Techniques for teaching dyslexic students

How to define a dyslexic student?

Methods to teach students

Medical aids to assist students

Discussion

Other References and Further Reading

 

How to define a dyslexic student?

Dyslexia is a complex condition in which a person has extreme difficulty in understanding the written word. They will find it very hard to understand written material including numbers and other typographical symbols. Dyslexic people are characterised by a reduced reading comprehension, as well as distortions, reversals, or missing letters or words when reading or writing. Dyslexia is three times more common in boys than in girls and is usually first noticed in the early years of school. However, dyslexics frequently perform above average on nonverbal tests of intelligence, although the reason for this is poorly understood.

Dyslexia is a genetic disorder and it has been linked to a defect within a particular region on chromosome 6. It is manifested by difficulties in receptive and expressive language, including phonological processing, in reading, writing, spelling, handwriting, and sometimes in arithmetic. Dyslexia is not a result of lack of motivation, sensory impairment, inadequate instructional or environmental opportunities, or other limiting conditions, but may occur together with these conditions. Although dyslexia is life-long, individuals with dyslexia frequently respond successfully to timely and appropriate intervention.

Methods to teach students

So that good techniques can be reinforced, teachers are encouraged to display posters on the walls as continual reminders of the words that are specifically difficult for dyslexic students. They can also stick the words onto the ceiling, wall and floor or on other appropriate surfaces. Words can be positioned in creative ways, for example words like tall, taller and tallest can be placed on the ceiling.[1]

Having pictures and information about famous people who are sufferers or supporters of dyslexia is really important. These people can be easily identified with and can be used as good role models. For example, a very good way to do this is by having a Leonardo Da Vinci screen saver on their computer to inspire them to greater ambitions.

In order to understand how to teach dyslexic children it is necessary to understand what causes the condition. The English language has 26 letters and contains 44 sounds, or phonemes. All words are made up of one or more phonemes; for example sounds like ba and da or mu and nu. To learn to read, a child must be able to sound out phonemes and build them into words. Unfortunately the brains of dyslexic children, right from birth, cannot clearly distinguish phonemes that make rapid sound shifts. For example, the sound "ba" starts with a "b" made by pressing the lips together, and flows into "aaaah" made further back in the mouth. The time between the "b" and "aaaah" is just 40 milliseconds (a millisecond is one-thousandth of a second), but most babies can hear it just fine. Some, however, need five times that long, 200 milliseconds or more, to really hear such sounds. Other phonemes, like mu, make sufficiently slow sound shifts and therefore do not pose a problem.[2]

In order to aid students to learn to hear the ‘extra’ sounds, words must be broken down and enunciated more slowly. To most people, when they hear the word ‘bag’ they will report that they hear three sounds. Even though they have really only heard one short burst, their brains are able to interpret the mush and separate the individual components. This is the task that dyslexics find so difficult to accomplish.

It should also be understood by the teacher that just as everyone has a dominant hand, we also each have a dominant eye and ear. For most people this is the right ear, and sounds that are heard by the dominant ear are transmitted directly to the language centre in the left-brain. On the other hand sounds captured by the left ear go first to the right brain before being transmitted back to the language centre in the left-brain. The second circuit is longer and some of the information is lost or corrupted along the way, making sound recognition more difficult.[3]

Using mnemonics that are chosen according to each student’s own interests can be an aid to help with commonly made spelling errors. Applying colour codes to classify folders and textbook spines by subject is an easy way to make sure students take the right books and equipment to the classes. This characteristic is often mistaken as forgetfulness, and since taking the right books to class is important, it ensures that the student does not feel inadequate, or any different to the other students.

Having taught dyslexic students using many of these different teaching techniques has afforded us with an opportunity to compare and assess these different approaches. One of the most successful techniques was using hands-on practical exercises as a way of engaging the student’s interest. This approach will also provide the student with a mental image they can remember and refer back to. Additionally, making models of related objects has also been observed to assist with learning to remember a series of items.

By teaching chemistry, using actual experiments, the student was encouraged to set up the experiment for themselves and then watch the ensuing reaction. To understand the structure of molecules, you can build them either from a model kit or by using Plasticine with plastic or metal rods. This is far better than just writing down a chemical reaction equation. The ability to see the structure of a molecule, using colours to identify the components and structure of the chemicals, made it easier for the vocabulary to be learnt.

For example when teaching physics, a prism or even a crystal ornament can be used to demonstrate how white light can be split into the spectrum of colours. This session developed into a light show on the wall, and because of the fun that the student had doing this they found learning and understanding the concept much easier.

We have developed several teaching techniques that address some of these key topics. For example, to help students discern words that contain fast phoneme transitions, we employ a modified speech pattern, which puts more emphasis on key words. Identifying the particular key words that contain these fast sound transitions requires some practice, but having become familiar with the common ones and by speaking with appropriate emphasis and pauses improves the ability of the student to absorb the information. One point to bear in mind though is the possibility that the student could feel patronised or even bored by the monotone of the voice.  So there is a balance that has to be achieved while using this technique.

