December 11, 2007

         What knowledge and skills have I acquired as a result of participating in this course?  In August, I would have never thought I would be able to create a page as informative and creative as I have.  Over the course of the semester, literacy has been a main focus with every task that we were given.  I have had the opportunity to develop the knowledge to know that there is more to literacy that just reading and writing, which is what I once thought of literacy as.  Literacy is a very broad term, and I was able to discover this throughout the semester by researching all aspects of literacy and even displaying my own literacy skills.  This page constitutes one aspect of literacy, digital literacy, which is one type that I can honestly say I am more knowledgeable in as a result of this class.  Over the semester, I have participated in a mailing list, in chat rooms, in numerous e-mails, in research, in blog postings, and in much more.  I was presented with various challenges, but in the end, I succeeded with the development of this weblog.

 Learner Outcomes:

          The first learner outcome was to acquire knowledge of the various conceptions of literacy in the 21st century.  By looking at my weblog, most everything that I participated in dealt with concepts of literacy in the 21^st century.  In the beginning, we were asked to read an article by Eshet-Alkali & Amichai-Hamburger, “Experiements in Digital Literacy.”  This article concentrated on different types of digital literacy such as the following: photo-visual, reproduction, branching, information, and social-emotional literacy. By reading this article, I established that digital literacy is vastly growing and always changing.  “The digital era requires the user to have technical, cognitive, and sociological skills that are necessary to perform and solve problems in digital environments” (Eshet-Alkali & Amichai-Hamburger, 2004, p. 421).  Having this type of literacy is a key factor when working with technology of any kind.  Some aspects of this semester became very confusing at times because the computer can be a difficult and complicated tool to use.  Without the technical knowledge, it would have never been possible to create a blog, wiki, or even a movie!  Also, this semester I developed a better understanding of my photo-visual literacy skills.  According to Eshet-Alkali and Amichai-Hamburger, photo-visual skills consist of having the ability to read messages and instructions visually to have the understanding of how to use the graphical game (2004).  I have also used my branching skills throughout this semester when researching information on dyslexia.  “Branching literacy is the multi-dimensional thinking skills in constructing meaningful understanding of complex phenomena” (Aviram and Eshet-Alkalai).  I had to search through page after page of information to find exactly what I wanted.  It was a time-consuming process, but I definitely learned from it. Without these skills, I would have never been able to produce the creations that I have or even to create this site.  It took an understanding not only of literal word meanings, but also of text and pictures.  I feel since I have developed these skills, I look at the website completely different than I once did.  I look at a website, and I see meaning!  This semester, I also learned about copyright.  I never took this as seriously as I should have, which I am sure is the case with most people, but now I have a completely different outlook on it.  It is extremely serious, and there can be substantial consequences to one who does not follow the rules, just as with most other illegal things.  It is important to give credit where credit is due.

     The second learner outcome was to acquire knowledge of what constitutes acceptable sources and resources within a profession and in the 21st century.  Different assignments throughout the semester assisted me in this area, which in the end helped to develop a thorough, yet correctly cited research project.  One assignment consisted of web evaluations.  This helped me realize not always to believe everything that you see online.  Reviewing this site helped me to realize that all information that is presented is not always correct.  The website had statements that were not cited; it was not a researched-based site; and also it was hard to find the authors.  Most people who look at websites everyday do not sit and review them; therefore, information is placed before us in a variety of ways, and many of the sites are not professional.  This is something I would have never noticed before, but now I know to pay attention to the information that I am gathering from a site, and I have a much better understanding of how accurate it is.  Another way I gained information on acceptable sources and resources was through the information that was read and later discussed in tapped-in group conversations on Copyright.  Copyright is such an important issue that many people do not even pay attention to it.  I can honestly say that when I created my research project for the movie, this was the first time that I was concerned with copyright laws on pictures.  I always knew it was important, but I ignored it when I should not have.  Now I know the importance and the effects it can have on an individual.  I also felt that knowing how to write APA sources correctly would become important for an upcoming project in this class, as well as for future classes.  We must be competent in this area to be correct in our work.  In this class, we submitted our sources and then re-checked them at a later date.  This showed that mistakes always exist, so I have learned to be extremely careful in my work with citations.  With proficiency in all of these areas, success will be achieved with acceptable sources and resources.

