Dyslexic Advantage discussion thread

[wapiti]

My "wonderings" aren't really about the dc, though certainly they, in all their oddness, are my context. Mostly, I'm just trying to understand the differences in what does or does not make a person dyslexic, and how dyslexia fits into the mix of other issues. It seems so few kids have only one discrete issue going on - or, another way, issues have long fingers extending into other areas. (Maybe I'm just giving myself my own personal np training, lol, to distract myself from freaking out about what we're doing for school next year and middle school, etc., whether two more dc are coming home, etc. etc. For reasons I can't quite put my finger on, I'm feeling pressured not to hs for 8th grade, but there's no suitable school, and on and on. I'm planning to re-test three kids in the spring, an eternity from now.)

[nono]

Mostly, I'm just trying to understand the differences in what does or does not make a person dyslexic, and how dyslexia fits into the mix of other issues. It seems so few kids have only one discrete issue going on

 

Yeah, that's why I'm here too. :) My dd seems to really just have one heck of a problem with reading.* Everything else is less. In listening to the Eide's book, so far, she's definitely I strength. (I'm only to Chapter 14).

 

But her reading is such a puzzle for me. She does NOT have trouble spelling. This child could spell in kindergarten. It's word-on-the-page issues, and like I said on the Dvorak keyboard thread, the old-style numeric layout is something that exactly "speaks" to how her brain perceives a page. She can read left-to-right, right-to-left and vertically in one sentence! It's really amazing. (See, I've gotten past frustrating!).

 

*Usually. And then there's days she doesn't. And it just flows. So, seeing that progress, eh, and living so far away from almost any specialist, makes me a seeker of this type of information. Keep it coming!!!

[merry gardens]

Ok, thanks Merry!! That makes sense.

 

Thinking out loud some more, what about auditory processing - somewhere in the back of my mind, I thought there may be some aspect of auditory processing that was responsible for dyslexia, but it sounds like that's not the case. Can a person have both dyslexia and auditory processing disorder of one form or another.

 

Oddy enough, I'm starting to think that, not only is my dd not dyslexic, but her issues are the opposite - while comprehension is an issue whether it's written or oral, the oral seems to be somewhat worse than the written (in spite of vision issues and all). I've got to stop thinking out loud, because I'm only confusing (and embarrassing) myself, LOL; I was just going down the road of auditory vs visual learners... nah, doesn't make sense :tongue_smilie:. Ok, maybe I'll make Fletcher part of my next big amazon order...

If I understand auditory processing correctly, (and I think I do now...but it really threw me off track for a while too...) phonological processing is part of auditory processing. Same with auditory memory. Part, but not the whole. There are different auditory processing problems separate from phonological processing, (and again, some people can have more than one thing going on at the same time.)

 

One slp suggested my son had auditory processing problems. I immediately ran to the library and got the only book I could find there on auditory processing, but it addressed different auditory processing problems. The author wrote about her personal experience that did not seem at all like my son's situation--so I sort of dismissed that concern. The f/u audiologist's report didn't touch on auditory processing--outside of mentioning the slp's findings on phonological awareness and auditory memory.

[merry gardens]

...Yes, Merry is parsing it the way Fletcher does, that a dyslexia/WLRD/reading disorder label is specifically phonological processing. Even the Eides parse this all very carefully, if you notice. On their site the explain that they use the DSM coding, then in their book they refer to a more global "dyslexic processing." The two are not the same. ....

I didn't mean to parse it that way.;) I was just trying to explain how phonological processing affects reading. The definition of dyslexia "du jour" specifically includes phonological problems, but who knows when that definition is going to get re-defined. Although lables can be useful, they can also be re-defined. That confuses people. Knowing the definition of a word or term is a huge part of comprehending it.

 

I prefer the good ol' and much broader use of the word "dyslexia" to refer to reading problems for whatever reason. That seems much simpler. There can be more than one thing contributing to reading problems--and there often is.

[Mom-ninja.]

My issue with this paragraph is the second part, that dyslexics understand better by hearing than reading. For those of you with diagnosed dyslexics, has this been the case?

 

Yes, this describes my ds exactly.

[Sugarfoot]

Yes, this describes my ds exactly.

 

:iagree: my DS, too, has a profoundly better understanding of information that is heard vs. what he reads. This has been true for him always. I used to think if was just a survival technique, because his reading skills lagged so far behind, but it's more. He remembers nearly everything he hears. If we're in an airport or traveling, for example, and someone at the rental car counter gives us directions, I make sure that DS hears them, because he's the one who will remember every detail.

 

His narrations of books read aloud were, from a very young age, full of vivid detail and often included actual quotes. :)

[FairProspects]

Yes, this describes my ds exactly.

 

Mine too. (whoops, maybe I shouldn't have answered that, we are not formally diagnosed yet, still on the waitlist for our eval.)

[peacefully]

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[PeterPan]

Yllek, my dd and dh have the same issue with accents. I don't know about the auditory figure-ground. Was that the np, slp, or audiologist that found that?

[peacefully]

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[PeterPan]

Yup, it's that kind of weird stuff (not understanding through accents, etc.) that I'm hoping this np will sort through. If he just gives some blanket answer of it being ADHD inattentive and EF, that won't explain it all to me.

