DYSLEXIA

DYSLEXIA Symptoms

I. DEFINITION

DYSLEXIA,

Dyslexia is also known as Reading Disorder.  The symptoms of dyslexia are measured by reading achievement, i.e., reading accuracy, speed or comprehension as measured by standardized tests, that falls substantially below that expected, given the individual’s chronological age, measured intelligence, and age appropriate education (DSM-IV Dyslexia 1994).  Dyslexia symptoms can show up for a variety of reasons.

ACQUIRED DYSLEXIA

Acquired Dyslexia is a disorder in reading that occurs in adults who once knew how to read well, usually due to clear damage to the nervous system (as in a stroke, for example) (Rosenhan, et. al.,1989).

TEA'S ACCEPTED DEFINITION OF DYSLEXIA

Dyslexia is difficulty with the alphabet, reading, reading compre-hension, writing and spelling in spite of adequate intelligence, exposure, and cultural opportunity (Dyslexia informational packet, 1994).

3 CATEGORIES OF DYSLEXIA TYPES (Council on Scientific Affairs, 1989):

1. language disorders
   

2. aritculary and graphomotor dyscoordination
   

3. visuospatial perceptual disorders
   

II. DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA

NOTE: The proper use of these criteria requires specialized clinical training that provides both a body of knowledge and clinical skills.

According to the American Psychiatric Association, the diagnostic criteria for Reading Disorder (Dyslexia) are as follows (DSM-IV, 1994):

1. Reading achievement, as measured by individually administered standardized tests of reading accuracy or comprehension, is substantially below that expected given the person's chronological age, measured intelligence, and age-appropriate education.
    

2. The disturbance in Criterion A significantly interferes with academic achievement or activities of daily living that require reading skills.
   

3. If a sensory deficit is present, the reading difficulties are in excess of those usually associated with it (the specific sensory deficit).
   

III. AGE AT ONSET, COURSE, PREVALENCE

AGE AT ONSET:

• Usually apparent by age 7 (2nd grade), sometimes age 6 (1st grade) DSM-III, 1987).
  
   

• Sometimes up to age 9 if a Developmental Reading Disorder is compensated for in school (DS-III-R, 1987).

COURSE:

• I f mild, with therapy, there are no signs in adulthood (DSM-III-R, 1987).

• If severe, it could persist through adulthood (DSM-III-R, 1987).

PREVALENCE:

• 3% to 6% of school-aged children (Council on Scientific Affairs, 1989) 

• 4% of school-aged children (DSM-IV, 1994).

• 40% to 70% of those participating in prison programs ("Dyslexia and the adult learner," 1994). 

• 60% and more of those in adult literacy programs ("Dyslexia and the adult learner," 1994).

• 40% to 60% of those in basic adult education programs ("Dyslexia and the adult learner, " 1994).

GENDER NOTE:

60% to 80% of individuals diagnosed with Reading Disorder (Dyslexia) are males. This disorder is more equal in both males and females when careful criteria is used as opposed to the traditional school based referral and diagnostic procedures (DSM-IV, 1994). Therefore, the previous ratios of four males to each female diagnosed with dyslexia are a result of the diagnosis. However, males often manifest more severe cases of dyslexia and behavioral disorders, like ADHD (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development--Human Learning and Behavior Brance, Center for Mothers and Children, 1992).

IV. ASSOCIATED FEATURES OF DYSLEXIA

According to the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-III-R, 1987): Often deficits in expressive language and speech discrimination- may be severe enough to additionally diagnose Developmental Expressive, Receptive Language Disorder or Developmental Expressive Writing Disorder. Visual perceptual deficits appear in about 10% of the dyslexic population. Disruptive Behavior Disorders (like ADD).

According to the American Medical Association (Council on Scientific Affairs, 1989): poor coordination, poor spatial reasoning, right-left directional confusion, poor temporal orientation, poor color naming, poor visual labeling, mixed cerebral dominance, linear tracking errors, and failure to develop a "leading eye." Often demonstrate behavioral difficulties secondary to reading difficulty.

V. OTHER DEFINITIONS/SUB-CLASSIFICATIONS

OTHER DEFINITIONS

alexia -inability to read ( Council on Scientific Affairs, 1989).

agraphia -inability to write (Council on Scientific Affairs, 1989).

developmental auditory imperception - difficulty learning sounds, sound-symbol relationships and the meaning of words (Dyslexia informational packet, 1994).

dysphasia - difficulty learning both receptive and expressive oral language (Dyslexia informational packet, 1994).

SUB-CLASSIFICATIONS OF DYSLEXIA

dysphonetic --poor symbol-sound association (Council on Scientific Affairs, 1989).

dyseidetic --poor visual recognition (Council on Scientific Affairs, 1989).

linear dyslexia -- poor visual tracking skills (Council on Scientific Affairs, 1989).

surface dyslexia -- this is marked by the inability to read words by sight; these individuals read words only by sounding them out phonologically.

This form of dyslexia is usually a result of a specific lesion in the posterior/parietal region in the brain (Rosenhan, et. al., 1989).

phonological dyslexia -- this is marked by the inability to pronounce a written word that has never been seen, even if it corresponds to a spoken word that the individual already knows. There is damage to the system involved in reading by sound, typically as a result of a specific lesion in the posterior part of the left hemisphere (Rosenhan, et. al., 1989).

VI. GENETICS/BRAIN PATHOLOGY

GENETICS

More prevalent among first-degree biologic relatives of individual with Learning Disabilities (DSM-IV, 1994).