     The third learner outcome was to acquire knowledge of the professional issues relating to literacy within the ASHA Scope of Practice.  One issue that is extremely important when compared to what is in our Scope of Practice is Copyright.  This was an issue that we discussed as a class and in small groups, and I felt that we all had points that made the topic very interesting to converse about.  I have become much more knowledgeable in this topic because of this class.  It is an important issue that is not dealt with lightly, and we as Speech-Language pathologists have to abide by it.  In our field, it will always be important to give credit where it is due whether it is with information or even when talking about a formal test.  I feel that this will become more serious in our future as professionals; therefore, the guidelines will only become more stringent over time.

     The fourth learner outcome was to acquire knowledge of the forms of inquiry associated with evidence-based practice.  Evidence-based practice consists of high-quality research, practitioner expertise, and client preferences.  This is where we need to think about the needs of our clients; our services are here to improve their needs.  In doing so, we must be equipped with knowledge in many areas; with this knowledge, we can go online and search for “acceptable sites,” or we can even look in books.  All aspects of this class have helped in knowing which way is the best way to look for research, for example knowing the better search engines and also knowing which sites are worth one’s time.  It is just our goal to give our clients the best information and to come up with the best intervention methods to better their needs.

     When looking at the technical learner outcomes, I have met my goal in all areas.  I have always participated in class discussions and activities whether it is through e-mail or our online chats in tapped-in.  Throughout the semester, the use of my classmates through e-mail was always a helpful feature.  I also met the requirement of always finishing my work on time.  This became a weekly responsibility, and I will admit, it will be awkward without this class next semester.  I became so time-oriented as a result of this class.  Responsibility is just one key factor in being a successful professional.  Next, I used practical, critical, and creative thinking not only to create a research question and an I-search paper, but also to publish a movie.  This was a semester-long project that ended in a great piece of work that I can always look back on. I not only had to write my information in text, but I also had to produce it visually and orally for the general public.  I then had to publish my finished product on the web, so it is there for anyone to view and learn from. I had to take many steps to get to the final product and to utilize all aspects of literacy that we have learned about, but in the end, it was worth it.  I am extremely proud of my finished product, and it is all thanks to the information and knowledge that I gained from this class.   

November 17, 2007

Aims and Objectives:

This week, I set out to complete my assignments before Thanksgiving break began.  I also aimed at correcting my paper from the reviews I received from my peers, and submit it on time Friday.  I wanted to finished my assignments early because I wanted time to actually enjoy my break a little before having to study for an aural rehab exam on Tuesday when we come back.  Also, I am visiting my brother in Northern Virginia for a couple of days, so I want to try and leave my school work at home. Well, it is Saturday, and I guess I can say I accomplished my goal and can enjoy my break for the next few days! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!

Declarative Knowledge:

This week I began by reading what my peers said about my research paper.  I learned that even when you think your paper is the way you want it, there is always room for improvement.  My peers were very helpful in assisting me in writing a better paper.  I appreciated that they took the time to review my paper and gave me helpful insight.   Next, I added a few things to my paper, and when I re-read my paper for probably the third time, I still had corrections to make.  No matter how much you look at a paper, I feel that there is always something that you can change about it.  I learned that one will never be satisfied with his or her own work.  I feel like you could read it over and over and still want to change something about it.  I also learned that it is difficult to write about yourself and why you chose something.  For example, when I chose my major of communication disorders and when I chose the topic of dyslexia, it was hard to explain my reasoning behind those two decisions.  I also learned when writing my acknowledgements that there were a few people that really helped me in writing a thorough paper.  Without them, I probably would still have mistakes that I did not know existed.  Not only did they help in making the paper better, but they saved me a lot of time.

Procedural Knowledge:

This week I did not physically learn how to perform any procedure that I did not already know how to do.  In this week’s assignments, I wrote an acknowledgements and preface section; this was a new type of writing.  I guess this process was just a trial, and hopefully I will be able to correct and add later because I am sure both of those sections could use some work.  I felt like an author of a piece of work when I wrote these sections because I always notice these types of writings at the beginning of books.  I guess I am the author though of a paper on dyslexia.  Maybe one day it will be published from online to a hard back book.

