Many of us would ask whether we can find different types of children with reading disability. If we can, it will clean up the heterogeneous mess and allow us to understand the reading-disabled children’s difficulties in terms of the cognitive processing mode they use. For example, who belongs to the true dyslexic category? Who should we place in the so-called garden-variety category? Does everyone who has reading difficulties also show a distinct pattern of deficits in cognitive processing? What is the value of classification or subtyping in terms of cognitive processes?
Month: July 2017
Dyslexia: IQ is Irrelevant but Cognitive Processes are Relevant
Why IQ may Predict Reading Ability
Why then is IQ widely believed to predict reading ability? Is it because IQ measures potential whereas reading ability is an achievement? It is argued that IQ, as potential, should be manifested or expressed in reading as in other behavior. But, let us note from the example of Wechsler testing that some test items are in fact tests of vocabulary and arithmetic, which are subjects taught in the schools. Even tests of general information are taught in social studies. It is not surprising, then, that we can predict from the IQ score of a child his/her reading, arithmetic, or general learning ability, and that we can reverse the prediction as well.
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Dyslexia: First Analyze Words and Syntax, then Understand
Both listening and reading are involved in comprehension and are further summarized here. Reading may involve single words while comprehension usually involves a sentence, a paragraph, or an entire discourse. When we read, one of the first things we do is analyze the sequence of words in a phrase or sentence. The most commonly occurring phrases are noun phrases or verb phrases. An example of each might be:
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Dyslexia: Comprehension is Automatic Most of the Time
Another element of understanding or comprehension lies beyond syntax. When I listen to someone talking and I understand what they say, do I go through the different steps of syntax analysis men*tioned above? Do I parse the sentence, determine the word class, and analyze punctuation? The answer is yes, but I do it very quickly and automatically without much effort or thinking. I also understand speech and written text by establishing many con*nections and linking the material to my knowledge.
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Dyslexia: How do We Learn to Spell?
Some children are taught to spell when they learn to read; for these children, spelling and reading are integrated. Other children are taught to read without ever receiving formal spelling instructions. Whether or not we learn to spell correctly, the fact remains that spelling has to be accurate to convey the meaning of a written word.
Dyslexia: Summary of Reading: What do You Do When You See a Word?
Before ending the discussion on comprehension, let us summarize the course of action that a reader takes when given a printed or written word. Two routes can be followed.
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Dyslexia: Good Listening Comprehension but Poor Reading Comprehension
Understanding what was said and what was read are two different mental processes. If some children experience difficulties in reading, is it any wonder that they will have a hard time understanding written text? The same children may have little difficulty understanding what is read or said to them. These children, who have significant problems in reading comprehension but little or no difficulty in listening comprehension, may truly be dyslexic when compared to other children of their class.
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Dyslexia: Does Spelling Go through Stages?
Spelling does appear to go through the same stages as reading. Furthermore, the issues and controversies that have been raised in trying to understand reading have also been raised in spelling. In the previous chapter, we discussed the different stages of reading, particularly the stages from magical to orthographic as suggested by Uta Frith. The first two stages, the magical and the logographic (picture) stage, are illustrated by writing. For example, the child does not know the relationship between letters and their sounds and, when asked to write a word, just engages in scribbling and passes it off as writing.
Dyslexia: Is Spelling Like Reading? Is Reading Like Spelling?
Are spelling and reading, then, flip sides of a coin? If reading is usually described as translating spelling to speech, spelling could be just the reverse process of translating speech to spelling. To continue the analogy, remember that one of the major activities when children are learning to read consists of grapheme-phoneme correspondence, that is, being able to produce the phonological structure or, in simple words, to recapture the sounds of the printed letters, syllables, or words. Can we then say that spelling is a phoneme-grapheme correspondence? Will common sense support us? The answer is partly yes and partly no.
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Dyslexia: Writing – A Physical Activity and the Construction of Text
One of the two major components of writing is the physical aspect of forming written words and letters. This can be compared to the physical aspect of speaking. Just as a fluent speaker must be able to articulate fast enough and clearly enough to be understood, so must a fluent writer be able to write legibly and with reasonably good speed. In the previous section we discussed how spelling could be done orally as well as by writing down the letters and words.
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