Dyslexia - Dawn Matthews

Please help me - can you tell me more about Dyslexia?

 

The author of this website, Dawn Matthews, invites you to read the below paragraph and give some thought to:

 

• The skills you used to decode it.

• The frequency and types of error you made in reading it.

• How much of the content you understood in the first reading.

• If you found the reading of this paragraph tiring or a strain.

• Imagine a life where you had to read extensive information and even whole books written like the above passage. Think about how tired you would be and how easily distracted. Imagine that the rest of the world could easily read passages like this one. Imagine how stupid you would feel and how frustrated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I invite you to:

• Try to copy some of the passage out into note form, backwards, as it is written.

• Try to check your backwards writing for mistakes.

• Try to write your own sentence in backwards writing.

• Imagine you had to copy this passage while it was being written on a class blackboard.

 

Students who cannot remember the "look" of words and who cannot "scan" a page of written material have to "work out" what each written word says as they come to it much as you had to in the above passage. Also words usually look blurred to a dyslexic. Some people have to read like this all their lives.

 

 

Learning differences

 

Dyslexics think and learn differently to other people, their brains develop in a slightly different way and, therefore, they need to learn in a slightly different way. Dyslexia is not normally caused by brain damage but by brain difference.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Specific Learning Difficulties

 

Each dyslexic is an individual and will display different forms and characteristics of dyslexia. Dyslexics look the same as other people;

They have no physical attributes that mark them as dyslexic. But if you know what to look for, using assessments such as those available in my book 'Dyslexia: How to Win', or train with me, you can recognize dyslexia quite easily. We all know the stereotype – “can’t read, can’t spell, writes letters backwards”. Although these are often significant markers there is so much more to dyslexia than this.

 

Dyslexia can be called "Specific Learning Difficulty", "Specific Learning Disability", or "Specific Learning Difference". The cause of dyslexia is still a matter of debate but it is thought that genetics play a role.

 

 

Short Term Memory

 

Dyslexics have poor short-term visual memory and/or short-term auditory memory problems. This means that they cannot remember the look of words. They, therefore, have to be taught how to work out every word as they come to it in order to decode each word in a written text.

 

Dyslexics excel in visual and spatial activities. They are often very good at drawing, designing and sport.

 

Although perfect spelling, reading and writing is not the most important part of life it is an aspect of life that has to be addressed.

 

I have invented and use a numerous strategies and games to teach these aspects of education to dyslexic children. I believe that any dyslexic can be turned around and be happy and fulfill their ambition. It is important to take things one-step at a time and teach a dyslexic in a way in which they learn.

 

Give a dyslexic plenty of confidence and you’ll be amazed at what s/he can do.

 

 

Concentration

 

At school my reports were strewn with the phrases, 'poor concentration', 'should pay better attention' and 'should try harder'. I see these same phrases on the school reports of the children I teach. If you care to read the biographies of famous dyslexics you will also see that these same phrases were used over and over again as descriptions of them as children. But these people went on to achieve greatness and many have moved the world forward. Albert Einstein in particular was noted for his lack of concentration during his university life, but as it turned out he was concentrating very well. It is just that he was concentrating upon higher and more important things, like unifying space and time.

 

Dyslexics seem to be what I call "super alert". We are like wild animals and are taking in everything all the time. We notice every sound, every movement and every action the teacher makes. Our brains are like glass houses where everything in the outside world is seen and heard. The rest of you live in one room, or part of your brain, at a time and can decide what you want to concentrate on.

 

And many of you have the audacity to try to and make us like you. We are happy to be like us and we frequently grow up to be the higher achievers."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I do not crowd my mind with facts and figures that can be easily

found in an encyclopedia.”

- Albert Einstein

 

Or now on line through a computer, tablet or mobile phone ….pretty much wherever you are.

 

Tips to Help in Teaching a Super-alert Mind:

• Involve the students in what you are doing.

• Stop and ask questions as often as possible.

• Present contextual or verbal information in small chunks.

• Pay attention to how text is laid out and avoid any complete pages of plain text.

• Demonstrate ideas and concepts using materials and analogies.

• Never give a correct and incorrect answer at the same time; For example, do not say, "the answer is two not three".

• Intersperse dictation or note taking with talking and pictures or objects, like they do on TV.

• Provide a quiet distraction-free environment, but remember that these students need stimulation all the time. Sometimes background music helps as long as it does not contain words when they are writing.

• Keep the attention on you by telling jokes or acting or making deliberate mistakes for your students to notice.

• Keep the teaching as multi sensory as possible. Videos and DVDs are great because they are both visual and auditory.

• Getting pupils to move about in the teaching environment is useful as it brings the mind back to the present situation.

• Present new information in as exciting a way as possible.

• Never tell a dyslexic or ADD pupil to stop fiddling. This will only make him/her concentrate completely on not fiddling.

• I allow dyslexic and ADD pupils to draw at the same time as class discussions. This activity distracts a lot of the brain while not competing with what I was saying or demonstrating.

• Tell your pupil to pay attention when you are giving them the most important information rather than all the time.

 

Please see other useful references:

• Tick tests - top menus bar under freebies

• 10 tip series and other freebies

• Books in hard copies and downloadable on dyslexia - top menu bar under shop

• My app site www.friendlyphonicsapp.com