Understanding Dyslexia - What is Dyslexia?
Dyslexia is believed to be a neurological language processing disorder that affects a student's ability to process written and spoken information. Dyslexia can range from mild to debilitating. In public schools dyslexia is typically considered a type of learning disability, and the tern dyslexia may or may not be used. In evaluation by non-school professionals, the term dyslexia may be preferred.
Students with severe Dyslexia may qualify for special education services and may require specially designed instruction to remediate the problem.
Further, students with true Dyslexia usually have other receptive or expressive language or auditory processing difficulty. This problem may appear as an expressive language disability. When reading aloud, for example, they may reverse words. For example, a child may read the word bad as if it were dab. Word order and sounds may also be confused, and words are often omitted or slurred over. The dog chased the cat down the street could become the god chasled on the treats.
Students may also show difficulty with a receptive language disability. Whether reading aloud or silently or listening to spoken language, these students often cannot recall important details of what has been said or read. They may be unable to process material that is read to them, and they may be unable to explain the main ideas of material, even when reading material they have written themselves.
In speaking and listening, students with Dyslexia have difficulty pronouncing words, especially those with more than one syllable. Frequently they cannot repeat phrases that are spoken to them. They have difficulty gleaning the meaning from spoken phrases, and following detailed instructions is usually a weakness. Homonyms, synonyms, rhymes, and idioms are difficult for them. They also have problems with metaphors, similes, and other symbolic speech.
Diagnosis and Assessment of Dyslexia - How is Dyslexia Diagnosed?
Dyslexia is typically diagnosed using a complete evaluation including intelligence, educational, and speech/language assessments. The assessments should also include observations, input from teachers and parents, analysis of student work, and developmental and social histories. During the assessment process, examiners look for evidence of the disorder and also rule out other factors that could be causing the student’s reading and language problems. Factors to rule out include, lack of instruction, lack of attendance, social and economic factors, and physical problems such as hearing or vision difficulty.
Dyslexia is one of several types of reading problems. The broad term, learning disability in reading, includes Dyslexia and other specific reading problems. It is possible for a student to have symptoms of Dyslexia that are problematic but not disabling. To meet federal guidelines to qualify for special education services, a student with Dyslexia must meet eligibility requirements based on guidelines set by his state's department of education. Eligibility may be determined based on one of the following methods:
The Aptitude / Achievement Discrepancy Method
This method requires a student to meet the following criteria to determine eligibility:
- An intelligence test score in the average range or higher;
- Scores on reading and/or written language tests that are significantly below their intelligence test scores; and
- No other possible causes of the school failure are a factor.
Response to Intervention
This new method of determining disability was introduced in the 2004 Reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). To determine if this method is being used by your state, contact your state's department of education office for special education programs. Specific steps required by method may vary from state to state, but essentially, it involves three levels of intervention and identification:
Level I: The student is exposed to appropriate instruction in reading and writing. If she continues to experience difficulty, she goes to the next level of intervention.
Level II: The student receives more individualized intervention. If she continues to have difficulty, she progresses to the next level of intervention.
Level III: This level would typically begin placement in a special education program.
