Specific Learning
Difficulties:
Dyslexia is one of many labels for a Specific
Learning Difficulty.
Others include:
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Dyscalculia.
Dysgraphia.
Dysphraxia.
Developmental Co-ordination Disorder (DCD).
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
Specific Learning Difficulties
Specific Learning Difficulties are usually caused
by inherent, sensory, physical, or neurological
factors and they:
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Can cause a person to learn differently.
Are not linked to intellectual impairment
(except incidentally).
May coincidently exist with problems with
motor co-ordination / skills attention, social
perception and social interaction.
Are life-long.
Specific Learning Difficulties affects the
learning of about 4%-10% of all people.
Dyslexia
Greek "dys" meaning difficulty, and
"lexis" meaning words.
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Sometimes known as ‘specific learning difficulty’, dyslexia is a
problem in the acquisition of reading, spelling and writing.
Frequently mathematics and aspects of spoken language are
affected.
The term ‘developmental dyslexia’ is often used to describe
those who fail to acquire written language easily and whose
written language is delayed.
Characteristics of Dyslexia
Common characteristics of Dyslexia
include:
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Short Term Memory Difficulties.
Reading and Writing Difficulties.
Visual Processing Difficulties.
Auditory Processing Difficulties.
Time Management Difficulties.
Organisational Difficulties.
Persisting factors.
There are many persisting factors in dyslexia, which can appear from an early age.
They will still be noticeable when the dyslexic child leaves school
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Obvious 'good' and 'bad' days, for no apparent reason,
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Confusion between directional words, e.g. up/down, in/out,
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Difficulty with sequence, e.g. coloured bead sequence, later with days of the
week or numbers,
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A family history of dyslexia/reading difficulties.
Pre-school
Language
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Has persistent jumbled phrases, e.g. 'cobbler's club' for 'toddler's club'
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Use of substitute words (‘near misses’) e.g. ‘lopital’ for ‘hospital’, ‘lampshade’ for
lamppost.
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Hesitates because he cannot find the words he needs and cannot remember the name
for familiar objects e.g. 'table, chair'.
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Difficulty learning nursery rhymes and rhyming words, e.g. 'cat, mat, sat'.
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Confuses ‘up’ and ‘down’ and ‘left’ and ‘right’.
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Later than expected speech development.
Pre-school non-language indicators.
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May have walked early but did not crawl - was a 'bottom shuffler' or 'tummy wriggler'.
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Persistent difficulties in getting dressed efficiently and putting shoes on the correct feet.
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Enjoys being read to but shows no interest in letters or words.
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Is often accused of not listening or paying attention. or having difficulty in carrying out more
than one instruction at a time.
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Excessive tripping, bumping into things and falling over.
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Difficulty with catching, kicking or throwing a ball; with hopping and/or skipping.
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Difficulty with clapping a simple rhythm.
Pre-school non-language indicators 2
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When colouring in the child has difficulty in
keeping the colours within the shape.
• When colouring in the child may have
difficulty in keeping within the lines.
All young children may make mistakes like these
and many will grow out of them, but it is the
length of time these continue which give vital
clues as to possible signs of dyslexia.
Primary school age 1.
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Has particular difficulty with reading and spelling.
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Puts letters and figures the wrong way round.
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Has difficulty remembering tables, alphabet, formulae etc.
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Leaves letters out of words or puts them in the wrong order.
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Still occasionally confuses 'b' and 'd' and words such as 'no/on'.
Primary school age 2
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Still needs to use fingers or marks on paper to make simple calculations.
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Poor concentration.
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Has problems understanding what he/she has read.
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Takes longer than average to do written work.
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Problems processing language at speed.
Primary school age non-language
indicators:
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Has difficulty with tying shoe laces, tie, dressing.
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Has difficulty telling left from right, order of days of the week, months of
the year etc.
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Surprises you because in other ways he/she is bright and alert.
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Has a poor sense of direction and still confuses left and right.
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Lacks confidence and has a poor self image.
Aged 12 or over.
As for primary schools, plus:
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Still reads inaccurately.
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Still has difficulties in spelling.
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Needs to have instructions and telephone numbers repeated.
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Gets 'tied up' using long words, e.g. 'preliminary', 'philosophical'.
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Confuses places, times, dates.
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Has difficulty with planning and writing essays.
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Has difficulty processing complex language or long series of instructions at speed
Aged 12 or over non-language
indicators:
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Has poor confidence and self-esteem.
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Has areas of strength as well as weakness.
