:: Wrapping It Up ::

Throughout my time blogging, I began learning facts about my topic in a new light. This new perspective I gained was from the view of the parents’ side of the situation. I selected the topic of dyslexia and how it affects the child, as well as the family. I quickly discovered that one idea presented in a blog could quickly branch off in another direction. It is like the branches that stem from larger branches, which stem from the trunk of the tree. It all leads to one main idea or concept. It is my job as the blogger to decide which way to take my reader. Even though I was blogging to my professors and fellow cohortians, I liked to pretend that my audience was the parents of a child with dyslexia. What would they like to see posted? What information can I uncover that would be beneficial to them and their child? What resources would be helpful and supportive of their endeavors?

While I was blogging, I discovered that there is some information that you really have to dig for! Some days I would sit down to blog about a certain aspect of dyslexia, and it became more of a challenge than I was initially anticipating. This made me realize just how hard it would be as a parent to try to look for various ways to help my child. There is no easy way to find everything I need. I realized that parents have to find a variety of reliable sources. For one of my posts, I had the chance to interview a master teacher. She was such an excellent source of information and had a wealth of wisdom in the area of dyslexia. I think that parents should not forget to turn to a variety of teachers for input and information. As I was blogging, I also found that there are SO MANY different places that parents can connect with other parents facing the same circumstances. I was able to locate quite a few sites that contain support groups, along with information about what all the support groups entail. Blogging about dyslexia improved my “researching skills” that I will need as a teacher in the future. When I am a teacher, and I have a child with a disability in my classroom, I am going to need to do some work to see what my role is and how I can help the child. Knowing how to research and where to look for information will be key in the future, and I think that this is excellent preparation for the future. I will admit, it was not necessarily a fun activity for me, but I understand the value of knowing how to blog and how it can help parents. I was hired to help at a preschool with their camp this summer, and they put me in charge of the blog. I was able to confidently take on the task because I was already blogging for this course, and I knew what parents would like to see and read about. It was fun to instantly apply something that I was learning in one of my college courses in a real-world situation. Awesome!

Overall, the blogging challenge has been beneficial –though at times the thought of it made me cringe. I learned an assortment of ways to help children with dyslexia and their parents/families. I learned to take on a new perspective when I see a child with a disability. There is more going on than just the child. There is stress on that parent that most people might overlook. I am excited to see what challenges await me as I begin to take on students with disabilities and their families.

:: Hands on Teaching ::

I discovered this WONDERFUL site that contains hands-on learning for children with dyslexia. The link is below:

http://www.handsonteaching.co.uk/about-hands-on-teaching.php

There are various levels according to where your child is and what they are able to accomplish. There are checklists provided that guide the teacher/tutor/parent and include the "date taught" and "date reviewed." Everything is very organized, parent friendly, and helpful! There are numerous games and worksheets available for a small fee. Overall, it is a very simple but valuable resource!

:: "Smart Kids" -Website ::

I was looking for sites that would be helpful for parents, and I found "Smart Kids: Learning Disabilities."


There is a place for parents to read the basic information about LD and find the specific LD that their child has/may have.  There is information on how to "navigate the system" and what their child's rights are. The site contains success stories and available programs. The "Parents Community" is also a valuable resource for helping parents connect with each other for support and make information exchanges. Another feature of the site is that there is a place where parents can select the age group that their child fits under: Pre-K, Elementary, Middle, High School, and College. There is a section to help with signs and symptoms to guide parents. Overall, it is an excellent resource. 


http://www.smartkidswithld.org/ld-basics/signs-symptoms/dyslexia-article

:: Ways to Read with Your Child with Dyslexia ::

            I have never given much thought to how varying the method and approach to reading could help a child with dyslexia. I came across a short but helpful article by an academic language therapist who works with children with dyslexia.  She gave four helpful tips for parents:

1. Make reading out loud fun.

She encouraged parents to change things up for their child! Make the story interesting by having the child read one page; then the parent reads the next page. Read in different voices for different characters. Take turns reading every other word. These tips and more can be found in the article.

2. Remember: Syllables are your friends.

She told parents that a key to helping their child is breaking words down by syllable. It is a complex process, but a parent can help children at least break down the natural breaks that they hear in words.

3. Use multiple readings to help fluency.

Think of how little children learn their favorite books and “read” them to themselves. They cannot possibly be reading at such a young age –yet they are sitting with the book in front of them, saying the words on the page. How is this possible? Multiple readings/memorization is the key! For children with dyslexia, multiple readings will help build their confidence in reading a passage and will help them read faster and smoother.

4. Focus on comprehension.

She says that asking comprehension questions while reading a story will keep a child clued into what is going on besides lots of work and attempts to read the print on the page. Connecting with the text will motivate children .

To read more, check out the full article: 

Ways to Read with Your Dyslexic Child

~Sarah Beth~

     I found a very insightful article on Yahoo! where a psychologist is interviewed about how parents can help their child with dyslexia, while giving them a foundation to get started down the path that will build their child’s confidence.

     The person being interviewed was psychologist Rebecca S. Blakeman, PhD.  She is a licensed clinical psychologist, specializing in the evaluation and diagnosis of learning disabilities, ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and other learning/developmental conditions.

      Dr. Blakeman discussed the challenges that dyslexia has on the parent-child relationship. Her answer was similar to that of the master teacher I interviewed last week. Dr. Blakeman said, “For some families, dyslexia can cause a significant disruption in the parent-child relationship, due to the repeated conflict over reading, homework, and school performance.” The child has to work so much harder than a typical child, they become easily frustrated. The child will often lash out at or grow frustrated with his parent(s) because they are the ones trying to help him –and with the parental help comes a lot of work, fatigue, and aggravation. Dr. Blakeman said that this is not always the case. Sometimes dyslexia can strengthen the relationship between a child and his/her parent(s) because they spend so much time together, and the child realizes that it is for his/her own good.

