Ashley Carr
November 16, 2007
Final Draft:
Introducing/Questioning
Prior to discovering the topic I wanted to research, I started thinking of something that would correlate with literacy, something that was not too narrow but also not too broad to research, and finally something that would pertain to my field of Communication Disorders. I began thinking of how I have always been fascinated with how the brain works to form language, and I thought that if I am going to be spending time with a topic, it should be something of interest to me. When thinking of the brain and language, the first communication problem that came to mind was dyslexia. Before ever looking at any type of information on dyslexia, I basically knew that it was a problem in the way people could read text. The letters in words are out of order to a dyslexic; therefore, written language would be difficult to understand if one cannot even interpret it correctly. For example, a dyslexic might see “She was pretty” as “She saw pretty” where the s and the w are switched in the word was. When this happens, the sentence automatically does not make sense; therefore, when dyslexics read and try to comprehend language, it is very difficult for them to understand the context.
When thinking about how dyslexia would relate to literacy, I first had to think to myself what my definition of literacy was. Prior to this semester, I had a very basic definition of literacy. When I thought of the term literacy, I thought of it as the ability to read and write. Most people, students included, do not take the time to dwell upon the definition of literacy as I have this semester in CD 315; therefore, I am sure the way that I thought of literacy prior to this semester is also the way that most people would relate to it. I now have a whole new concept of literacy and what it truly entails.
When I think of dyslexia and literacy, I think of how immense a problem that dyslexics must have with literacy. Basically, the major problem with dyslexics is with their transfer of letters; therefore, I thought it would be interesting to see exactly how literacy is affected by examining a little more closely children with dyslexia. I feel as if language is most important in the early stages of development when one is learning it. This typically happens in a sequential step from birth to school-age; therefore, I feel that examining school-age children would show the greatest setback that dyslexics have with literacy.
All of this information leads to my essential question, which is as follows: “What particular literacy/reading skills are affected in school-age children who are diagnosed with the specific language disability known as dyslexia?” There are a few questions that need to be addressed to formulate an answer to this question. The first question is as follows: “What is dyslexia?” I have learned in my classes as a Communication Disorders major that it is much easier to know when an atypical behavior occurs if you first know what is typical or normal of that behavior. When you know what is supposed to occur and at what age, it is easy to single out a disorder or delay when it is not occurring as it should.
I felt that knowing all about dyslexia would be essential for my research since that is what I am comparing literacy to, and also I felt that it would be beneficial for my future profession as a speech-language pathologist to know more information about a topic that I just know a few basic things about. It is evident that at sometime in my career, I will work with someone in this population of dyslexics, and expanding my knowledge on this topic is only helping me for the future.
Next, a second question that needs to be addressed is as follows: “What skills are necessary for reading?” Again, I must know the norms before I can suggest that something is not average with that child. Since I am focusing on children, it is important to know how children acquire and learn different skills necessary for reading. It is also important to see what deficiencies dyslexics are encountering in reading, writing, and spelling and how much their literacy is affected because of this problem.
Searching
“It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”- Albert Einstein (“Dyslexia – Einstein,” 2007). It is often thought that those with a high level of intelligence do not experience the problems that people experience everyday. Albert Einstein was one of many scholarly people who achieved high expectations with a disability hindering him on the inside. His disability was known as dyslexia. Dyslexia, a problem in the brain with decoding words, is a disability that many people face, whether it is Leonardo da Vinci, Cher, Tom Cruise, Albert Einstein, or even the student that once sat beside you in elementary school (“Dyslexia – Einstein,” 2007). It can happen to anyone.
“Dyslexia was coined in 1887 by Rudolf Berlin, an ophthalmologist practicing in Stuttgart, Germany. He used this term when he was referring to a young boy who had a severe impairment in learning to read and write in spite of showing typical intellectual and physical abilities in all other aspects” (“Dyslexia,” 2007). Dyslexia deals with a problem in decoding language and/or written text to become a meaningful statement just as it would be to a non-dyslexic. Dyslexics have trouble reading and making sense of what they have just read because letters and words are typically out of order. Dyslexics typically do not experience problems in other areas such as speech, vision, and hearing, but rather just have issues with understanding what they have read. “Some predictors of dyslexia include problems with phonological awareness, short-term memory, rapid naming, expressive vocabulary, pseudoword repetition, and letter naming” (Puolakanaho et al., 2007, p. 923).