Theoretical Explanations of
Dyslexia
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Its explained in the literature at different levels
Biological Level
Cognitive Level
Behavioural level
Biological Level
Right Hemisphere Preference
Right Hemisphere skills such as visual spatial
awareness dominate over left hemisphere skills
involving language, symbols , reading
 Inhibited Primary Movement
 Genetic Chromosome Research
 MRI Characterisation
 Inheritance
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Cognitive Level
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Working Memory
Phonological Processing Difficulty
Processing Speed
Visual Processing Difficulty
Automaticity Reading Fluency
Behavioural Level
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Speech and Language Difficulty
Pattern of errors in reading and writing
Difficulties with Rote learning
Sequencing difficulties
Poor concentration
Organization
Left Right Confusion
Self esteem
Effects of Dyslexia
The effects of dyslexia may include:
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Making errors with numbers (telephone
numbers, reversing bus number etc).
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Difficulty with organisational skills,
including time management.
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Misplacing personal items such as keys.
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Making mistakes copying things down
(instructions, number etc).
Effects of Dyslexia II
Also:
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Confusing dates, and missing appointments.
Difficulty with orientation, e.g. with maps or in
strange towns.
Confusing left and right.
Problems with explaining ideas and concepts,
particularly on paper.
Word finding difficulties, and mispronunciation of
long words.
Research shows that dyslexic people
do improve with:
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Small group (or one-to-one) support.
As early identification and remediation as
possible.
Understanding and encouragement.
A structured multi-sensory method of teaching
e.g. sound-symbol associations, and
simultaneous oral spelling.
Research shows that dyslexic people
do improve with:
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A structured approach based on established phonetic
principles.
Matching task to learner - ie. individualised instruction
based on careful assessment.
Teaching to strengths and the person’s learning style to
help remediate the weaknesses whilst utilising their
strengths.
Mnemonics and “concrete” aids.
Help with organisation.
Patience and understanding
Dyslexic people do not improve with
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Unspecific remedial methods, i.e. more reading, more
spelling.
In a child's particular instance, being left to “grow out
of it”.
Training visual or auditory perception alone (unless
within written language itself).
Punishments, threats of being disciplined or sacked,
ridiculed in front of others.
Inappropriate labelling, name calling e.g. thick, stupid,
lazy.
Processes of Reading
Goal of Reading is to understand a piece of Text
(Ellis 1993)
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Basic processes
Eye Movement
Letter Identification
Word Identification
Word Meaning
Syntax
Semantics
Discourse Integration
Eye Movements
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Saccades ( Eyes move laterally across the page in a
series of jerky jumps called Saccades)
Around 10% of Saccades in Reading move backwards
Saccades take around 10-20 milliseconds to complete
and are separated by fixations lasting around 200-250
milliseconds
The length of each saccade covers around 8 letters
Information is only extracted during the fixation
Fixations
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Rare words are fixated for longer
Predictable words from context are fixated for a
shorter time
Words preceded by a rare word have a longer
Fixation time (Spillover)
Words that are not fixated are Common, Short
or Predictable
Perceptual Span
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Perceptual Span (effective field of view)
Total Perceptual Span is the total area from
which useful information is extracted. It extends
typically 3 or 4 letters to the left of the fixation
and up to 15 letters to the right.
There are two other main spans the letter
identification span and the word identification
span
Word Identification Span is the shortest
Letter and Word Identification
Letter Identification does not have to be fully
complete before Word Identification
 Word Superiority Effect (Reicher 1969)
 Task - Identify Letters in positions in words
Performance is superior when word is known
This indicates that knowledge about the word
informs the ID of letters.
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Main stages in Natural Language
Understanding
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Prosody (Rhythm ,Intonation, Metre)
Phonology ( Phonetics of Words)
Morphology (Word and Phrase Construction)
Syntax (Grammars, Sentence Structure)
Semantics (Meaning)
Pragmatics (Effect of Language, Chants etc)
World Knowledge
Elements of Reading
(National Reading Panel)
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phonemic awareness
phonics
fluency
vocabulary
text comprehension
Word Recognition Clues
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phonics
sight words
context clues
structural analysis
Towards Reading
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Try to provide a positive, productive period to
contribute actively to the lesson.
Try to give the child the opportunity to practise his
reading skills and show off his ability.
Participate in his reading experience instead of
listening.
Encourage reading by looking at books together. Rag
books, board books are
great for younger children.
Read aloud together - use expressive features, different
voices to encourage the child to try this too.
Towards Reading
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Joining a library can help establish a good
attitude towards books.
