Dr. Forgan’s insight on dyslexia

Four Dyslexia Warning Signs

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As a certified dyslexia testing specialist, I work with a lot of children with dyslexia.  A mom recently brought her second grade son for testing because his iReady scores were low, he was saying he was stupid, there was a family history of cousins with reading difficulty, and her motherly instinct told her something was interfering with his ability to learn to read. She described classic dyslexia warning signs.

Dyslexia Warning Sign #1

These were four classic warning signs of dyslexia.  The iReady testing that children take give scores that show their reading level. However, the scores the school considers ‘low’ don’t always align with real life because schools focus on helping the ‘extremely low’ kids.  Kids with dyslexia are smart and can fake reading because they memorize words but may struggle with fluency and decoding.

Dyslexia Warning Sign #2

It’s a dyslexia warning sign when an elementary age child is calling him or herself stupid/dumb/not smart. Simply put, young children don’t want to go to school and fail.  In a class of 18-25 kids, all the kids know who the top and bottom readers are. They know which kids papers are returned with a teacher’s red marks all over it.

Dyslexia Warning Sign #3

Your child is at risk for dyslexia if you have a diagnosed or suspected a family history of reading struggles.  Dyslexia is genetic so in over 50% of children identified, another person in the family (aunts, grandparents, etc.) struggled with reading.

Dyslexia Warning Sign #4

If you are the mom, trust your motherly instincts that are telling you your child is struggling with reading.  In my years of experience, moms’ instincts are highly accurate.  Have your child tested to give you answers, future direction, and to put your mind at ease.

If two or more warning signs apply or you suspect dyslexia, call our office as we test children ages 5 through college for dyslexia, ADHD/ADD, gifted, and other disorders. (561) 625-4125

Dyslexia & Dyslexia Testing Explained

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Contrary to public perception dyslexia is not a visual processing disorder but it is an auditory professing disorder.  Yes, children with dyslexia reverse letters and numbers but it’s not because they see them differently. People with dyslexia reverse because they are confused with the code of language as our letters and numbers are a series of curved and straight lines.  For young children with dyslexia these lines do not hold much meaning so they are difficult to remember.

Dyslexia Explained

In order to learn to read children must crack the code of our only 26 letters but the approximately 44 sounds they make. A child’s confusion comes in learning which letter combinations make which sounds.  Here’s an example. A child with dyslexia may see the letters ild as in the word child but say illed as in billed or see tion as in the word action but say ty-on.  Other children with dyslexia may hear the sound for the letter f but when spelling write the letters th or they hear the sound for j and write the letters ch. This sound and letter confusing creates frustration and makes learning to read very hard work.

Most traditional methods for teaching children to read don’t teach in a manner that is best for teaching children with dyslexia.  Kids with dyslexia require a specialized reading curriculum that is multi sensory, systematic, explicit, and controlled to give ample repetition and practice for a child to learn until mastery.  The two primary methods used in our area are the Lindamood Bell or Orton Gillingham curricula. These are evidence based which means independent researchers have studied them and found they are effective for producing positive results. That research is better than the just the reading publisher promoting their own results.

Dyslexia Testing

Surprisingly, most public schools don’t test specifically for dyslexia. We offer dyslexia testing starting at age 5.5 through young adult.  Dyslexia testing identifies why your child struggles to read and the best reading curriculum to use to help. Ten different subtests are used for dyslexia testing.  Most kids find the process enjoyable and it feels like school to them. Breaks are taken every 45 minutes or so. Parents receive a written report with specific recommendations.

Too many parents take a wait and hope it gets better approach and lose valuable time to significantly help their child. The younger a child is identified and given special instruction the quicker they can get to grade level. Even college students with dyslexia are eligible for accommodations such as extra time on testing, copies of notes and distraction reduced testing. An excellent book to learn more is Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz or my book Parent’s Quick Start Guide to Dyslexia.

Contact us if you have concerns about dyslexia in your child. (561) 625-4125

Three Ways to Help Dyslexics Read

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As a dyslexia testing specialist, I work with a lot of children with dyslexia and many do not enjoy reading because it’s s a challenging and brain tiring workout. Even though they can read, most dyslexics don’t choose to read for fun.  Children with dyslexia often have a cognitive processing disorder in the phonological loop part of their brain.  This disorder interferes with the child’s ability to learn the letter and letter family sounds.  If your child or loved on has suspected or diagnosed dyslexia there are three ways to help dyslexics enjoy reading.

