A Speech Pathologist’s Perspective

By Tracy Mee (MA Speech & Language Pathology)

Helping Children with literacy difficulties

What is Literacy?

According to Speech Pathology Australia “Literacy is more than just reading and writing.”

Being literate means reading and analysing as well as writing for different purposes eg texting, atms, stories and reading for pleasure.

Being literate is essential for life-long learning, communication, employment and participation in community.

Speech Pathologists and their role in literacy Speech pathologists are specialists in

identifying communication problems and providing intervention to develop critical language and literacy skills.

Skills such as speaking and listening, sound awareness and language comprehension all provide the building blocks for literacy acquisition.

Identifying those at riskA pre-school child with early speech and or

language difficulties or a family history of reading difficulties may experience difficulties.

A child in primary school might have difficulty analysing the sounds in words and relating them to the written word.

An adolescent in high school might find that although they can read the words they have difficulty understanding and summarising notes.

A child with a brain injury who may need to read to optimise their communication.

How do we recognise a reading disorder?The DSM IV (Diagnostic Statistical Manual IV) Reading achievement, as measured by

standardised tests (accuracy and comprehension) is substantially below what would be expected given age, measured IQ and education.

The disturbance significantly interferes with academic achievement or daily living.

If a sensory deficit is present, the reading difficulties are in excess of those usually associated with it.

What does this really mean?In “100 Ideas For Supporting Pupils with Dyslexia” Green

and Reid state “Dyslexia is a processing difference experienced by people of all ages. Often characterised by difficulties in literacy, it can affect other cognitive areas such as memory, speed of processing, time management, co-ordination and directional aspects. There may be visual and phonological difficulties and there is usually some discrepancy in performance in other areas of learning. It is important that individual difference and learning styles are acknowledged since these will affect outcomes of learning and assessment. It is also important to consider the learning and work context as the nature of the difficulties associated with dyslexia may well be more pronounced in some situations”.

The Dyslexia UmbrellaAs each person is an individual, people with

dyslexia can present with their own individual difficulties and combination of difficulties. This may mean that the assessment process may involve a few professionals assessing a variety of different skills.

Under her ‘dyslexia umbrella’ Liz Dunoon (2009) states the following difficulties:

Dys – meaning difficultyLexia – meaning languageDifficulty with readingDifficulty with spellingDifficulty with pronunciation and muscle tone (verbal or

motor dyspraxia)Difficulty with handwriting (dysgraphia)Auditory Dyslexia (Auditory Processing Disorder)Difficulty with memory, attention, recall and responseDifficulty with organisational skills – executive functioningDifficulty with spatial relations, orientation and direction –

visual processingDifficulty with numbers – dyscalculiaDifficulty with rhyme an rhythm – Auditory dyslexia

The mechanics of reading The dual route theory suggests that there are steps from

first seeing a word to reading it and understanding it. There are 3 steps in the visual orthographic stage – letter identification (recognising) – letter position and association. Next the word is processed via two different roads for example regular words and new words can be sounded out with the letter- sound correspondences (non lexical route – Coltheart et al 2001). For irregular words which can not be sounded out recognition needs to take place before the word is spoken and occurs as part of the lexical route (Coltheart et al 2001). In dyslexia one or more than one of these processing steps is lacking or not working. Therefore the cause of dyslexia is neuro-biological in origin and can be developmental or part of an acquired brain injury.

Do they have the skills?Phonology – sound systemMemory – active, sequential and workingCohesion – auditory processing and auditory

reasoningAttentionMotor PlanningMemory + Attention = Learning

Assessment – The multidisciplinary Team A Speech Pathologist can assess language

comprehension, reading, spelling, auditory processing and phonological awareness, phonemic awareness and rapid automatic naming.