Encourage the child to look at things for
information e.g. cereal box, streets, roads,maps.
Reading should be fun so try not to pressure
him/her and don’t expect too much too
Towards Reading
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Read stories at bedtime where it is quiet and you can be
comfortable together.
Make sessions fun by playing around with rhyming words and
associated words.
Read books that are comparable with his reading ability. There
are many graded
series that can be purchased even for the older child.
To build self-belief it is sometimes better to start on an easier
book to encourage and
boost his confidence.
Praise him for the attempted words he gets correct. Always look
for the things that
he can do rather than what he cannot.
Towards Reading
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Use bookmarkers to keep place in a book.
Encourage the child to try to decode the words
himself. Don’t leave him to struggle though! If he is
stuck - give him a clue e.g. look at the beginning of the
word, are there familiar letters, look at the picture, look
at the words around, try giving the first sound.
Give him the chance to `make up’ stories whilst you
write them down for him. Then as he progresses, ask
him to write them down as clearly and as accurate as he
can.
In time, you could ask him to transfer his story onto a
PC to make it more presentable.
Activities to help with Reading 1
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1. Say nursery rhymes together; they help to encourage rhythm at
an early age.
2. Finger play e.g. poems and songs which have hand actions.
3. Read to the child: poetry, (especially funny or nonsense
poems) and stories.
4. Act out a mime of a rhyme or something that has happened
and then guess the
mime.
5. Find pictured to talk about and help the child to notice details
e.g. Is the man in
front of or behind the lady? Is the boy climbing under or over
the gate?
Activities to help with Reading 2
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6. Play games e.g. hunt the thimble and say “is it inside
the pot, under the pot, on top of the pot?
7. Watch television together. It can be a useful way of
learning if you talk about what is happening.
8. There are some very good puzzle books e.g. joining
dots, mazes and simple picture crosswords are all
useful.
9. Encourage the child to help with tasks e.g.
laying/cleaning the table, setting out play things and
putting them away.
Types of Reading Text Materials
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narrative text materials
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stories, fiction, inspirational
informational text material
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textbooks, content area materials, instructional
materials
Literature-Based Reading
Instruction
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Strong relationships among language systems:
oral language, reading, writing.
Immerse children in language and books.
Children should have early experiences with
writing.
Children need time for independent reading.
Explicit Code-Emphasis
Instruction
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Systematic, direct instruction of alphabet code
Mapping linkage of letters and words
Early attainment of decoding skills
Children need an early start in reading
Improving Fluency
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Repeated reading
Predictable books
Neurological impress method
Read-along method
Reading Comprehension
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Depends upon what reader brings to the text
A language process
A thinking process
Requires interaction with the text
Improving Reading
Comprehension
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Building vocabulary
Using basal readers
Activating background knowledge
Language experience method
Reading-writing connection
Learning strategies
Encourage wide reading
K-W-L
K
What we
know
W
What we
want to
find out
L
What we
have
learned
Word Webs
Specific Remedial Methods
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Multisensory methods
Orton-Gillingham
 Wilson
 Fernald
 Others
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Reading Recovery
Direct Instruction
Using Computers
Dyslexia and the Use of
Assistive Technology
Characteristics of Specific
Learning Difficulties
The following are common characteristics of
Specific Learning Difficulties:
Memory Difficulties
 Writing Difficulties
 Reading Difficulties
 Visual Processing Difficulties
 Auditory Processing Difficulties
 Time Management Difficulties
 Organisational Difficulties
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Memory Difficulties
Audio Recorder
 Sticky Notes
 Electronic To Do
Lists / Task Lists
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Organisational Tools
Mind Mapping
Software
 Outline Tool
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Keyboarding
Smart Keyboards
 Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs)
 Desktop or Laptop Computer
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Visual Difficulties
Good lighting.
 Coloured Overlays.
 Choose a clear font and think about
the visual presentation.
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Reading from the screen
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Text to Speech can be useful for
students with an auditory learning style.
Text to speech can be used for reading
a whole range of text documents (web
pages, Word Documents and PDFs
etc).
Text to speech can be used in
conjunction with OCR to read printed
books or papers.
Writing on the Screen
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Good Keyboarding skills.
Speech Recognition
programs.
Spell Checking.
Word Prediction.
Conclusion
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Technology can help support the needs
of students with specific learning
difficulties.
Sometimes simple technology can work
more effectively.
Technology does not replace the need
for specialist learning support, but it does
give students more independence and
freedom to work using their skills and