San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
Dyslexia and how to teach reading
A two-story package this weekend focuses on dyslexia and what schools are and are not doing to address it. Education reporter Kristen Taketa shares some of what she learned while reporting on dyslexia.
Q:
So what is dyslexia?
A:
Dyslexia is a neurological disorder that makes it difficult to read. Anywhere from 5 to 15 percent of the population has it to some degree.
Kelli Sandman-hurley of the Dyslexia Training Institute explained it to me this way: People without dyslexia are able to process language in a certain area of their brain efficiently, while people with dyslexia tend to take an alternate route in their brain to accomplish the same task.
People with dyslexia often not only struggle with reading, but with spelling, memorizing, auditory processing and more.
Q:
What gave you the idea for this dyslexia package?
A:
Last year I wrote a story about parents who fight to get special education services they believe their children need but aren’t getting in their public school.
One of the parents I featured in that story, Melissa Lazaro, has a son who is dyslexic, and she suggested that I dig deeper into what’s going on with dyslexia.
I also knew that her son now attends Newbridge, so I was curious to see what a school designed for dyslexic children looks like.
Q:
What did you think of the classrooms you visited for these stories?
A:
While I was watching the lessons at Newbridge, I was thinking to myself: I kind of wish I had been taught this way when I was in grade school!
The way the Newbridge teachers were teaching language just struck me as being very logical.
I also visited a resource classroom at Poway Unified’s Chaparral Elementary School, where there were multiple teachers, each working with one to two students with dyslexia or language-based disabilities.
The kids were drawing out letters in sand, standing up and tapping out syllables on their arms and rearranging colored tiles that represented letters and sounds.
The approaches they used, which included Orton-gillingham and the Barton reading program, struck me as engaging ways to learn how to spell.
Q:
Why did you choose to focus on dyslexia?
A:
Dyslexia isn’t just about special education. More broadly it’s about how to teach reading well.
Multiple sources I spoke to stressed that what works for dyslexic students can also benefit all students, because they are effective ways to teach reading and spelling. The principal at Chaparral Elementary, Rhiannon Sharp Buhr, noted that as a teacher she had used similar strategies with English learner students, and it really helped them learn English too.
Talking about how we can make reading instruction better is especially relevant considering that many students in California and across the country are going through school unable to read at grade level.
Dyslexia has also been getting more attention in recent years. Emily Hanford with APM Reports has done a lot of great work about dyslexia and how schools teach reading.
Q:
How do I know if I or my child has dyslexia?
A:
The International Dyslexia Association has online dyslexia screeners for adults and schoolage children. They are not full assessments that can diagnose dyslexia; you would need to go to a professional for that. The association’s local San Diego chapter does referrals for families who are looking for psychologists, tutors, providers and more.