Dyslexia is a problem dealing with decoding at word level, with spelling words, and/or with reading fluently. Confusion of the letters b, d, q, and p often exists in some of dyslexic’s letter associations (“Dyslexia,” 2007). The letters look so much like each other and actually are just opposites in appearance; therefore, these could be confusing to an individual experiencing dyslexia. “These mirror images must be a result of the brain receiving simultaneous messages from both hemispheres, rather than one dominant hemisphere” (Camp & Aldridge, 2007, para. 3). A “b” for a “d” at the end of a word could really change the meaning of that word and make the understanding of written language extremely hard to interpret. Shaywit and Shaywit (2007) supported the phonological theory, which states that “speech is natural, while reading is acquired and must be taught. In order to read, a child must acquire the ‘alphabetic principle’—the insight that spoken words can be pulled apart into the elemental particles of speech and that the letters in a written word represent these sounds” (para. 2). The alphabetic principle is something that dyslexics are disabled in. Dyslexics try to memorize the form of the word by the shape of the letters, and when the word adds a morpheme (a unit of language that is added to a word), then the shape of that word differs, and the picture image they once had no longer exists. “Studies have concluded language whose orthography has a strong correspondence between letters and sounds (e.g. Italian) have much lower incidence of dyslexia than speakers of language with letters closely linked to the sound (e.g. English)” (K12 Academics, n.d.).
People can have average or even above average intelligence, plenty of motivation to succeed in whatever their goal or dream may be, and still have the characteristics of a dyslexic (Bailet, 2000, para. 1). Dyslexia hinders a person in specific areas, but it does not hinder all aspects of life. With appropriate teaching methods and a drive to succeed, dyslexics can learn successfully. Dyslexics are often gifted people who can succeed in other areas such as in art, computer science, drama, electronics, math, mechanics, physics, and sports (“Dyslexia Basics,” 2000). Studies have shown that “an estimated 20% of all people in the United States have a reading disability and 85% of those people have dyslexia” (Bailet, 2000, para. 2). “Dyslexia is the most common learning disability in children” (Mayo Clinic Health Information, 2005, para. 1). Dyslexia is seen in both males and females, and it is not more prevalent in one gender than the other (K12 Academics, n.d.).
The cause of dyslexia is unknown, but it has been shown that it coincides with genetics. “It is widely recognized that dyslexia is a language-based disorder that runs in families and is heritable” (Snowling, Muter, & Carroll, 2007, p. 609). Studies indicate that normally a parent with dyslexia most likely will have a child with dyslexia. “Between 30 and 50 percent of children who have a parent with dyslexia will have gone on to have reading difficulties themselves” (Carroll, 2007, para. 7). Many theories have been explored over the years to find a more in depth reasoning for the cause of dyslexia. One theory that was examined stated that “dyslexia is the result when the link between the language, hearing, and comprehension centers of the brain is somehow misconfigured during fetal development” (Plessis, 2000) Other theories stated that “dyslexia is caused by ‘faulty wiring in the brain,’ whereas another holds that a subtle impairment of vision may be responsible, while yet another believes that a cerebellar-vestibular dysfunction may be responsible for the learning disability” (Plessis, 2000). Even though much time, effort, and expense have been put into the investigation of the cause of dyslexia, the cause is still unknown, and the population of dyslexics seems to rise each day.
Dyslexia is normally diagnosed in children sometime throughout their elementary school years (Bailet, 2000, para.10). Just like most other delays or disabilities, the earlier that intervention begins, the better the results will be in the future. Dyslexia must be diagnosed based upon a formal test that is given, and if one notices that his or her child and/or student is suffering in certain areas, then that student should be referred to a reading specialist or a psychologist to see what the problem results in.
A dyslexic can be divided into two subgroups: visual and auditory dyslexia (Wiertelak, 2003). Visual dyslexics have problems with learning a whole word. They have problems with discriminating the visual aspect of words, and they also have problems in sequencing words. A visual dyslexic would exhibit the problems that most people relate dyslexia to such as the reversal of words or letters, difficulty with spelling, and the ability to write accurately (Wiertelak, 2003). Auditory dyslexics experience problems connecting what they hear to a visual component (Wiertelak, 2003).