Another teaching method is to encourage the student to make a dictionary of their own that contains words related to the subject that they are studying. This approach has been observed to be very successful, and also has the added benefit of becoming a useful revision tool.

As another exercise a student is allowed to make their own audiocassette recording of the things they need to remember. This can be beneficial because it teaches the student how to verbalise their thoughts, as well as improving their diction and listening skills by being able to hear their own voice. The experience of hearing your own voice can be an unsettling experience for most people, so at first a student may find it difficult to find the self-confidence that this process will demand from them. They may require several attempts before they become comfortable and are happy with the outcome. 

We have also observed that students can find it difficult to read continuously from overhead projection sheets, or from digital projectors. This is beginning to become more widely recognised, and some universities have taken steps to assist students by ensuring they are given access to printed copies of these presentations if they are unable to take notes from the displayed material quickly enough. This removes the frustration that comes from constantly struggling to keep up with the rest of the class and instead gives the student the opportunity to listen and focus on what the lecturer is saying instead. Students are also being encouraged to record lectures so that they can listen to them again in their own time.

Another novel teaching technique that we have used is to encourage the student to only write on the left hand page of their notebook. This allowed them space for corrections and improved the setting out of their work. Otherwise they had a tendency to clutter their work with large numbers of corrections which made it illegible for later revision. The right hand side of the page was then used for drawing diagrams, or making sketches of the information written. This is a good way to jog the memory when reviewing the notes and while preparing for a test.

Additionally it is possible to use coloured pens, or even highlighters, to make each important section colour coded for easy identification. An extension of this concept, through the use of mnemonics, is to get the student to think of their own acronyms and phrases to aid their ability to remember lists of items. It is very important that the student is able to invent their own phrases as this will aid their memory, but having a back-up suggestion already prepared for them can often be a useful prompt. Students can also be encouraged to design their own posters and stick them to the walls in their bedroom, or the room they use for study, since this is also a good memory aid.

Additionally, when working closely with a student away from a normal classroom environment, it is better to structure the lessons into smaller time allotments. This allows the student to focus their attention on the task at hand and gains the maximum benefit from the time available. It also facilitates the breakdown of each task into smaller and more distinct steps. By structuring the lessons in this way, using short breaks to help to maintain a high level of concentration, the student can also learn to improve their study techniques when working by themselves. It is also important to help the student develop their public speaking skills by having short five-minute informal talks. This gives them another way of expressing their thoughts.

For students who have not had the opportunity to learn to use a computer early on at school, it seems just another thing to learn. Usually they need all of their time and energy to be focused on learning the subject information itself. Developing computer skills and keeping up with new software and styles of presentation can be an added burden that should be avoided if it is causing the student to lose focus on the core subject material.

Initially having had extra time allocated at school, can give some students the feeling of being different and singled out. However after explaining that there are many students with similar disabilities that get extra time, I was able to put these students at ease.

Dyslexic students need a lot of encouragement, whether it is by contacting them several times a week or taking them on excursions to maintain their interest. Most importantly though, students should be encouraged to be proud of their own work, and this needs to be reinforced by all other family members. Since dyslexia typically does not occur within a family in a predictable pattern, it is most likely that other members of the same family may not have this disability. Therefore without appropriate counselling, they may find it very difficult to understand why their child or sibling requires extra assistance to master a subject that they possibly found easy for themselves. Frequently, dyslexic students are unfairly labelled as dumb, or incompetent. However, this is clearly not always the case, since with the right approach these students can achieve results that are at least equal to those of regular students.

Medical aids to assist students

Having children tested for dyslexia very early in their school life is a good initial step, and once a dyslexic student is identified, they can be given the correct teaching techniques. Teachers should also be familiar with the common errors made by dyslexic students, and should be aware of the techniques that they can employ to help them. For example teachers should recognise that students who confuse the letters p and q, d and b and the numbers 9 and 6, as well as other combinations such as E and 3, and “was” and “saw”, are potentially dyslexic.

A student that has dyslexia can often improve their reading ability by varying the wavelength of light as well as the luminance or image blurring that reaches their eyes. Wearing glasses that have a blue lens can produce an improvement.[4] A sheet of blue acetate will also help them to read a computer monitor in the same way.[5] From his research, Dr. Williams has found that reading through blue filters helps 80 percent of dyslexic children read better, and red filters helps another 8 percent. The filters are pieces of transparent coloured plastic like those sometimes used as overhead transparencies.[6]

Discussion

Since dyslexic people have extreme difficulty in understanding the written word and find it very hard to understand numbers and symbols, teachers who are teaching dyslexic students need to ensure they involve all the five senses in the material they present. Using a practical and visual approach has the largest impact on memory and comprehension. This in turn improves the student’s self-esteem and subsequently can have a profound affect on their results at school. Students need to understand and be comfortable with the reason for their difficulties. They should not be made to feel “different” or inadequate from other students in their class. Instead, they should be told that they learn things in a different way from the other students, but that this does not mean that they are inferior or any less capable. Dyslexic students can be taught how to overcome the symptoms of dyslexia, and to use that knowledge to help themselves in their studies and their ability to achieve their ambitions.

Other References and Further Reading