Numerous genetic loci have been located, specifically chromosome 6 and chromosome 15. No consistent pattern has been located as to which chromosome is chosen and why (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development--Human Learning and Behavior Branch, Center for Mothers and Children, 1992).

Phonological coding (the ability to represent and access the sound of a word in order to help remember the word) has been found to be significantly heritable, while orthographic coding (the ability to put letters together to form whole words) appears to be more strongly related to environmental influences (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development-- Human Learning and Behavior Branch, Center for Mothers and Children, 1992).

BRAIN PATHOLOGY

Several types of brain pathology are related to dyslexia:

1. ectopias: congenital displacements of organs or parts,
   

2. cell loss
   

3. hippocampal anomalies: abnormalities in the enfolding of the cerebral cortex into the lateral fissure of a cerebral hemisphere,
   

4. congenital hydrocephalus: accumulation of fluid within the brain since birth, often causing the head to swell,
   

5. abnormalities of the corpus callosum: the corpus callosum is the great band of fibers that unite the two halves of the cerebrum. (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development--Human Learning and Behavior Branch, Center for Mothers and Children, 1992)

• Brain electrical imaging mapping has shown evidence that left-hemisphere functioning in dyslexics is qualitatively different from that in normal readers. This is particularly prominent in adjacent regions of the left parietal and temporal lobes, areas of the brain known to support speech, language and related linguistic activities. (Vellutino, 1987).
  

• At least a portions of children with dyslexia show evidence of abnormal neural development in the posterior (back) left hemisphere (Rosenhan, et. al., 1989).

VII. BEST EDUCATIONAL APPROACH & ELS™

ORTON’S GUIDELINES FOR THE BEST EDUCATIONAL APPROACH FOR TEACHING DYSLEXICS, AND THE CORRESPONDING ELS™ FEATURES (Orton Dyslexic Society, 1990)

1. Individualized. ELS™ was designed to cater to the needs of one individual. Each exercise provides the teacher an opportunity to change specific features of the task to best suit the student. The prescribed sequences were also designed with the specialized needs of the students in mind.

2. Multidisciplinary. ELS™ strengthens students’ skills with all of the exercises in a number of disciplines: reading comprehension, writing, and spelling improvements are just a few.

3. Multisensory. ELS™ utilizes many senses at one time through all of the exercises (e.g., LLSS, SHS, HS, SS, Cope-Write, Quick Pick, etc.). Each of these tasks is carefully constructed to integrate specific senses at certain times in ELS™.

4. Alphabetic-phonic. The alphabetic-phonic approach to teaching focuses on the building-blocks of language that can be sounded out to make larger words. ELS™ lesson words were created by phonic blends that originated from a complex matrix of vowel and consonant combinations.

5. Synthetic-analytic, systematic, structure linguistic. The system that constructively teaches students with dyslexia should structurally present a way for the alphabetic-phonic words to fit into the larger picture of reading. The lesson words in ELS™ can be blended into words for reading, and in turn, can be divided into sounds for spelling and writing.

6. Meaning-based. ELS™ is specifically for the student; therefore, the lesson words and sentences are appropriately geared toward the everyday life of these individuals. For example, the sentences are often in the first -person ("I am at the store"). Also, the graphics give additional meaning-based definitions of the lesson words to the students.

7. Systematic learning procedure. This is built into ELS™: the lesson word construction and progression, mastery cycles, levels broken into cyclic lessons, and sequences that automatically proceed from one task to the next, are just a few of the systematic means by which ELS™ reaches students.

8. Sequential teaching system. this is the whole concept behind the sequences in ELS™-- to provide a sequential teaching system, while catering to the specific, individual needs of the student. Twenty-six sequences of exercises were automated in the program in the attempts to meet the challenge of each student.

9. Cumulative sum or cycle of growth. The knowledge in ELS™ is building, that is, it applies to upcoming lessons and levels. An example a specific cycle of growth in ELS™ are the mastery cycles-- the student must have the information from the previous two lessons mastered before he or she can proceed.

10 A cognitive approach. One example of the cognitive approach in ELS™ are the lesson words. When it was first created, the actual word list complexity was specifically designed to fit the appropriate stage of individual cognitive development.

11. Gives student a sense of self-confidence. ELS™ always provides feed-back to any answer, right or wrong. Positive reinforcement (like the friendly voice, or points for trying to answer a question) in ELS™ is an essential element of a child gaining self-confidence in scholastic areas.

WORKS CITED

American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. (4th. ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

American Psychiatric Association. (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders.(3rd.ed. rev.). Washington, DC: Author

Council on Scientific Affairs (1989). Dyslexia. Presented to the House of Delegates of the American Medical Association: Vol. 261. Journal of the American Medical Association, (pp. 2236-2239). Chicago: Council on Scientific Affairs,

American Medical Association.

Dyslexia and the adult learner. (1994). (From the Florida Adult Literacy Resource Center). Hot Topics, 3, 1-2.

Dyslexia informational packet. (1994). Texas Education Agency.

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development--Human Learning and Behavior Branch, Center for Mothers and Children. (1992). A report to the National Advisory Child Health and Human Development Council (DHHS Publication No. 312-132/63631). Washington; DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Orton Dyslexic Society. What educational approach best suits the dyslexic’s needs?.

Rosenhan, D. L., & Seligman, M.E.P. (1989). Abnormal Psychology. New York: W. W. Norton and Company.

Vellutino, F.R. (1987, March). Dyslexia. Scientific American, 256. 34-41

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