The Latest from VEA

You’ll serve your students better when you know what the disorder really is, its warning signs, some misconceptions to disregard, and how to find helpful resources.

Dyslexia and the Brain

Dyslexic brains differ from the brains of non-dyslexic readers, according to image studies. One important difference can be the amount of gray and white matter in the brains of people with dyslexia. A reduced amount of gray matter can affect one’s ability to process phonological information; reduced white matter can limit the connections that enable communication between different parts of the brain. In addition, dyslexic brains show a lack of activation in key areas related to reading. The brain’s left hemisphere is responsible for reading and areas within it work together to enable language comprehension, phonological processing, and orthographic processing. The brains of students with dyslexia, though, do not show that activity. Instead, activity is often evident in the right hemisphere and seems to reflect efforts to compensate for weaknesses.

Misconceptions about Dyslexia Abound

Some misconceptions about the disorder involve characteristics of dyslexia or intervention materials; others are about identifying dyslexic readers. As a consequence, we need to evaluate information and resources carefully to ensure that these misconceptions don’t become part of our teaching.

One of the most common misconceptions is that reversing letters and words is an indicator of dyslexia. However, research has repeatedly rejected this misconception and recognized the role of phonological processing deficits. Dyslexic readers have an incomplete understanding of letter-sound relationships and labor to recall the symbols that represent different sounds. Therefore, when students reverse letters or words, it is a reflection of their struggle to access and use phonological information when reading and writing. Providing students with colored overlays or lenses to use when reading will not address the dyslexic reader’s phonological deficits. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Ophthalmology discourage the use of these lenses and overlays with dyslexic readers because it’s more important to offer interventions aimed at furthering the development of word recognition, decoding, and spelling skills, along with comprehension and vocabulary development.

A second common misconception deals with the idea that dyslexic readers can be identified through their scores on IQ and achievement tests, and that a significant difference in the two scores points toward possible dyslexia. This approach assumes that dyslexic readers differ from other struggling readers who have both decoding and comprehension deficits. However, both dyslexic and non-dyslexic readers who struggle display phonological processing deficits and those deficits are not the result of differences in intelligence. In addition, the IQ-discrepancy model does not differentiate between students who will be easy to remediate and those who for whom remediation will be more difficult.

The idea that boys are more likely than girls to be dyslexic is another misconception that continues to be widely accepted. This belief has become popular because boys are more frequently referred for special education evaluations, even though standardized testing results do not identify significant differences based on gender. In addition, there is no evidence identifying genetic differences related to reading disabilities by gender. Instead, the increased number of identified males seems to be based on behavioral differences: Specifically, males are more likely to demonstrate negative behaviors that factor into the referrals for testing. Since the identification of females often happens much later, the extended time taken before a diagnosis just serves to amplify their deficits. It’s extremely important to separate behavioral concerns from students’ actual reading abilities.

A final misconception suggests that dyslexia is limited only to English-speaking populations, an idea which can be especially harmful with the increasingly diverse student population in our schools. Dyslexia exists in any language with a written component and is even found in speakers of languages that do not have alphabetic writing systems, such as Chinese. The phonological deficits that define dyslexia that have been recognized in English are also factors in other languages. Additionally, phonemic and rapid automatized naming skills are recognized as “reading universals” that affect literacy acquisition and are not affected by the transparency of languages.

Instructional Strategies and Recommendations

Accommodations and modifications to the regular curriculum are vital for dyslexic readers to ensure that they can access the same information as their peers can. An accommodation, whether used during instructional activities or during assessments, is a change to the activity or assignment that enables a student to access and demonstrate their understanding of grade-level concepts without lessening the expectations you have for them. Providing a student with a read-aloud of material or additional time to complete assignments are examples of accommodations. Accommodations, though, are not limited to assessments, but should be made available to dyslexic readers as a regular part of instructional practices.

Modifications, however, do alter what is required by an assignment or test because expectations are adjusted to account for the student’s particular skill level. For example, a dyslexic reader who has not yet mastered short vowels when classmates are exploring long vowel patterns would need a modification to the curriculum that would allow for the student to work on the appropriate concepts.

Providing intervention support for dyslexic readers that targets and develops their areas of weakness is critical; experts recommend a structured literacy approach. Structured literacy is not a program, but represents interventions that address phonemic awareness, phonics, orthography, morphology, syntax, and semantics; reflect explicit, systematic instructional practices; and include opportunities for multisensory learning. Assessment is a key aspect of structured literacy and foundational skills must be mastered before students advance to more challenging concepts. Students will need regular and precise feedback during instruction and regular reviews of past concepts consistently embedded in lessons.

Resources and Additional Information

The International Dyslexia Association’s website (dyslexiaida.org) provides a wealth of information, from fact sheets and infographics to publications that include the journal Annals of Dyslexia and the Dyslexia Connection, an electronic newsletter. You will also find links to videos and materials targeted specifically to educators there. In addition, the state branches of the International Dyslexia Association provide a variety of resources.

The Tennessee Center for the Study and Treatment of Dyslexia at Middle Tennessee State University also offers valuable information. You may also want to visit The Windward Institute website, which includes professional development opportunities, presentations from leaders in the field of dyslexia, and hosts the Research Education Advocacy Podcast (READ).

Several books, such as Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz, Basic Facts About Dyslexia & Other Reading Problems by Louisa Moats and Karen Dakin, and Structured Literacy Interventions: Teaching Students with Reading Difficulties, Grades K-6, edited by Louise Spear-Swerling, offer practitioner-friendly information about dyslexia and interventions for students.

Jennifer Floyd, Ed.D., a member of the Rockbridge-Lexington Education Association, is a reading specialist at Mountain View Elementary School in Buena Vista and past president of the Virginia State Literacy Association.