Dyslexic students left behind
Kids with learning disabilities have been negatively impacted by virtual classes
NEWPORT NEWS — Dyslexia is one of the most common learning disabilities. The International Dyslexia Association estimates 15-20% of the population could have some symptoms.
A neurological condition that makes reading more difficult, some of the most effective strategies to help students include using hands-on tools and one-on-one instruction. It can’t be cured, but students can learn tools to overcome it. But the COVID-19 pandemic has complicated that.
“Part of the intervention that makes it so effective is it needs to be multi-sensory,” said Kari Fotis, a former special education teacher and dyslexia specialist. “You need to be able to move magnets around, be able to be in sand boards, be able to see, touch, hear, and work through everything.”
After working for years at Tabb Elementary in York County, Fotis started the Hampton Roads Dyslexia Center, one of a handful of private businesses in the region providing tutoring and testing specifically for students with dyslexia. The center is a partnership with the Virginia Center for Autism and Related Developmental Disorders and psychologist Dr. Ronald David, who does evaluations for dyslexia and other disorders.
Educators have worried since school began closing about the impact on students with disabilities, part of why school districts have prioritized their
return to classrooms. Fotis worries about the impact of virtual and hybrid learning, particularly on students with dyslexia.
“You’re kind of losing time,” Fotis said. “The window never completely closes — I’ve taught adults with dyslexia to read. But certainly, as you get older, that becomes more of a challenge.”
Crystal Winfree, a York County parent and a client of Fotis’s, knew to look out for signs of dyslexia when her oldest daughter entered kindergarten.
Her husband and several of her in-laws also have the disorder.
Her oldest daughter, Lilianna, continued to struggle in the second half of kindergarten with the alphabet and sounds but was moved up to first grade anyway.
It wasn’t until November last school year that her firstgrade teacher raised concerns that something might be going on.
She was diagnosed in December with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.
But a few months later, schools across the state closed, disrupting Winfree’s plans for getting her further testing through the school district.
Meanwhile, Lilianna struggled with virtual learning.
“Virtual was impossible,” Fotis said. “She was hardly paying attention at all.”
Neither all-virtual nor hybrid learning are great options for students with dyslexia, Fotis says.
With all-virtual learning, screen readers and similar accommodations can help students complete assignments.
But without adult supervision, it can be hard to encourage them to do independent reading.
Hybrid models, which schools say are necessary to reduce the number of people in buildings and ensure social distancing, also present challenges.
Although students may go to school part-time, on the other days the teacher assigns work but isn’t live online with the class.
“Effective interventions rely on lots of repetition, meeting three times a week for a good 45 minutes for each time and running through those same programs,” Fotis said.
“You literally are rewiring the brain.”
Win free chose to join in-person learning and her eldest daughter, now 8, is repeating first grade.
Her youngest daughter, in kindergarten, has adapted fairly well.
Lilianna still struggles still struggles, especially on days where she’s not at school.
Those days, she goes to the YMCA while her parents work.
“We haven’t really accomplished a whole lot. We’re struggling now with my oldest not completing all of my assignments,” Winfree said.
“I’m trying to work with the school system because I keep getting messages from the teacher saying she hasn’t finished things.”
However, she has made some improvement in her reading, something Winfree credits to working with Fotis.
She struggled to get through her first book with Fotis, but afterwards, something started to click.
“She wants to bring books over so she can read them to Ms. Fotis,” Winfree said.
“It just makes me really happy that she’s enjoying it, because it was not a fun time last year.”