Some problems that are typically seen in an individual who is experiencing dyslexia are as follows: learning to talk, rhyming, reading, spelling, decoding simple words, and using “b” and “d” accurately. Individuals who experience dyslexia not only have problems with reading and writing, but they also have emotional problems that lead them to feeling “dumb” or “stupid” when comparing themselves to their peers.
Dyslexia is a lifelong problem that cannot be cured, but it can be helped. With the proper assistance, an individual with dyslexia can learn to read and write very well and succeed in life (“Dyslexia Basics,” 2000). It is important for individuals to be noticed with this disability as soon as possible, because along with helping them succeed academically, it can also help them feel better about themselves instead of feeling inferior to everyone else as they once did.
“The Simple View of Reading defines reading ability as the function of decoding and comprehension skills, but at the early phases of learning to read, word recognition and reading comprehension are difficult to separate” (Torppa et al., 2007, p.4). It is important to know the typically developing standards for reading before one can determine that a child and/or adult has fallen below the norm or has continuous problems in a certain area of reading. Reading is essential in our lives, and it is a core problem in individuals that have been diagnosed with the specific language disability known as dyslexia. Bailet (2002) has described how typical developing children become skilled in reading from learning basic sounds to then putting the sounds together into words for meaningful text:
When most kids are learning to read, they use typical “decoding” skills: They learn to recognize letters on sight and learn the sound that each letter makes. Then they begin to figure out what the letters look and sound like when they are put together to form words. They then put that together with learning and remembering the words and their meanings and how they fit into a sentence (para. 5).
Reading is essential in the early academic stages of a child’s life. If children are experiencing problems in reading that are unlike those of their peers, then the teacher and/or parent needs to look a step further into the problems that the child is experiencing. Children must begin with the sounds that exist in language, but they cannot develop language with just the knowledge of those sounds. It is important that they not only learn the sounds, but that they also learn that these sounds are put together to form words. In words, every sound is not heard. For example, when individuals say the word car, they hear one word and not three sounds. Along with knowing how to pronounce the words and even understanding their meaning, the child must demonstrate comprehension skills to understand in context what is being said.
As one can see, the key factors in being a successful reader are knowing the sounds, decoding the word, knowing the word (vocabulary), and then knowing how to comprehend it in context with many other words. Reading is a building process, and the only way one will survive in our world is to understand from the basics and take the next step until one understands what he or she is reading. If one stays at only knowing the sounds, then comprehension is extremely difficult and the ability to read and understand at a quick rate is going to be complex for the individual who is trying to learn to read.
Conclusion/Answering
Now that we know exactly what dyslexia is, what literacy problems with reading exist, and also what is typically expected in those who experience no known reading difficulties, we can come to a consensus of what particular reading problems are experienced in school-age children with dyslexia, if any at all. A main issue in children who experience dyslexia is that they have a problem with reading accurately and fluently. That is the broad part of the problem, but when breaking that down, one must know what is expected for that child, and out of those expectations, what standards that child is not meeting. When thinking about what is necessary for reading, the first thing that comes to mind is comprehending a succession of words. Before one is able to understand that sequence of words, one has to be able to understand what each word means. To break down words, one has to understand the difference between and the order in which the letters should be arranged to make up the meaningful word. This is where dyslexic children are disabled. Dyslexics face the problem of making the basic connection between letters and their sounds, which leads to problems with spelling, writing, and most importantly reading (“Dyslexia Basics,” 2000).
So exactly how is reading affected in school-age children? “A typical developing reader learns what the letters look like and then associates the sound with that letter, but a dyslexic has trouble making the connection between the sound and the letter that makes that sound and also has difficulty blending those sounds to form words” (“Dyslexia Basics,” 2000). If children are in the process of learning how to read and exhibit these problems, then they are prone to academic problems in their future. Dyslexics will never be up to the standard of a normal reader, but with early intervention, they can be exceptionally close to the norm. I suppose the saying, “Practice makes perfect,” stays true for dyslexics as well!
