DYSLEXIA 1
Dyslexia and Its Affect on a Child’s Proficiency in
Math and Reading in Elementary Schools
by
Isabel Cabrera
Project Three: Research Literature Synthesis
In partial fulfillment of
EDCI 6300.61 Foundations of Research in Education
The University of Texas at Brownsville, College of Education
Department of Teaching Learning and Innovation
Dr. A. J. Herrera
May 7, 2012
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Dyslexia and Its Affect on a Child’s Proficiency in
Math and Reading in Elementary Schools
Dyslexia is a specific learning disability identified under Section 504 within
Special Education. The problem is that students with dyslexia in the elementary grades
have difficulty attaining the proficiency levels in math and reading as measured by the
mandated Texas state (STAAR) examinations. The purpose is to find out if dyslexia
affects a child’s proficiency in math and reading in an elementary setting due to having
learning difficulties. The need to research dyslexia is to bring awareness to teachers and
help these students become successful learners.
Wadlington (2000) defines dyslexia as a neurologically based learning disability
that hampers language acquisition and processing. It is characterized by difficulty in
learning to read, write, spell, and/or problems in mathematics. Furthermore, Stein (2004)
specifically divided dyslexia into four domains of function: dyslexia (a language-based
disorder of learning associated with difficulties in single-word decoding; these children
have problems in reading and spelling such as phonemes); dyscalculia (a disorder of
mathematics associated with a deficiency in visual-spatial skills or a difficulty with
arithmetic fact retrieval or with the use of mathematical processes); dysgraphia (a
problem with fine motor and visual-motor (eye-hand) coordination associated with messy
handwriting, distorted shapes, and poorly structured drawings; and pragmatic language
disorders (a distortion of the nonverbal aspects of language used in a social context).
Symptoms can range from mild to severe dyslexia depending on how many domains of
function the child suffers from. It is not a disease, but a learning disability that is linked
to chromosomes that are found to be hereditary.
According to Zambo (2004) dyslexia affects 1 in 5 students and accounting for 80
percent of all learning-disabled children in special education today. Most students are not
diagnosed with dyslexia until they are in the third grade (Feeg, 2003). Many struggling
or poor readers are vulnerable to becoming academically, socially, and emotionally
detached from school because they are evaluated ruthlessly using quantitative measures
such as Texas (STAAR) state tests leaving them with emotional scars, feelings of
inferiority, and low self confidence (Zambo, 2004). Students with dyslexia have a
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different way of learning. They require a multi-sensory learning approach vs. the direct
teaching approach. The foundation of reading begins in elementary with phonological
and phonemic awareness (Compton, 2004). With phonics being the foundation for
reading, frustration is apparent at a very early stage.
Moreover, students with dyslexia feel the stress of passing the Texas state
(STAAR) exams in order to continue to the next grade level. “The federal government
now mandates a particular paradigm that everyone must follow if school districts are to
receive federal funds” (Camp, 2007). Public schools are trying to be in compliance with
the state, but must also meet the needs of the special populations such as dyslexia. As
dyslexic students get older these academic differences become more visible to even their
classmates, affecting their self-confidence because they struggle to meet the Texas state
expectations on the Math and Reading (STAAR) examinations.
Literature Review on Quantitative Research
Experimental Studies
Brain Studies. One of the purposes of this article was to describe the current
revival of interest in dyslexia. Scientists have conducted brain scans in both dyslexic
children and adults. Dr. Samuel Orton was the first scientist in the 20th century to
propose the concept of dyslexia to describe children with severe reading difficulties but
whom were of average intelligence and that it resulted from a neurobiological disorder
(Camp, 2007). His first hypothesis was that dyslexia resulted from a lack of hemispheric
dominance in the brain because he observed the many reversals such as b for d and saw
for was. He believed these mirror images could be the result of the brain receiving two
messages at the same time from both hemispheres. Although, new studies have been
conducted and with the use of new and advanced technology such as the magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI) used for examining the different parts of the brain, have made
it possible for new findings and discoveries in brain research.
Genetic. For example, a quantitative study compared large samples of 119 U.S.
families (total of 180 sibling pairs) from Colorado and found that the independent
genome-wide scans identified a chromosome 18 quantitative-trait locus (QTL) that is
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linked to dyslexia (Fisher, et al., 2002). They were assessed through the use of
standardized tests including phoneme awareness (PA), phonological decoding (PD), and
orthographic coding (OC). The correlations of the trait in the data set were found to be
moderate to high ranging from 0.41 to 0.84. The multi-point analysis also gave the
researchers an increase or strong evidence to the chromosome 18 linked for a single-word
reading with P values of 0.0004 that indicates an important role as a QTL in reading
disabilities. In fact, this research on the QTL trait confirmed that dyslexia is a heritable
trait.