Three Ways to Help Dyslexics Read

First, read high quality literature to your child.  People with dyslexia are smart and can listen and understand at a much higher level than they can independently read and understand.  Therefore, they enjoy being read to.  I recommend you read high quality literature to your child well into the high school years.  This builds your child’s vocabulary and helps instill the idea that great, rich, and interesting content is within books.

Second, use one-to-one highly specialized reading instruction with a certified tutor. This is especially important during your child’s elementary years when it is easier to make and see reading improvements.  Orton-Gillingham based multisensory reading instruction is the gold standard for teaching dyslexics to become proficient readers.

Third, use technology with your child.  Learning Ally is the largest repository of books on audio.  Although it’s a subscription, your child can find all his or her school books on audio so they can listen while reading along.  Another website that uses Orton Gillingham based reading instruction is Nessy.com.  This website helps elementary age children with dyslexia learn how to read.

Do you suspect your child has dyslexia? Call our office today so we can discuss how to help you. (561) 625-4125

Does Dyslexia Font Improve Reading?

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Dyslexia is a language processing reading disability so people with dyslexia have difficulty understanding the letter to sound relationship.  This is known as phonological processing and it’s documented in research that weak phonological processing is a primary problem in dyslexics.  If your child has a weakness in phonological processing they are confused when they see letter combinations and try to pronounce them. Thus, if you tell your child to, “Sound it out,” they often try but can’t. He might look at the first letters and then guess so the word strain may be read as either ‘stain, straw, or strong.’ In children with dyslexia this confusion also creates spelling difficulty.

Dyslexia Font

The media has given attention to dyslexia fonts and their potential to improve a child’s reading. One theory to explain reading difficulty relates to the font or the typographical characteristics of text. When you consider the books young children use to read, they have a larger font size than books for more advanced readers.  This leads some to conclude that font affects the reading decoding process. On the surface this makes sense but reading research does not support improvements when a dyslexia font is used.

Dr. Sanne Kuster and colleagues conducted a research experiment using the Dyslexie font and found 170 children with dyslexia did not read faster or more accurate using the Dyslexie font as compared to the Arial font. In a second experiment children had to read word lists in Dyslexie, Arial, and Times New Roman.  Words written in the Dyslexie font were not read faster or more accurately. The font the children preferred reading in was the Arial and Times New Roman. The researchers concluded the Dyslexie font did not help or hider the reading of a child with dyslexia. Thus, the takeaway from this research study is that if your child believes the font helps him or her then allow them to use it. It may be a matter of preference.

What Works?

What really makes a substantial difference is one-to-one specialized reading instruction using a direct and systematic multisensory program. This helps children with dyslexia. Call if you need reading help or suspect your child may have dyslexia. We provide dyslexia testing and have a list of tutors who specialized in teaching children with dyslexia.

Teach a Dyslexic Child to Read

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Dyslexia is a type of learning disability that affects up to 20% of school age children. Your child may have undiagnosed dyslexia if he or she does not enjoy reading. A smart dyslexic child can compensate and get by but still struggle in silence. These children may not reach their potential. In one day we can test your child to determine if he or she has dyslexia and also identify the best way to teach your child to read. We pinpoint the areas where your child’s problem occurs. Then you may choose to teach your child or hire a specialized reading tutor. When you invest time, energy, and effort either way can be effective.

Teaching children with dyslexia to read is not rocket science. There are effective and straightforward approaches that really work. The oldest, and one of the most effective, approach is based on Orton-Gillingham multisensory reading instruction. Your child may benefit from this teaching if she is weak in reading and everyday spelling. If you want to learn more about this approach visit BrightSolutions.US.

If we test your child and identify that it’s dyslexia, you can teach your child using the Orton-Gillingham influenced Barton Reading and Spelling System. If your child works better with someone else then we have a list of professional tutors that specialize in teaching children with dyslexia. Some parents find online tutoring is both convenient and affordable and use the website DyslexiaConnect.com.  We can help guide you to the right resources.

The critical time between first and fourth grade is when you must help your child become a good reader and overcome dyslexia. The younger your child is when you get dyslexia identified, the better the long term outcome. Call us to help you help your child. You can teach a dyslexic child to read well.