Dyslexia Fact Sheet

DYSLEXIA FACT SHEET

Characteristics	Dyslexia is a learning disability caused by an impairment in the brain that makes it difficult to process what it receives from the persons eyes and ears. Common characteristics of dyslexia are difficulty reading at a normal pace, difficulty spelling words correctly, mixing up sounds in words, confusion of right and left and difficulty following directions in order. Some of these symptoms are also minimal in some people and dyslexia may go undiagnosed for many years causing frustration and lack of confidence in an individual. Most symptoms are noticed in students in elementary school beginning to learn to read and write. The biggest sign is an inability to read. This disease cannot be cured with medicine it is a learning disability that needs attention in school and at home to help use a child’s strengths and build from there.
Misconceptions	One large misconception is that all dyslexic students have the same symptoms. The effects of dyslexia are different in every person diagnosed so no one student can be treated the same. Another misconception is that pulling students out for reading help is necessary and although it is helpful students need to be in the general education classroom as much as possible so they aren’t set back from missing material. A very common misconception is that students with dyslexia are slow learners. Dyslexia does not affect how smart a student is it just affects how they need to learn the information. There are very many brilliant students that are diagnosed with dyslexia. All of these things need to be understood by the teacher so as to not treat a student differently than they need to be.
Accommodations	One big accommodation that can be made is providing a lot of small group work throughout the day and/or partner work. Allowing the student to work in small groups or in partners allows the student to receive more assistance peer-to-peer rather than be pulled out individually for teacher or resource teacher assistance. Another accommodation can be made to the homework the student is assigned. There are many different forms of assignments that can be accommodated so the student is doing something similar to the regular assignments but is doable for the students’ readiness and abilities. I think small groups are a very beneficial accommodation because it can help aide all struggling students rather than just the one dyslexic student.
Resources	The American Dyslexia Association is an association dedicated to helping families and persons with dyslexia. The association provides books, articles, blogs to follow, and many links to websites with helpful tips and information. The National Center for Learning Disabilities is also a really helpful resource that provides information about many learning disabilities and dyslexia in particular. This center along with providing information also provides assistance for students that need aide. There are also many websites that are extremely helpful for teachers, parents, families, and students. This website (http://www.dyslexia.com/library/schoolproblems) is an example of helpful websites for parents with dyslexic children that need more information about how the disability will affect their child in school.
Curricular Modification	I don’t actually have any students in my classroom that are diagnosed with dyslexia. If I did have any students with dyslexia I would make a plan with them at the beginning of the year. I would find out exactly how severe it is and how much assistance they need. I would make it clear to the student that I want them to feel just as much a part of the class as everyone else just with provided assistance when need be. I would let the student know that I will provide multiple forms of learning including read alouds, partner work so a partner can help explain, and numerous manipulatives and hands on activities so things aren’t always in the form of reading. When things are done in reading forms where the student would struggle I would give them extra help myself or again, pair them up with a strong partner that can help them when the time is appropriate.