Neuropathology. According to Grigorenko (2001), Texas studies on the brain
structure have been conducted. With the use of the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
techniques, researchers have found differences in the brains of individuals with dyslexia
when compared to those without dyslexia. Various research teams have compared the
brain structures and have special interest in the planum temporale, a specific region of the
brain. Postmortem brain studies have also been performed on four men whom all had
dyslexia. They all showed unusual symmetry in the planum temporale, which is relevant
to the language function (Grigorenko, 2001). At the microscopic level, scientists found
that the brains in dyslexics had more misplaced and unusually organized nerve cells,
which may be the result of a failure of neurons reaching their normal cortical targets
during fetal development. Researchers also used the MRI to examine the cerebral
asymmetries to take a closer look into the central language areas. The computerized
tomographic MRI studies from the posterior asymmetry provided evidence that the size
on the left side was greater than the right side of the brain in individuals with dyslexia
(Grigorenko, 2001).
Language/Speech. In this Texas study, researchers investigated the relative
degree and timing of the cortical activation associated with phonological decoding in
poor readers (Simos et al., 2011). Brain activity was recorded while the subjects were
assessed using a pseudoword reading task and a letter-sound naming task. The
participants consisted of three groups: 50 children with reading disabilities (RD) without
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, 20 children that were non-reading impaired (NI),
and 50 children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Data was
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collected using a scientific instrument called a neuromagnetometer and profiles of the
children were created using a norm algorithm. Children with RD showed decreased brain
activity compared to typical readers. The left hemisphere region continues to play a
crucial role as the brain mechanism that supports basic reading skills such as decoding
and word recognition. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was also used with tasks on the
area, hemisphere, and time bin. Another set of analysis was used for the correlations
between reading measures and peak latency-average current in ROIs (time bin).
Language. In another Texas research study by Donald L. Compton (2002)
examined the relationship among phonological processing, orthographic processing and
lexical development in children with reading disabilities. He hypothesized children with
reading disabilities (RD) added word-specific entries to their lexicons without a
corresponding expansion of sub-word orthographic-phonological connections. He was
interested in the developmental pattern differences in the progress among children of all
whom were at different reading levels and grade levels. A reading-level-match research
design was used to compare the performance of the four groups of readers using
experimental reading tasks. Participants were drawn from a single public school district
in a predominantly lower to middle class, semirural area of the southern United States. A
total of 64 children participated in the study, 16 in each of the four groups. Different
groups represented children with and without reading disabilities. The participants’ were
administered a series of examinations such as the Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices,
Test of Auditory Analysis Skills, Olson, Title Recognition Test, Word -Attack subtest
(WJ-R), Exception-Word Identification and the WRAT-III. The research concluded that
children with RD did lack a relationship between the two lexical acquisition systems as
compared to children without RD.
Language/ Speech. The purpose of this Texas study (Odegard et al., 2008) was
to compare children with dyslexia to non-impaired readers. Eighteen children aged 10-14
years, participated in this study; nine dyslexics were female, three dyslexics were male
and six children were in the control group. A battery of tests was administered including
measures of intelligence, oral language, phonological processing and academic
achievement. These tests were to assess the following reading sub-skills: grapho-
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phonemic knowledge, decoding, word recognition, fluency, comprehension, and spelling.
All participants with dyslexia received treatment or rehabilitation at a hospital based
learning disabilities clinic using a specific curriculum that focused on specific reading
skills. A cross sectional design was used to conduct an fMRI study to compare
differences with children with dyslexia who responded well to treatment from those who
did not respond to treatment. Treatment non-responders continued to have the inability to
adequately decode real and pseudo-words. The left inferior parietal lobe in the nonresponders showed a decrease in activation that links the orthographic and phonological
skills. This present study needs a continuation on brain research in order to provide some
intervention for dyslexic children.
Auditory/ Listening. While in this Texas study (Moncrieff, et al., 2008), the
functional magnetic resonance image (fMRI) was used in children with and without
dyslexia to measure the hemodynamic response using quasi dichotic listening tasks.
