Case Study on "Dyslexia of 8-Year-Old Boy"

Case Study 7 pages (3291 words) Sources: 10 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Case Study 8-year-Old With Dyslexia

Second Grade 8-year-old Dyslexic Child

Brief History of Child

Jefferey (8) a student in the second grade was recognized by his classroom teacher in the first grade as having some operational difficulties with reading and writing tasks in general despite having greater than average intelligence on testing and observation and was referred to the school reading specialist. The school specialist determined that Jeffery was likely dealing with dyslexia, follow up with parents, his kindergarten and first grade teachers and a screening test result (Dyslexia Early Screening Test [Second Edition], 17th MMY) resulted in this operational diagnosis. Jeffery is beginning his second grade year was in essential need of additional operational assessment and intervention. I began working with Jeffery in the first quarter of the year, beginning with an operational assessment and then with the implementation of intervention specifically designed to teach whole word reading and writing skills through intensive syllabic work.

Assessment

I first conducted a Yopp-Singer Test of Phonemic Segmentation (see appendix 1) to determine the level of intervention needed and the operational level that Jeffrey had already attained. Though Jeffery general falls into an age group that has passed pre-reading skills and is seeking to obtain independent reading status his operational assessment, particular with written form indicated to me that his weaknesses were more core to pre-reading and that he would likely be greatly aided by phonemic awareness assessment and intervention, likely as a result of the fact that Jefferey's strengths lie in oral learning and therefore application of oral testing is the most likely assessment that would allow comparison for operational difficulties in written skills. Then using the Weschler Individual Achievement Test Second edition I assessed Jeffery, seeking an operational level understanding of his reading and writing challenges. This assessment is particularly adept at finding and identifying particular operational connectivity issues with regard to making syllable connection to make whole words and responds to both oral and written skills issues. From the results of both assessments and an additional review and consult by the school reading expert it was determined that Jeffery was lagging behind in phonemic awareness, likely as a result of the fact that he found reading and writing tasks difficult from a very early age and therefore tended to zone out even during pre-reading skills lessons in kindergarten. Children are easily swayed away from tasks they find difficult or demanding, and therefore the classroom environment, assessment tools and learning materials must engage the student to such a degree that they retain the desire to learn, throughout their learning years. (Mccray, Vaughn & Neal, 2001, p. 17)

Review of Literature

Though assessment tools are frequently debated, more and more evidence suggests that core pre-reading skills awareness determines not only when a child will read independently but if and when they need early intervention in inclusive settings to help them progress as pre-readers and later independent readers. One type of test that is designed to be administered in very young children and tests for pre-reading skills are phonetic awareness assessments. According to Yopp & Yopp, reading research indicates that children who score low on Phonetic Awareness assessments are lacking the pre-reading skills to become independent readers. ( 2000, p. 130) Kamii & Manning provide correlation of the fact that phonemic awareness is in fact considered the most telling indicator of student reading ability in the long-term. (2002, p. 38) The Yopp-Singer Test of Phonemic Segmentation, is described and then used theoretically as a pre-test to respond to classroom observation of low phonetic awareness. The ability of this test to demonstrate limitations is essential as intervention strategies can then be put in place to help students lagging behind in these essential pre-reading skills to learn phonemic segments that they can then apply to reading. If such students fail to demonstrate marked change after intervention then they can be singled out to receive more directed instruction and either overcome such problems or move into programs that will address any significant organic or environmental problem that would bar them from independent reading in the future, without intervention. To better understand the assessment tool of phonemic awareness one must at least briefly explain the concept of phonemic awareness and at least touch on the debate surrounding it, this is done effectively by Villaume & Brabham. (2003, p. 478)

According to Adams, for many years educators believed that letter recognition and the ability to recognize that the printed word is read (in most languages) from the left to right were the most important indicators of reading readiness in children, and though these two concepts are important they are reflective of rote memory tasks, a concept of learning that is clearly outmoded. (1994, p. 16) Lancy suggests that there is a clear disconnect in this outmoded model, as the idea is responsive to the idea that reading is learned by recognition of print and has no spoken component, and this is clearly a fallacy. (1994, p. 29) Spear-Swerling & Sternberg support this idea in thesis as well. (1996, p. 22)

When the concept of phonemic awareness is entered into the equation the whole picture becomes one of an independent learner code switching to form new words for understanding. In fact Fielding- Barnsley stresses that it seems to be most effective to combine phonemic awareness with high letter awareness in coding exercises to elicit and later predict independent reading skills. (Fielding-Barnsley, 1997, p. 85)

Bradley & Bryant suggest that phonemic awareness assessment creates the developmental basis for predictability of late kindergarten and first grade success in reading. The value of pre-reading skill is clear, and much of this occurs prior even to beginning school, yet there is clearly a set of children who are lacking the time and attention given to pre-reading skills at home, i.e. simply being read to and spoken to frequently by adults. Children may have a natural interest, but have not been exposed to enough reading stimulus to attract them to the collective process needed to begin to understand how reading works. (Bradley & Bryant, 1991, p. 38)

Kindergarten is a first exposure, for many children to the development of coding systems that will assist them in an entire skill set later and this is clearly apparent by this research as well as the research of many other experts. Jeffery is at particular disadvantage because he slid through Kindergarten and most of first grade on the assumption by his teachers and parents that he was simply lagging slightly in interest rather than ability, because his intelligence was observably average to above average but seemed to show little or no interest in reading or writing learning. His kindergarten teacher then sought out ways to interest Jeffrey with topic interest materials and it was not until the beginning of first grade that his first grade teacher noticed that even when Jeffery was offered materials that were tailored specifically to his express interest he still zoned out and pretended not to be interested, if reading or writing were involved. It was at this point that his teacher referred Jeffery for assessment. Jeffery seemed to be under the common misunderstanding that each word must be learned independently, as if each word is its own test, which made him even more uncomfortable with the material and more afraid of the task, which he displayed as disinterest.

According to Rayner & Pollatsek as well as Ashmore, Farrier, Paulson & Chu, students who are unaware of the fact that each word can be broken down into component parts that all independently have cross correlation meaning for other words are left feeling as if they are overwhelmed and will never "get it." Yet, watching as children experience the independent ability to materialize coding skills to understand novel words is an amazing experience. Once the perception of a word as a set of independent parts is accepted, children realize they can take novel words, and even very long novel words as simple objects to be broken down by sound. (Rayner & Pollatsek, 1989, p. 60) (Ashmore, Farrier, Paulson & Chu, 2003, p. 33) Yet, it must also be noted that without this perception children experience a stumbling block, and can sadly lose interest in reading and understanding or decoding novel words and learning. This is not to say that there are not fundamental reasons, beyond perception that lead to decreased reading ability as Allor stresses that assessment is the most effective means in which to determine if students are not learning skills needed to read, simply because of lack of perceptual ability to break words down or if there is an organic reason for such inability.

It is widely accepted that the most common type of reading problem for students with reading disabilities, or dyslexia, is their inability to accurately and fluently identify printed words (Ehri & Wilce, 1983; Gelzheiser & Clark, 1991; Torgesen & Wagner, 1998). Additionally, researchers generally agree that this inability is a primary cause of comprehension problems in elementary-aged… READ MORE

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