Conditional Knowledge:

My assignments for this week could be helpful in all aspects of life.  As a student, the revising of a piece of work is always a tedious process, but the only way to get to a good, well-written paper is to read, re-read, and read again to check for mistakes.  Also, the other assignments such as writing the preface, writing the acknowledgements, and even writing about oneself are difficult tasks because you know what you want to say, but putting it into words can be difficult.  As a preprofessional and as a citizen, it is important to recheck all documents because it is natural that everyone makes mistakes.  As an SLP, it is important to recheck all reports because a mistake could change much when thinking about implementing therapy procedures.  Also, it is important to give the ones who helped you credit for their assistance; therefore, it is important to know how to write an acknowledgements sections of a piece of work.  All of this week’s assignments were not only beneficial for this class, but they were also helpful for my future as an SLP and as a citizen.  It can never hurt to improve one’s writing at any age!

November 17, 2007

When thinking about what topic I should choose that would correlate with literacy, I was puzzled.  I had so many ideas going through my mind because there are so many topics to choose from that pertain to our field of Communication Disorders.  At first I thought that I wanted to do my research on hearing impaired individuals, but for some reason I did not think that topic was exactly what I wanted to do.  I thought about it for a few days and ended up changing my mind as well as my topic to dyslexia.  I thought to myself, this topic would be very interesting because it is a population of people that I will have the opportunity to work with sometime in my career, and literacy is effected when one has this disorder.  After reading some information on dyslexia, I found that literacy is the main problem in dyslexics.  From this point, everything came together to create a well-written paper.

When looking at the final draft of my research on literacy in dyslexics, there are some people that assisted me in getting to my end product, and I would like to acknowledge them.  I first would like to thank my professor Mrs. Karen McComas.  She has been a great help with this paper since the beginning.  I felt that this topic was the one I needed to stick with mainly because I liked the positive imput I received from Mrs. McComas in the beginning when she told me that she liked my new topic and that it was a good change from the previous topic that I had.  She also was very helpful when I met with her in her office.  She helped in changing my essential question and also helped in narrowing my five questions down to the two that would really be beneficial for my paper.  In her office, I received much guidance and felt that the task ahead of me to write this paper might not be so bad after all.  She made me very optimistic about the task ahead, and I owe a special thanks to her!

I would also love to thank the people from the dyslexia mailing list that I subscribed to.  Their constant e-mails had some information in them that helped me understand how a dyslexic writes.  Some e-mails had text that was written by a dyslexic, and it was very interesting to try to read.

Finally, I would like to thank my two peers, Megan Dotson and Kelli Summerfield, who reviewed my paper.  Their thoughtful remarks helped in correcting my paper to make it better for the final draft.  Also, I felt as if they took the time to truly help in making my paper better! Thanks girls!

November 16, 2007

Ashley Dawn Carr was born on December 14, 1985, in Beckley, West Virginia.  She is the daughter of Michael and Mary Ann Carr of Oak Hill, West Virginia.  Ashley has one brother Chris who currently lives in Northern Virginia with his wife Amber.  Ashley attended Oak Hill High School and served as president of her senior class, was captain of the cheerleading squad, and played on the soccer team.  She graduated in May 2004 from Oak Hill High School as Salutatorian of her class.

Ashley has always had a desire to attend Marshall University because many members of her family are Marshall graduates.  She has been a supporter of the Thundering Herd since a very young age.  During Ashley’s freshman year, she was undecided on a major and chose Business Education for the time being.  Ashley began looking into the field of speech-language pathology and realized that Marshall had a program for just that.  Ashley began taking classes in Communication Disorders in the fall of her sophomore year.  She was accepted into the Communication Disorders program in the fall of her junior year.  While being in this program, Ashley has truly found an unknown passion for the geriatric population.  Ashley’s future plans are to attend graduate school and pursue a Master’s Degree in either Speech-Language Pathology or Occupational Therapy.

When not occupied with school work, Ashley works at Dirty Ernie’s Rib Pit in Fayetteville, West Virginia where she enjoys visiting with the customers that have just gone rafting on the New River or who have just stopped in for the fun atmosphere of the restuarant.  Ashley enjoys spending time with friends and family, and she truly loves shopping, just as most women do!