Dichotic listening is a behavioral technique to test for auditory lateralization following
input of speech. This assessment of auditory processing disorders (APD) is widely used
to find out deficits in children with listening, language, and/or learning difficulties. A
unilateral deficit means that the child had normal performance in one ear but poorer
performance in the other ear. This has been linked to the lesions of the corpus callosum
and temporal lobe of the brain. All children had more brain activity in the left
hemisphere during the binaural separation listening task. Dyslexics were found to have a
higher incidence of a dichotic left ear deficit from the pre-scanning behavioral tests and
had fewer hits and more misses than the control group. All experimental subjects were
selected from an outpatient clinic at the Luke Waites Center in Texas. All children were
given the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT) to make sure all children had a
normal IQ score above 85 in order to be selected for this study. The control subjects
were also administered the WIAT test and were recruited from the local community.
Researchers came up with a statistical analysis by using data with a variance (ANOVA).
Correlations were found using the bivariate Pearson, resulting in a measurement of p
< .05 and p >.01. The study concluded that dyslexic children performed more poorly
than the control group in using both their left and right ears.
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Auditory/ Listening. The brain anatomy continues to show the region of the
brain specific to auditory perceptual processing in dyslexics including the planum
temporale. This hinders the language based remediation methods that lead to language
disorders (speaking, reading, and writing) that last throughout their adult lives.
Moncrieff and Black (2007) conducted a dichotic listening deficit study. Eight of the
dyslexic children who participated in this study were selected from an outpatient clinic,
the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas, Texas. They were administered
the Dichotic Digits Test (DDT), the Competing Words (CW) subtest of the SCAN,
Screening Test for Auditory Processing Disorders and the Dichotic Consonant Vowel
Test (DCV). The statistical analysis included individual ear scores analyzed across three
dichotic listening tests by multivariate analysis of variance (GLM MANOVA) with the
control vs. dyslexic groups and with the factors of right vs. left ear. Overall, the auditory
processes may help explain factors that are associated with the reading impairment in this
population.
Literature Review on Qualitative Research
Non-experimental Studies
Interviews. Rapp & Ginsburg (2011) interviewed New York City families who
had children with learning disabilities. They were surprised to get as many interviews as
they did. In fact, the sample just “snowballed” meaning families would encourage other
friends and families to speak out about their stories to be heard to the broader public.
They wanted to share their stories with others to bring about awareness of children with
special needs and how it not only affects them but the whole family. It can lead to
emotional, physical, and financial stress as one parent may be required to care for a child
full time or maybe a lifetime depending on the disability or the needs of the child.
Children with learning disabilities including dyslexics require additional help with
homework for several hours a day throughout their high school years. Ongoing parental
support is a must in order for the child to succeed in school. This may also affect a
families work schedule, family and social times.
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Not all families can identify with a child’s struggles or even want to accept their
child’s label. The psychological term is “denial” meaning they do not want to deal or
talk about it to anyone. They figure it they don’t acknowledge it will go away or it really
isn’t there. This of course, hurts the child more because they will feel inadequate and
will not get the support they need, more importantly the attention they need as a child
who is struggling to get by in school and in life. Some parents reported they imagined
their child would somehow be cured or that their son/daughter would eventually grow out
of it. Since the 1990’s the Americans for Disabilities Act passed and it became more
socially acceptable in the USA.
Solutions and Strategies
Programs.
The Texas Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas, Texas has a training program to help
children with dyslexia. They work with children who have a hard time remembering or
recalling information. Some early signs of a child with dyslexia can be having difficulty
learning the letters of the alphabet, writing the alphabet correctly, or remembering the
printed letter or word. They may also reverse letters, cannot sequence the alphabet, and
therefore have difficulties in learning to read. Writing is usually cramped or messy with
the letters or words going up and down and not being able to stay on the line. Their
spelling may have many errors and usually spell or sound out words phonetically. They
are late in establishing their hand preference. Their speech is usually delayed. They
struggle with directions such as left, right, on top, bottom, next to and with the concept of
time. When they discuss the characteristics of dyslexia with the parents, they usually
discover that they do have a family history of similar symptoms or problems with other
members of their families or maybe even themselves. Dyslexia is three times more
common in boys than girls (Waites, 2001). Another complication of dyslexia is that it
can be accompanied with a attention deficit disorder (ADD) or short attention span that
can lead to impulsive behaviors, increased talking, and/or hyperactivity also known as
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Children with dyslexia find it hard to
organize themselves at home and at school. This program is designed and focused on the
language part of dyslexia and consists of viewing 350 one hour videos that help with
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phonemic awareness and phonological processing. The program is structured and uses
multi-sensory. It consists of sequencing the alphabet, reading, spelling, cursive writing,
listening, and has plenty of review activities. This reading program is facilitated by the
teacher, as the student watches the instructor on the video while he/she does the
kinesthetic activities and completes the workbook for reinforcement of the objective.
