychosocial outcomes of indi
viduals with dyslexia
• An overview of issues associated with screening and assessment of
dyslexia
• A review of the rationale and effectiveness of literacy intervention appr
oaches currently held to reflect best practice a review of some comm
ercially‐available complementary intervention approaches
• Consideration of the implications for best practice in supporting children
with dyslexia and other SpLDs in Welsh schools
Rose Dyslexia Review 2009
Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that
primarily affects the skills involved
in accurate and fluent word
reading and spelling.
Characteristic features of dyslexia are:
•Difficulties in phonological awareness, verbal
memory and verbal processing speed.
•Dyslexia occurs across the range of intellectual
abilities.
It is best thought of as a continuum, not a distinct
category, and there are no clear cut‐off points.
Co-occurrence (overlap, comorbidity)
Co‐occurring difficulties may be seen in:
• language disorders
• motor co‐ordination
• mental calculation
• concentration
• personal organisation
BUT these are not, by themselves
markers of dyslexia
Each student has a different shape
copyright 2013 Amanda Kirby
12
ODD
SLI
CD
Dyslexia
ADHD
DCD
Anxiety
ASD
Amanda Kirby 2013
Therefore a student could have skill
challenges with :
•
•
•
•
Reading ( but be able to spell)
Writing ( but be good at sports)
Speaking ( but good at understanding)
Time management ( but have good self
organisation
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14
Each student
has different hills to overcome and…
different ways to do this
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15
RTI
A good indication of the severity a
nd
persistence of dyslexic difficulties
can be
gained by examining how the
individual responds or has respond
ed to
well‐founded intervention.
Benchmarking study for Wales
• All local authorities participated
• Examined screening, intervention and Spld
practices across Wales
Results showed:variability
• Structure of SpLD services provided by LAs
• In the way children with dyslexia are supported
across Wales
• In the tools used to assess for dyslexia
• In the cut offs applied to gain additional support
and to be no longer eligible for additional support
• In the multi-agency pathways for different SpLDs
• However, ALL LAs aim to support children without
the need for a diagnosis or statutory assessment
Screening
• Inconsistency between LAs with regards to
screening for other SpLDs
• PRUs do not routinely screen for literacy
difficulties despite high levels of literacy
problems,SLI, ADHD and SpLDs noted
(Place,2000)
Interventions
• 69 different intervention packages/tools in use
• Frequency of intervention varies across Wales
– Ranges from school-based according to pupil
needs to 1 half day of intervention twice a week
• Variability in provision of intervention
– School-based
– Central team of specialist teachers
– Bought in from external provider
Resources
Lack of parity between Welsh and English
resources
– For assessing difficulties
– For supporting children with difficulties
– Several LAs developing their own good quality
Welsh materials
Welsh Language Provision
• Lack of assessment / intervention materials
• Lack of qualified, Welsh-speaking specialists
– E.g. Educational Psychologists
English as Additional Language
• Statistically under-represented, possibly being
overlooked
• 59% of LAs encourage cooperation between
dyslexia specialists and EAL support
• Small percentage of EAL support have
qualification in dyslexia or SpLDs
• Half the LAs reported difficulties distinguishing
between L2 based literacy issues and dyslexia
Training
• Not many LAs keep database of teachers with
SpLD training
• All LAs offered non-accredited training to staff
• 68% offered accredited training to staff
• 59% offered training in Welsh and English
Parents
• All LAs encourage participation of parents in
process of assessment and support
• Some good parent information available
across Wales
– Needs to be translated into different minority
languages
• 32% provide training for parents by schools
• 32% provide training by the LA
SpLD Reporting
• Difficulties identified with reporting codes
– Hard to adequately describe pupil with
overlapping SpLDs
Dyslexia Benchmarking Report
Implications of Key Findings
Planning
Task and Finish group needed for Welsh
– Coordinate provision of resources for
identification, assessment and support through
the medium of Welsh
– Resources being independently developed and
need to be pooled for use by all
– Gaps in provision to be identified and resources
developed
– Resources should be professionally developed and
available through central depository e.g. NGfL
Research into Welsh Support
• Need to understand best method of
supporting children with literacy difficulties in
bilingual Welsh/English context
• Diversity of home language situation needs to
be taken into account
• Need to develop appropriate screening and
assessment tools in Welsh
Guidance for Local Authorities
• Clarification on which screening / assessment
tools are appropriate and valid
– Research into the ‘gaps’ in tools should be
undertaken
• Consideration of defining the entry/exit
criteria for intervention to avoid postcode
lottery
• Clearly defined multi-agency pathways for all
SpLDs at different ages and stages
Other Recommendations
• A review of PLASC codes to ensure descriptors
are correct and overlap can be identified
• Screening of all children entering PRUs for
additional learning needs
– Reading, spelling, writing, maths, comprehension as a
minimum
• Pupil’s voice should be included in the planning
decisions
• Guidelines for supporting ALN and EAL to be
drawn up and best practice circulated
Recommendations for Training
• Needs to include information on typical development
so discrepancies can be recognised (now WAG module
in place..
http://learning.wales.gov.uk/improvementareas/childadolescentdevelopment/?lang=en#/improvementareas/childadolescent-development/?lang=en
• Minimum level of SpLD training for all teachers across
all curricular subjects
• All NQTs and PRU staff to receive training in identifying
& supporting dyslexia and other SpLDs
• At least 1 SpLD specialist teacher per school cluster
• Database of training and SpLD qualified staff to be kept
by all Local Authorities
Recommendations for Practice
• Literacy assessments should include all
aspects of literacy difficulties
– Reading comprehension, reading speed, spelling,
writing ability, single word reading
– Consider testing for visual difficulties
• Support for other SpLDs in line with dyslexia
• Central resource of open access materials and
information for teachers, parents and others
• Information for parents translated into key
community languages and readily available
Remember
Each student
has different hills to overcome and…
different ways to do this
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Take 10 students all with a
diagnosis of Dyslexia
(literacy difficulties)
Amanda Kirby 2013
WAIS scores
140
120
100
80
60
40
WAIS Full Scale - S Score
Verbal Comp - S Score
20
Perceptual Reasoning S Score
Working Memory SS
0
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
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i
j
Processing Speed S Score
Sub scores
120
100
80
60
Reading Comp SS
40
Pseudo Words SS
20
Spelling SS
0
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
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j
Numerical Op SS
How many report attention difficulties
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Ref: Kirby, Do-IT Profiler,2013
…And social difficulties
Amanda Kirby 2013
….And co-ordination/organisational
difficulties
Amanda Kirby 2013
…and …the ways they study …
Amanda Kirby 2013