November 16, 2007

The process of choosing a topic for my research was a long process, but hopefully it led to a well-written paper.  Prior to knowing exactly what my topic was, I thought to myself, what in the world is something that I am interested in spending the rest of the semester learning more about.  To me, this was the hardest part because unlike my peers, who have had people and experiences that have inspired them to choose the topic that they chose, I have not really experienced anything of that nature.  Therefore, this was just a process of me choosing what I thought was interesting in this field and researching information on that topic. 

There are many topics in the field of Communication Disorders that I find very interesting, but I had to choose a topic that would not be too broad or maybe even too narrow to search information.  Picking a topic to research is always difficult because one either ends up finding out it will be too hard to narrow down the thousands of documents that have been found or even that it will be too hard to type a lengthy and interesting paper from just the few sources that were found.  When beginning a research paper, the process from beginning to ending with a thorough paper is always trial and error.  One may pick a topic the first time and write an informative paper from it, or one can choose a topic and find out that the topic has to change because the information that was first found would be too difficult to write a paper.

     This process for me actually was one of the easier ones compared to research papers in the past.  I actually chose a topic that worked, and I was able to find just the right amount of information on it to write a thorough paper.  I chose dyslexia because I have always been fascinated with how the brain works to form language.  Language is one of the most important assets individuals are blessed with.  It is how individuals communicate each and every day.  Without language,  one would never be able to express his or her feelings and/or express his or her wants and needs.  I felt that if I had to pair a topic with the term literacy, dyslexia would be perfect because the main problem that dyslexics face are literacy problems.

     After narrowing my research topic to dyslexia, I watched a television show called The George Lopez Show.  Coincidentally, the show was about the son finding out he was dyslexic.  It showed his difficulty with reading homework assignments and even how his grades were failing because he could not read like other typical children in his class.  In the end, the father had to explain that he himself was diagnosed with dyselxia when he was a child and that he understood the problems that his son was facing.  I realized that this show was just actors performing, but the characteristics of the child in the show were exactly like those of a dyslexic child.  I found this disorder to be extremely fascinating and felt that I would continue with the topic because it would be very interesting to learn more about this disorder that affects so many people in today’s society.

November 16, 2007

Bailet, L.  (2000, April).  Understanding dyslexia.  KidsHealth.  Retrieved November 3,

2007, from http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/medical/learning/dyslexia.html

Camp, D., & Aldridge, J. (2007, March).  Rethinking dyslexia, scripted reading, and  federal mandates:  The more things change, the more they stay the same.  Journal  of Instructional Psychology, 34(1), 3 – 12.  Retrieved November 3, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.                                                              

Carroll, J. (2007, June).  Literacy Today.  Retrieved November 3, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.

Dyslexia. (2007). In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved November 2, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyslexia 

Dyslexia basics. (2000). The International Dyslexic Association.  Retrieved November 3, 2007, from http://www.dyslexia-ca.org/pdf/Fact%20Sheets/basics.pdf 

Dyslexia – Einstein. (2007). Inspirational Quotes.  Retrieved November 3, 2007, from http://lucarinfo.com/inspire/deinstein.html 

K12 Academics. (n.d.).  Dyslexia.  The Complete Education Resource Center. Retrieved November 3. 2007, from http://www.k12academics.com/learningdisable.htm 

Mayo Clinic Health Information. (2005).  Dyslexia. In 1998-2007 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Retrieved November 2, 2007, from http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/DS/00224.html 

Plessis, S.  (2000).  Dyslexia: Is the shoe perhaps on the wrong foot?  Audiblox.  Retrieved November 16, 2007, from http://www.audiblox2000.com/dyslexia_dyslexic/dyslexia003.htm 

Puolakanaho, A., Ahonen, T., Aro, M., Eklund, K., Leppanen, P., Poikkeus, A., et al. (2007).  Very early phonological and language skills:  Estimating individual risk of reading disability.  Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 48(9), 923-931.    Retrieved November 2, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.                                                  

Shaywitz, S., & Shaywitz, B. (2007, Sept. 4).  The neurobiology of reading and dyslexia.  The ASHA Leader.  Retrieved November 2, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.