Discussion
After reviewing the literature and the data, brain research is still new and much is
not known about our brain. The brain is a very complex organ and it is all interdependent
or connected with each other. Similarities in the brain studies, is that most researchers
relied on the MRI’s as their form of technology to study the brain. In addition, research
studies have similar results that have pinpointed that the planum temporale, a region of
the brain is responsible for the language processes such reading, writing, and spelling,
which all three are interdependent (Karnes, 1996). Nevertheless, scientists are studying
different parts of the brain such as the size, neurons, hemispheres, and the different
regions of the brain. In contrast, each research conducted, had its own hypothesis and
theories about dyslexia. Some hypothesized that this learning disability was a result of a
listening deficit or not mastering the phonological processing skills needed in order to
read. Dyslexia in children is a very complicated learning disability because no two
children are alike. All children learn differently and at different rates with different
learning styles.
Conclusion
The research literature and the data collection of several case studies had a
correlation in explaining why students with dyslexia have a problem or difficulties
attaining the proficiency levels in math and reading as measured by the mandated Texas
state (STAAR) examinations. According to the brain studies in dyslexics, there was a
difference in their brain activity while they were assessed using different cognitive
reading tasks. The brain showed decreased activity in one of the hemispheres compared
to the non-dyslexics. Unfortunately, children with dyslexia have many problems in their
academic studies and will likely struggle in every subject because reading is the basis for
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learning. Because most of the tests are in written form, they also require lots of reading,
which can lead to frustration for students with dyslexia. They have problems in Language
Arts, which include reading, grammar, writing, penmanship, recalling, remembering,
sequencing, eye hand coordination, fine motor skills, organization, and mathematical
processing. Furthermore, it may also be accompanied by ADD or ADHD that lead to
impulsive behaviors such as excessive talking, easily distracted, inability to focus or
concentrate, cannot stay on task that prevent the child from not listening or learning. The
purpose of this research was to find out if dyslexia affects a child’s proficiency in math
and reading in an elementary setting due to having learning difficulties. The
characteristics or symptoms of dyslexics show that there are many obstacles for a child
with dyslexia that does not allow them to perform at their best. Their IQ level shows that
they are capable of achieving tasks, but when it comes down to quantitative measures
which is how children are assessed today in U.S. schools, children with dyslexia do not
measure up to their potential. The need to research dyslexia was to bring awareness to
teachers and help these students become successful learners. There are strategies that
teachers can use in order to help them such as: giving them outlines, multi-sensory
learning activities, letting them use math manipulatives, acting it out, using concept maps,
and allowing them extra time to complete their work (Klein, 2009). Teachers may lack
the proper training in how to help these children who fall behind or are left behind
because they do not have the skills or knowledge to help them in reading. Teachers need
to be patient with children with dyslexia and meet their educational needs in order to
make them successful learners.
Finally, learning disabilities (LD) did not exist until 1963. Now, LD’s are the
most commonly diagnosed category for American children in special education (Rapp &
Ginsburg, 2011). Dyslexia is a universal learning disability where the language has a
written form (Karnes, 1996). There were many other studies abroad that focused on the
causes and needs of dyslexic children. As those in America, they also had the same
characteristics and problems in learning to read. Schools have now accepted children
with disabilities and are required by law to have an Individual Education Plan (IEP) for
each of these students in order to ensure a proper education. Early recognition or
identification of the problem leads to early intervention (Stein, 2004). Children need to
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know and understand that having dyslexia is okay. They just have a different way of
thinking and a different way of learning but still can be successful in school and in life.
Parents can also make a big difference in a child’s life by communicating with the
teachers and helping them out with their homework. They may require extra time and
help. Parents need to be supportive and acknowledge that their struggles in school can
lower their self-esteem, but that they are there to praise them and make them feel better
about themselves. Parent support is a must if they want their child to be successful in
school. Differences were once hidden from the public eye, but now are increasingly
accepting and visible in the public domain and sometimes even celebrated. These little
accomplishments can sometimes make a big difference in someone’s life.
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