[Tokyomarie]

Dh never saw a speech therapist. He did get an audiology eval, but the results were pretty vague. At least, he only reported to me that he was cleared of any major auditory deficits. But the man cannot take in information clearly if there is any background noise. Well... I shouldn't say that. He can, with a lot of effort, but it takes a lot of concentration on his part.

 

The accents and word substitution thing might simply be an expression of his phonological processing issues. The figure-ground stuff is such an obvious auditory issue to me, I can't believe that the audiologist didn't find something. Then again, knowing my dh, he probably only wanted her to screen for hearing acuity without going into any of the details. :rolleyes:

 

This is very much like my middle child's profile. Her auditory processing evals were somewhat inconclusive- the screen done by the SLP said "Yes," the one done by the audiologist said, "No." However, I have wondered if her giftedness allowed her to score better on testing than she might have otherwise. I don't recall the details now, but I remember having the feeling that on some tasks it might be possible for highly intelligent people to compensate. As an adult, she clearly, without a question, has difficulty with auditory figure-ground. She absolutely cannot participate in a conversation taking place in a crowded room and when possible, she always opts for closed caption/subtitles when watching TV or movies.

[Guest]

I really want to find the time to go over this thread! Subing in the mean time, till I do :).

 

:lurk5:

[PeterPan]

Just to pick up with things a big here, I had some more time to read in DA today. I finally got to point 4, D. It was the only one of the four that I really didn't think dd would connect with, so I picked her brain about it. Turns out in fact it IS an issue for her. For instance she said she doesn't enjoy watching many movies because the end (and path they'll use to get there) is so obvious. This sort of floored me. So with her I have a definite on the first three of the MIN and a probable on the D.

 

I only say this because we've been going through this whole thing of what it means if the kid has a certain label and doesn't match the book or you suspect a certain label and your dc matches part of the book. Well I'm literally saying I peg her with at least 3, if not 4, of the markers. The 4th one is just so new to me I want to ponder it a while longer. Obviously it will be two more weeks before I get np conclusions on her. All things considered, I can't say what he'll say. Guess we'll just have to see.

 

So then I moved on to their section on methods. I didn't realize some methods of audiobooks allow you to speed up the listening. Is that on an iPad? How do you do that?

[nono]

My dd seemed to be a match for I. Then, yesterday, I about fell off the treadmill while listening to the narrator when describing D at the beginning of the chapter. It starts about the letters on the page vibrating. Well, that's dd! Has trouble keeping her mind on task. That's my dd! I'm the Mom who drags my sleep-in girl out of bed on math days to start while half-asleep at 6:30 a.m. She can complete her math assignments in 1/3 the time if she's only partially awake, before her mind can start wandering. And finally, that it's easier to "code than decode." Yep. My daughter's spelling, handwriting and writing of sentences are OK, but reading is her difficulty.

 

So now I have to go back to the I section to see if she's both I and D or if I was simply jumping the gun.

[peacefully]

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[RamonaQ]

So then I moved on to their section on methods. I didn't realize some methods of audiobooks allow you to speed up the listening. Is that on an iPad? How do you do that?

 

 

Also, the apps (such as the Learning Ally App) have speed adjustments. Also you can affect many TTS apps too (my ds listens to some things at about 220 WPM...CRAZY fast!)

[PeterPan]

Yllek, I think some of these things are hard to pick out of young kids, because they don't yet have the words for it or realize anyone else processes differently. And yes, the D chapter was the one I really did a double take on. All the rest I already knew and had figured out (and in fact had been saying for years about her). But that D was so weird, I just figured it couldn't be true. So it might be some of this will become more apparent with time.

 

Ramona--I didn't know about Learning Ally. Interesting! Oh duh, now I get it. They just renamed Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic. ;) But that's still cool to know about!!

[Mom-ninja.]

We've been quiet on this thread. :)

 

 

I'm doing WWE 4 with my oldest. The dictation passages are very long in this level. I've been thinking about working memory (and what I read in DA), and wondering if this is a skill that can be improved with practice. In other words, do I have ds try to do the long dictation passages, or do I put more emphasis on the narration portion?

 

He can do the dictation in level 3, but the dictation in level 4 is hard. Do I bother with trying to improve his working memory, or would our efforts be better spent in other areas?

[peacefully]

.

[Paisley Hedgehog]

nm

[PeterPan]

Ooo Shari, I'm so excited that it's helping you!

 

Hexe--WWE, sigh... If you do an activity like that to increase working memory, it's therapy. Do you want school work to be therapy, or do you want to separate that out and keep it fun and pleasurable? I can tell you in our house the result of using WWE therapeutically was that dd now hates WWE, dictation, SWB (whom she has eaten lunch with several times), and pretty much anything associated with WTM. So personally, I think if you want to do therapy for working memory, you should get games that use working memory (Ticket to Ride, whatever) or things specifically made for it (Linguisystems).

 

I guess it totally depends on severe the working memory issues are and how the child responds, but in general I'm just saying it's playing with fire. You risk making your kid hate it. There are lots better, lots more FUN ways to work on working memory. And of course when they're having fun, the endorphins they release actually help the formation of the neural connections. So they learn more and get more benefit when they're having fun. If they're tense, stress, and frustrated, the whole process stops. So that would be my guiding line. Once it moves into tension zone, I'd stop, back up, and approach it a different way. At that point I'd stay continue the dictation (but at a comfortable, stable level) and branch out to more methods for therapy-type work on the working memory.