Snowling, M., Muter, V., & Carroll, J. (2007).  Children at family risk of dyslexia:  A follow-up in early adolescence.  Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 48(6), 609-618.  Retrieved October 4, 2007, from MEDLINE database.

Torppa, M., Tolvanen, A., Poikkeus, A., Eklund, K., Lerkkanen, M., Leskinen, E., et al.(2007).  Reading development subtypes and their early characteristics.  Annals of Dyslexia, 57(1), 3-32.  Retrieved September 20, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.                                                                                          

Wiertelak, E. (2003, October). Types of dyslexia. Macalester College.  Retrieved November 2, 2007, from http://www.macalester.edu/psychology/whathap/UBNRP/Dyslexia/types.html

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!

November 9, 2007

Aims and Objectives:

This week I aimed to get my assignments finished before Saturday because of the game and also because I need to start revising my paper from the comments that I receive from my classmates.  Also, my goal was to be a constructive peer to help my classmates better their papers. It is getting closer by the day to the end of the semester; therefore, things are starting to get busy in our classes so that we can get all of the assignments completed.  It is hard for me to do much throughout the week except try to keep myself caught up with the work in each of my classes.  Thanksgiving break is in a week; therefore, I have something to look forward to help get me through this coming week!! YAY!

Declarative Knowledge:

This week I began by learning about Movie Maker in our class meeting on Monday.  I learned how to use it, and also I learned how to look up pictures and add them to the slide show.  I learned that not everyone is going to do this project the same same, considering that Mrs. McComas’s slide show was very different from the Mean Girls.  It was obvious that we are going to create this project the way we want, which means it should be a very fun and creative project that will take up our free time of Thanksgiving break.   Next, I learned about socio-emotional literacy.  I found this type of literacy to be very beneficial for any age to know about.  It is something that adults and children run into everyday when using the web.  Scams and predators are out there, and they are searching and readying themselves for those who are not socio-emotional literate, which is a very large percentage of the population.  People sometimes do not know how to avoid the scams, but the best way is just to ignore the people and the texts that are unfamiliar to them.  Also, this week, I learned a little more about my topic by adding new sites to my online bookmarking account.  At times, I did not think that was possible after looking through the hundreds of articles for my draft, but I guess there is always room for learning new things and improving a paper.  Finally, I reviewed two of my classmate’s I-search papers.  I found this to be quite an interesting assignment and a great learning experience.  I felt as if I were in the shoes of a teacher for a brief moment, and thank goodness that is not going to be my profession because commas and misspellings started to give me a headache after a while.

Procedural Knowledge:

This week in class, I learned the basics of how I will be putting together my slide show on movie maker.  I did this by going to movie maker and seeing how you must time the pictures, as well as sliding them in the right position.  When the time comes to put this project together, it is going to be a very tedious project, but in the end, I think it will look great.  Also, I looked at some pictures that I might be interested in using on Flickr.com.  You have to search thoroughly to find pictures that are not reserved by copyright, but there are still some good ones out there that are not.  This week, I also learned how to peer edit and correct as much as I could find on other’s papers.  Editing is something that not everybody is good at because you must pay close attention to trying not to miss the grammatical errors and/or spelling errors.  I did the best that I could to help out my peers, and hopefully my help with be beneficial to them.

Conditional Knowledge:

This week’s assignments will be helpful for all ages of people.  As a student, it is important to know how to edit.  Peer editing is something that teachers are having their students take part in more and more in classrooms.  It is helpful to pay close attention so that you don’t miss mistakes that occur in your classmate’s papers.  Editing is important for our profession as well because it is important to double check your evaluation reports before finalizing them because simple things like chronological age could be wrong.  Simple mistakes that occur in reports could change how therapy would be done on a child which could make a huge difference.  Editing is also important for citizens because in any profession, it does not hurt to double check your work.  Also, being socio-emotional literate is an important characteristic to have for all ages.  I feel that the rules or standards are not different for students, preprofessionals, and citizens because the same rule applies for all ages and professions.  Just watch what you do on the internet, and do not participate in anything that is unfamiliar to you.  Following those rules will save you from questioning if an e-mail is fake or if this person I am talking to is a real person or an imposture.

