Research Paper on "Dyslexia Teaching Methodology Strategy"

Research Paper 9 pages (2377 words) Sources: 5

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Dyslexia

Over the last several years, the issue of dyslexia has been increasingly brought to the forefront. This is due to greater amounts of awareness about the problem and its underlying symptoms. However, despite what is known about dyslexia many people continue to struggle. Evidence of this can be seen in the below statistics, which illustrate the scope and severity of the problem (Thompson, 1996).

• 70% to 80% of people with poor reading skills will more than likely suffer from dyslexia;
• 30% to 50% of the school-age population is having some kind of undiagnosed learning disability;
• 20% of children have a language-based disability;
• 44% of parents wait for more than a year to seek treatment for treating dyslexia ("Dyslexia Statistics," 2012) (Thompson, 1996).

These figures are showing how the overall scope of the problem is very large and requires continuous attention. To identify the best approaches for dealing with these challenges requires examining numerous approaches and practices. Together, these elements will provide specific insights as to the extent and how they can be addressed.

What is Dyslexia?

Dyslexia is a learning disability that is impacting a child's ability to: spell, read or write properly. This will make it difficult for them to understand key ideas that are presented to them in an educational setting. If left undiagnosed, the child will have trouble comprehending different concepts and excelling academically. This is when they will more than likely lose interest in learning new ideas. (Thompson, 1996)

In the last several decades, researchers have made tremendous progress in diagnosing and understanding the problem. This has led to them creating a list of possible warning signs for someone who is likely to be suffering from dyslexia. It is divided into three different stages to include:

Preschool and younger: In this phase the child will exhibit a number of warning signs such as: challenges in learning new words, creating rhymes, delayed speech and writing letters backwards. (Thompson, 1996)

Early Elementary: In this stage a child will show different signals including: difficulties with learning the alphabet, symbols, counting and they will mix up sounds (while they are speaking). (Thompson, 1996)

Late Elementary: In this phase the child will have new symptoms such as: poor spelling, disorganization, trouble telling time and difficulty reading. (Thompson, 1996)

These stages have been used to detect and diagnose a wide variety of children who are suffering from dyslexia. According to Thompson (1996), this has resulted in the field of education making tremendous strides in addressing these challenges. Yet, he also found that the definition of what qualifies can be very elusive. This is because a number of general categories are used in order to understand symptoms. (Thompson, 1996)

In the field of education, this will make it harder for parents and teachers to identify a problem. The reason why is, many of these programs are focused on taking a one size fit all approach when it comes to understanding the condition. This increases the chances that a child could be suffering from under or misdiagnosed dyslexia. (Thompson, 1996)

As a result, Thompson believes that more flexibility needs to be given to the basic definitions and symptoms. If this can occur, there will be more attention paid to understanding if a child is being impacted by any kind of learning disability. For instance, educators will often teach hundreds of children different skills. During the process, they will observe critical weaknesses that could impact their ability to learn key ideas. (Thompson, 1996)

If they could implement some of these observations into their diagnosis for the condition, it will deal with of the unnoticed cases. This is the point that educators will be more effective in reaching out to children. In the future, this will improve quality and their achievement scores by helping to address the problems early. The key for being successful is providing educators more leeway in identifying the condition. (Thompson, 1996)

This is illustrating how there has been tremendous research in understanding dyslexia. However, in order to improve the effectiveness of programs requires altering the definition and expanding the tools for diagnosing the condition. This will address any kind of potential learning disabilities early. (Thompson, 1996)

Best Practices for Dyslexia

There are a number of different practices which are advocating an approach in helping to diagnose and treat the problem. This is because researchers have contrasting insights about the condition and its underlying detection. The results are that contrasting theories have been developed to address these challenges.

Working with the Current Programs that are in Place

Working with the current programs that are in place is when educators will use them for resources and support. This is because they can provide assistance in understanding the problem and helping the child to quickly resolve their issues. This will enhance everyone's ability to respond and address the problem. (Townend, 2000)

Yet, at the same time, educators must use common sense and have creativity. According to Townend (2000), one of the most critical elements is realizing that a problem exists. This means that the educator must be constantly watching for any signs to show that the child has a learning disability. There are several different areas which can enhance the student's learning comprehension and identify problems including:

• Ensuring that reading and spelling are integrated;
• Providing assistance in helping to students to understand sounds;
• Directly linking letter sounds with words;
• Cross-checking strategies;
• Working with anyone who is not performing at a 93% efficiency level (Townend, 2000).

These areas are important because an educator can integrate these tools with the existing infrastructure that is in place. Inside a school environment, this will ensure that they are identifying students who are suffering from dyslexia. While at the same time, it is giving them assistance in analyzing the problem and seeking out support. (Townend, 2000)

According to Townend, this ensures that they can quickly help the child to begin with making a full recovery. This is the point that they can use the existing infrastructure that is in place to enhance their understanding of the problem. Once this occurs, is when the child will realize a significant improvement in their ability to learn and recall key strategies. (Townend, 2000)

Changing Teaching Methods and Approaches

Another strategy is to change the teaching methods. This is because most educators will follow a predetermined format when reaching out to students (i.e. The traditional lecture techniques). For most people, the material that is presented is considered to be very boring and it makes it difficult for them to learn. (Reid, 2011)

However, when someone is dyslexic, they will more than likely deal with issues that will impact how they understand and recall key concepts. This is because they are already at a major disadvantage in learning about various ideas. When the traditional lecture format is used, the teacher is only making them more confused. This causes the individual to become frustrated and withdrawn. (Reid, 2011)

According to Reid (2011), the most effective way to address these challenges is to use new techniques that will reach out to everyone. This means that there must be a change in how the material is presented to the entire class. The best way to achieve these objectives is to change the structure and tools that are utilized by educators. (Reid, 2011)

He found that these transformations should be implemented by focusing on specific aspects of how teachers and students are interacting to include:

Working in small steps: One of the major challenges impacting someone who is dyslexic is learning is recall short-term ideas. This can become particularly problematic when it is integrated with numerous tasks. To avoid these problems, all educators should present the material one step at a time (with lots of repetition). In the event that there is more than one task involved, they should make a check list that will help these students. (Reid, 2011)

Group Work: All dyslexics require having tremendous amounts of structure in order to understand key ideas. When they are working in a group environment it is important to have this kind of system in place. This will help the individual to learn better and recall key ideas through see actual examples. (Reid, 2011)

Understanding the learning style: Another tool that all educators must be able to use is analyzing the student's learning style. What is happening is many people will often focus on specific areas that will improve their ability to connect with the individual. This means using cultural themes, specific social phrases / attributes and monitoring how the person reacts. In those situations, where there are favorable results, educators can use this to help improve learning comprehension. (Reid, 2011)READ MORE

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