Dyslexia as a Specific Learning Disability: Law & Practice

Dyslexia as a Specific Learning Disability

Classified under the broader rubric of specific learning disabilities, dyslexia is a severe reading disability known to have a neurological basis (Taylor, Smiley & Richards, 2009, p. 92). Because reading and literacy are so crucial in every area of educational curricula and instructional design, students with reading disabilities like dyslexia may struggle more globally in their academics even though they do not have specific learning disabilities in other areas. Therefore, it is important that dyslexia is identified as early as possible in order to provide critical interventions for this student population.

Not all reading disabilities are dyslexia. Only one percent of all learning disabilities are correctly identified as dyslexia (Taylor, Smiley & Richards, 2009, p. 92). Whereas the "vast majority of reading problems can be effectively remediated," dyslexia is difficult to remediate when it manifests in its so-called "pure" or most extreme form (Taylor, Smiley & Richards, 2009, p. 92). Identifying children with dyslexia involves paying close attention to how they perform on general literacy in early childhood, particularly in areas like phonological awareness, reading recognition, rapid automatic naming, and reading comprehension (Taylor, Smiley & Richards, 2009). Phonological awareness refers to the ability to recognize that words are formed of smaller components known as phonemes and syllables. The brains of children with dyslexia prevent them from effectively recognizing phonemes, which then significantly impacts their ability to code and decode, read and write.

Children with dyslexia also have trouble with rapid automatic naming, which is entirely different from phonological awareness and therefore reveals the complex series of cognitive functions involved in literacy. With rapid automatic naming, the student becomes able to quickly recite strings of letters — such as saying the alphabet or spelling a word — as well as strings of numbers, such as a phone number. Rapid automatic naming ability is linked with the ability to improve reading skills (Taylor, Smiley & Richards, 2009). Children with dyslexia also exhibit problems with general word identification and recognition. They may add or substitute words, skip or omit other words, and mispronounce words as well. Word recognition problems can manifest both when the child is reading and when hearing words. The inability to effectively understand, recognize, and process words — associating those words with their underlying meaning — also leads to reading comprehension problems within this population cohort (Taylor, Smiley & Richards, 2009).

Students with dyslexia can therefore struggle in a number of different classroom environments in which content delivery depends heavily on language. Many students with dyslexia score high on intelligence assessments and are "gifted" in areas other than reading (O'Brien, 2017, p. 1). Teachers need to understand that there are other methods of conveying content than relying exclusively on words.

Unfortunately, research has shown consistently that students with reading disabilities and dyslexia specifically "rarely catch up" and can have lifelong problems with reading and literacy (Taylor, Smiley & Richards, 2009, p. 93). Teachers need to be empowered with the knowledge of how to apply best practices at every stage of a child's development, focusing especially on early childhood education. The Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) specifically mentions dyslexia under the general rubric of learning disabilities, liberating funds that help educators and administrators meet the needs of this special population. Educators need to learn more about how to identify dyslexia as early as possible, preferably in the preschool environment. Parents also need to recognize early warning signs and participate in their child's intervention programs. Administrators need to remain cognizant of what resources are available to them in their communities, so that they can devote and allocate the funding and resources necessary for helping students with dyslexia and the educators who support them. Special educators are in the position of providing administrators and general education teachers, as well as parents, students, and counselors, with access to evidence-based best practice treatment interventions for students with dyslexia.

References

Morin, A. (n.d.). Programs that are influenced by an Orton-Gillingham approach.

O'Brien, K. (2017). Even with new dyslexia law, many schools still missing the mark. ABC8 News.

"Reading, Spelling, and Writing Programs." (n.d.). Dyslexia Help: Regents of the University of Michigan. http://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/tools/reading-programs

Taylor, R. L., Smiley, L. R., & Richards, S. (2009). Exceptional Students. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Virginia Department of Education. (2018a). Dyslexia. http://www.doe.virginia.gov/special_ed/disabilities/learning_disability/dyslexia.shtml

Virginia Department of Education. (2018b). Dyslexia training. http://www.doe.virginia.gov/teaching/licensure/dyslexia-training/index.shtml

Worthy, J., Salmeron, C., Long, S. L., et al. (2018). "Wrestling with the politics and ideology": Teacher educators' responses to dyslexia discourse and legislation. Literacy Research: Theory, Method, and Practice, 67(1), 377–393.

Youman, M., & Mather, N. (2018). Dyslexia laws in the USA: A 2018 update. https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/2018-Youman-Mather.pdf

Zygouris, N. C., Avramidis, E., Karapetsas, A. V., et al. (2017). Differences in dyslexic students before and after a remediation program: A clinical neuropsychological and event related potential study. Applied Neuropsychology: Child, 7(3), 235–244.