November 9, 2007

 Socio-Emotional Literacy:

Over the last few weeks, we have learned about some of the types of digitial literacy.  This week, our main focus is on socio-emotional literacy, which is the ability to understand the “good” and “bad” that comes along with using the internet.  Collaborative learning, such as with chat rooms, instant messagers, and even virtual meetings, is a great tool that can be accessed through the internet, but there are problems involved with it, such as scams, viruses, and even people claiming to be someone that they are not.  The ability to avoid the scams and ignore the imposter is known as being socio-emotional literate.  “These opportunites such as chat rooms and instant messangers require users to employ sociological and emotional skills in order to ‘understand the rules of the game’ and ‘survive’ the hurdles that await them in the mass communication of the cyberspace” (Eshet-Alkali and Amichai-Hamburger, 2004).    “This literacy has to do with protecting oneself from the dangers of the digital, highly-connected world and at the same time to guard the rights of the other by adhering to the rules of netiquette:  the etiquette of the net” (Aphek, 2007).  Being socio-emotional literate is a great characteristic to have in today’s era of the World Wide Web because with all of the dating sites and chatrooms, one really has to be intelligent to know what’s real and what’s not.  If one signs up for an e-mail at a site, then normally hundreds of e-mails will be received that are considered “JUNK” just because an e-mail address was revealed to the public domain somewhere along the way.  When looking through those e-mails, how do people know how to separate legitimate e-mails from trash, or even, how do they know if something is going to contain a virus?  For example, if you see an e-mail that says for you to sign up now and recieve a certain amount of money, normally you would think this can’t be real, but technically how do you know?  Also, when you are chatting online, how do you know if the person you are talking to is really “Billy, age 23, from Ohio”?  You don’t know, but you assume and try not to think of that anymore.  Socially-literate people know how to avoid these impostures and traps that occur in cyberspace.  When looking at the different types of digital literacy, social-emotional literacy is known to be the most complex of the different types because it takes a certain type of person to know the “good” from the “bad.”  “In order to acquire this skill, users must be very critical, analytical, and mature, and must have a high degree of information literacy and branching literacy” (Eshet-Alkalai, 2004). 

I feel like having these skills are extremely important to survive on the Web in today’s era.  There are predators out there whose main goal is to get people that are illiterate in these social skills.  When I think of this issue, I think of the men that are out to get girls in chat rooms, acting like they are interested in the girls and even pretending to be a lot younger than what they really are.  If you are an immature teenager looking for someone to hang out with, it might be very tempting to meet up with someone that you have been talking to over the internet for a while.  This is such a dangerous sitution.  Also, to keep your computer free of viruses, it is important to be safe and just not open those e-mails that look suspicious.  I know some e-mail or even websites look tempting, but that is their point; then when opening the e-mail, you find out that it contains a virus.  Even though there are scams over the internet, whether it is in a chatroom or an e-mail, just be safe and ignore them all.  It will be beneficial in the long run.

In our schools, it is extremely important to have these skills because students need to know about the rights and wrongs of the internet.  I feel like if you grow up learning these skills, then it will be easier to avoid them for the rest of your life.  I grew up knowing that chatrooms were not safe and even the idea of not disclosing any personal information over the internet; therefore, I am aware of not chatting with people I do not know and especially not telling my age or location where I live.  I am always aware of just deleting all e-mails that are from people that I do not know.  When I was in high school, we were not allowed to use a hotmail account while on the school’s computers, and now even local school boards deny access to certain websites because of scams or threats. 

Aphek, E. (2007).  Digital, highly connected children: Implications for education.  Retrieved November 8, 2007, from http://www.creativityatwork.com/articlesContent/aphek/digital-literacy.html

Eshet-Alkalai, Y. (2004).  Digital Literacy: A conceptual framework for survival skills in the digital era.  JI. of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 13(1), 93-106.  Retrieved November 8, 2007, from http://www.openu.ac.il/Personal_sites/download/Digital-literacy2004-JEMH.pdf

Eshet-Alkali, Y., & Amichai-Hamburger, Y. (2004, August).  Experiments in digital literacy.  Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 7(4), 421-429.

I was really interested in how the film was displayed.  In the beginning, I was lost at what the pictures had to do with, but by the end it all came together.  It was a great story and very true!!!!