Dr. Shaywitz and the ADA

DYSLEXIA AND THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES
AMENDMENT ACT:
A Q&A WITH DR. SALLY SHAYWITZ

 

 

In this article Dr Shaywitz discusses the fact that the ADA has loop holes through which people with Dyslexia fall. It is interesting because the article was written in 2008 and in 2009 the ADA was amended, to include one of the clauses Dr. Shaywitz had campaigned  for. Dr. Shaywitz maintained that individuals with dyslexia required and should be granted time extensions on qualifying tests such as the SAT, GMAT. LSAT, and MCAT. 

In the past dyslexic individuals were not considered to be disabled - they got good grades and had average or above average IQs.  The general consensus was those persons did not need accommodations and were not covered under the ADA. Dr. Shaywitz states her position very well: 

Essentially, dyslexia robs a person of time; receiving additional time returns it.  The additional time acts as a bridge allowing the dyslexic person to access his higher-level strengths. 

The article underscores Dr. Shaywitz's point with scientific research, both in the laboratory and in case studies.

The article was thought provoking.  I work with Special Education students every day.  I see the need for a number of different disabilities to have extra time to complete assignments.  I agree that many times the granting of extra time does not level the playing field, but for some children it does.  These children also, like dyslexic children, do not appear disabled.  But processing deficits are real and do impact the child's ability to respond appropriately in a required time frame to both oral and written questions.  It is standard practice in most classrooms today to give children "think" time.  I honestly feel that good teachers recognize this and instinctively use it when necessary.

Dyslexia

This article was fascinating. I did not have a good understanding of what dyslexia actually is until reading this.  Dyslexic children have great difficulty   processing and recalling  the correct phonetic parts of words.  Many children have trouble learning to read.  A dyslexic child stands out because s/he should not be having trouble.  The dyslexic child has a normal or above IQ, is motivated to learn, and has had good reading instruction but still cannot read.
Dr. Shaywitz and her colleagues have conducted a number of long term studies, individual case studies, and used MRI imaging  to study the brain of dyslexic individuals.  They have concluded that the basis of difficulty lies in phonological processing, not in letter and word reversals. Dyslexia is a localized problem, involving the sounds, not the meaning, of spoken words.  Children  have difficulty attaching appropriate meaning to the graphemes.  The sounds, phonemes, in words are less distinct to them. 
This article was written in 1996.  A more recent article was just as disturbing.  The Connecticut Longitudinal Study found that 1 in 5 kindergarten children in the group studied was dyslexic.  At the same time only 5% of the children were served in Special Education. 
After reading these two articles it seems plain that public education is not adequately serving these children.  Dyslexia is not something that goes away or that children will outgrow.  We must do a better job of  identifying and helping these children early.

                                                                                August 19, 2011

"Vocabulary Development During Read-Aloud: Primary Practices"   by Karen J. Kindle

This article discusses the many benefits children derive from having someone read aloud to them.  It states: "…since beginning readers are limited in their independent reading to simple decodable texts, exposure to novel vocabulary is unlikely to come from this source.  Read-alouds fill the gap by exposing children to book language…."

Effective read-alouds are not simply books read aloud.   The text must be selected and words identified before hand and strategies for assisting word learning must be decided on.  Tier 2 words are the ones that most effectively advance a student's reading vocabulary.  These words are not common in everyday speech but occur frequently in written language.  Words are taught three ways during the read-aloud: Incidental  - where the teacher uses a Tier 2 word during discussion, Embedded - the teacher uses a simple definition or synonym for the word during the read-aloud, and Focused Instruction - the teacher discusses with the children what a word means.

M1N3. Students will add and subtract numbers less than 100, as well as understand

and use the inverse relationship between addition and subtraction.

a. Identify one more than, one less than, 10 more than, and 10 less than a given number.

The 1st grade class I am working with this year has a number of students who ae low in math.  We have been working on counting and adding one more for a couple of weeks.  Scholastic has a book: The Hershey's Kisses Addition Book by Jerry Pallotta.  Using only the first nine pages I did a short lesson for the children having the most difficulty.

Words to Teach

simple:     synonym: easy

equation:  example - 1  +  1  =   2; definition: a number sentence with 

                                             an = sign

basic:   synonym - simple

The group had 1 ESOL student, a Special Ed student who has repeated Kindergarten, and two student with Tier 3 Interventions for Reading and math.

Materials:  bag of Hershery's Kisses, book, dry erase boards and markers for everyone

The lesson began with introducing the book.  I explained that we would read only the first part today.  We would read more on another day.  then I passed out the markers and boards.  I let the children play with them for 3 or 4 minutes.  When they were ready to listen we began to read.  The first page introduces math terms and symbols.  We practiced writing those: +, -, =.  This is where I brought out the Kisses.  Rule 1 - you may not eat any of the candy until the end.  Then you get only one piece.  (The rest of the candy goes into a zip-lock bag, into the bookbag, and goes home)

As we went through the book I used the  vocabulary aids prepared ahead of time.  The children used the Kisses to work the math problems and then had to write the equation.  The book is a fun, entertaining way to reinforce adding 1.  After the lesson that group raised their hands during Calendar to answer the question what is ___ and 1 more.  It was the first time any of them had volunteered.

I have already worked on the vocabulary for the second half.  We will do a small group adding doubles after Labor Day.

"The Cultural Divide of Discourse: Understanding How English-Language Learners' Primary Ddiscourse Influences Acquisition of Literacy"  by Lydia Mays

After reading this article it is very clear why many ESOL students who are tested for Special Education are tested in both English and their first language.  The student must show deficits in both languages to qualify for services.   A child who has had little exposure to English will not perform as well as children who have more exposure.  Also, cultural differences play a role in how the child will respond in the classroom. 

The article makes many critical points about the barriers current teaching  practices create for ELLs.  There are several intervention strategies presented that would even the playing field for those students.

One of the strategies described in this article was to label items in the room with both English and the ELL students' first language.  The ESOL students in my class are Hispanic.  This is the activity I chose to do with a small group.

Standard: ELA1R3 The student demonstrates the relationship between letters and letter combinations of written words and the sounds of spoken words.

Materials:  3X5 cards,  markers, tape,  list of classroom items with words in English and Spanish, with pictures, - desk, table, book, pencil, door, window, etc. (for spelling),   access to: http://www.spanishdict.com/translation to translate items (this is a good web site - there is an audio function that helps with pronunciation)

When the rest of the class went to Art I called the children over to the table.  The group was two ESOL and two non-ESOL students.  I explained to them that I am taking a class in Spanish and need to practice, would they help?  They got very excited.  I told them they needed to label things around the room with the English and the Spanish word.  They each picked out a marker and got a handful of cards.  They could not label something if the other group had already labeled it.  They automatically paired off with a Spanish and English speaker in each pair.  I gave them the list of items and 20 minutes to label as much as possible.  

The web site came in very handy because they needed the spelling of several items I had not included - dry erase markers is one.  

The children enjoyed it, when the class came back from Specials the other children  wanted everything pronounced.  It kept the group of "labelers" busy  the rest of the day.  It also actually helped me - I really am taking a Spanish class.