     There are more tips and information for parents about dyslexia found in the article if you would like to read more! {see link below}

Tips for Parenting a Child with Dyslexia

~Sarah Beth~

:: Factors ::

I was talking with a teacher in regards to why some children with dyslexia can succeed in academics and why some struggle all through their school years.

           

Children with dyslexia that have support and encouragement from their families and teachers are more likely to succeed. The teacher I talked with showed me a pamphlet by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services called Facts about Dyslexia. From the pamphlet, I found this interesting bit of information that backed what she had said:

 “A child’s ability to conquer dyslexia depends on many things. An appropriate remedial program is critical. However, environmental and social conditions can undermine any treatment program. The child’s relationships with family, peers, and teachers have a major effect on the outcome of instruction. In a supportive atmosphere, a child’s chance of success is enhanced. Attitudes such as “expectancy,” the degree to which a teacher expects a child to learn, are important. Children who sense that they are not expected to succeed seldom do. Since slight progress in reading ability can make an enormous difference in academic success and vocational pursuits, children need to know that they are expected to progress.”

The sooner the children get help, the easier it is for them to pull through with success. Without early intervention, a child can quickly fall behind and become discouraged. The teacher I talked with said that the child will see everyone else moving along in his/her academics, and the child with dyslexia will realize that s/he will never catch up. Some children begin to withdraw, become depressed, give up, get angry, or feel guilty. Often the children try to hide their disability by taking on the role of the “class clown.”  

~Sarah Beth~

:: Interview with a Master Teacher ::

I interviewed a master teacher about dyslexia and its affect on parents/families of children with dyslexia. She said that it is so stressful for the family because the dyslexic child has to work harder to complete their daily schoolwork. When they come home from school after working all day, they are worn out, but they have more school to do. It takes them so much longer to do things, so the child becomes easily frustrated –and the parents have to deal with the child’s frustration.

When a child with dyslexia comes home with a lot of homework to do, the parent has to work with a tired child who has these assignments that take way longer than they should. Homework begins to take away time from relaxing, fun family time. This can cause tension between the child and parent(s), and siblings may become jealous of the amount of time being given to the child with dyslexia.

Siblings can cause stress on the child with dyslexia, especially when they are younger than the child with dyslexia. Their academic skills will begin to surpass the dyslexic child’s academic skills, which can often lead to resentment and strife between the siblings. For example, if a child in fourth grade has dyslexia and his sibling, who is in second grade, is a typical child, the second grader may tease or compete with the older sibling with dyslexia. Academics will come easy for the second grader, but the fourth grader may grow discouraged as he observes his younger sibling.

~Sarah Beth~

This journal contains a very in-depth study of developmental dyslexia. 

A summary from the journal is:

"A multiple case study was conducted in order to assess three leading theories of developmental dyslexia: (i) the phonological theory, (ii) the magnocellular (auditory and visual) theory and (iii) the cerebellar theory. Sixteen dyslexic and 16 control university students were administered a full battery of psychometric, phonological, auditory, visual and cerebellar tests. Individual data reveal that all 16 dyslexics suffer from a phonological deficit, 10 from an auditory deficit, four from a motor deficit and two from a visual magnocellular deficit. Results suggest that a phonological deficit can appear in the absence of any other sensory or motor disorder, and is sufficient to cause a literacy impairment, as demonstrated by five of the dyslexics. Auditory disorders, when present, aggravate the phonological deficit, hence the literacy impairment. However, auditory deficits cannot be characterized simply as rapid auditory processing problems, as would be predicted by the magnocellular theory. Nor are they restricted to speech. Contrary to the cerebellar theory, we find little support for the notion that motor impairments, when found, have a cerebellar origin or reflect an automaticity deficit. Overall, the present data support the phonological theory of dyslexia, while acknowledging the presence of additional sensory and motor disorders in certain individuals. " (Oxford University Press Copyright ©  2012 Guarantors of Brain)

The full journal can be found:
http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/126/4/841.full

:: Dyslexia: A Hidden Disability ::

I know that this doesn't have much to do with actual families with children with dyslexia, but I think that this would be an encouraging video for a family and their child with dyslexia. They can see how famous people or very smart people have struggled with dyslexia and have learned to rise above it.  It's not too long of a video. I would encourage you to check it out.

http://youtu.be/8m1fCz3ohMw



~Sarah Beth Zylka~

:: Identifying Young At-Risk Children ::

        This website was very insightful and possesses a vast amount of information about dyslexia. I found these approaches to be helpful. The website (listed below the entry) has a variety of resources that would aid any parent as they walk through the process of figuring out whether or not their child may be dyslexic.

Here is what we believe is the most scientifically sound and sensible approach to identifying young at-risk children before they experience reading failure:

• Observe your child's language development. Be on the alert for problems in rhyming, pronunciation, and word finding.
  
  
• Observe your child's ability to connect print to language. Notice if he is beginning to name individual letters.
  
  
• Know your family history. Be alert to problems in speaking, reading, writing, spelling, or learning a foreign language. Some families with more than the average complement of dyslexics seem to have an abundance of photographers, artists, engineers, architects, scientists, and radiologists. somewhat less frequent, but still impressive, are the large number of families sprinkled with great writers, entrepreneurs, and jurists who are dyslexic.
  
  
• If there are clues to problems with spoken language, learning letter names, and especially if there is a family history, have your child tested.

Copyright 2008, The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity • Yale School of Medicine

http://dyslexia.yale.edu/parentsnext.html