A Psychologist can assess IQ, reading, spelling and achievement in maths and literacy. Also address issues of low self esteem and development of emotional and behavioural difficulties

An Occupational Therapist assesses motor, spelling, visual processing, perceptual difficulties

A Behavioural Optometrist/Orthoptist – assesses visual processing

Intervention for the at risk preschoolerPreparing children for literacy involves immersing

them in an environment where reading and writing are natural and meaningful in their every day lives

Develop a positive attitude towards printGet excited about books and show them your

favourite books when you were a child.Show interesting articles from magazines and

newspapersShow them that writing is a natural part of your day Don’t just read the book – get animated – use voices,

sound effects and lots of gestures - make it fun

Intervention for the at risk preschooler cont…Use signs and labels at your child’s level and point to the

words are you read aloud For craft help them make their own books and devlop their

story-telling skills by writing down the stories they dictate.Emphasise rhyming words during games and songs and

nursery rhymesUse tongue twistersPoint out interesting things about words or names that are

the same and different – how many claps are there in Sam-an-tha? Mummy and Molly have the same sound at the beginning.

Create a writing centre where you both sit and write with white boards or magnetic letters

The development of reading (Chall 1983) Decoding – grades 1-2, ages 6-7 – children need to learn the

relationship between spoken sounds and words and the written symbols representing those sounds. There are seventy common sounds – some children will need to be explicitly taught these sounds using a multi-sensory method. Say – hear – write

Confirmation and fluency – grades 2-3, ages 7-8 Children move beyond accuracy to fluency – the sounds become more automatic – children can not concentrate on meaning if they are still decoding.

Reading for information – grades 4-8, ages 9-13 Children learn to connect print to speech and connect print to

ideas – the shift from learning to read to reading to learn.

Intervention for High School – a metacognitive approachGet them to identify their difficulties – do you

have difficulties in putting your ideas into words? Do you read something but don’t get meaning? Are you good at proof-reading your work

How are the organisational skills?What can you do about it?Reading – Read something every day – even if

it’s just facebookAsk Teachers to photocopy hand outs

Intervention for High School – a metacognitive approachGet the books on audioUse mind maps for planning writing tasksRecord your ideas on tapeDecide which words they NEED to spellDevelop mnemonics – Big Elephants Can Always

Understand Small ElephantsLearn the 29 rules of spellingFocus on the positive – what are they good at –

celebrate their strengthsIf you have a lot to remember visualise yourself doing it

LINDAMOOD AUDITORY DISCRIMINATION METHOD“Auditory conceptual skills are important for spelling and

reading. Students with poor ‘auditory conceptual’ skills will have difficulty breaking words they hear into their component sounds (for spelling) and will have problems blending a series of sounds into a whole word for (reading). Students with poor ‘auditory conceptual’ skills therefore have difficulties developing ‘sounding out’ or ‘phonic attack’ skills and are forced to rely on their visual ‘rote’ memory when learning new reading and spelling skills.

  

THE SPALDING METHOD The Spalding Method provides clear instruction in handwriting, and would

explicitly teach the relationships between letters and sounds.  The Spalding Method develops spelling and increases sight vocabulary for

reading. It explicitly teaches the relationships between letters and sounds (for example, students learn that the sound /n/ can be represented by three different sets of letters, as in now, knife and sign; and that a single letter such as ‘o’ can have several different sounds, as in hot, hope and do and that the letters ea can make three different sounds such as in eat, head and great).

  The Spalding Method also teaches sequential processing through sounds and

letters in words when reading and spelling, and provides extensive instruction in applying spelling rules to words. As well as teaching ‘sounding out’ strategies, the Spalding method also develops ‘sight vocabulary’, by teaching whole-word recognition, and linking written words to their meanings.

Visualising and Verbalising (Nanci Bell)

What is Visualizing and Verbalizing (V & V)? “If I can’t picture it, I can’t understand it.” - Albert Einstein Children who have difficulty understanding language are often found to have

problems retaining and recalling information. The brain ‘sees’ in order to store and process information. Both thinking and language comprehension have their bases in imagery.

 In this program the students are going to learn strategies to help increase use of

imagery and to improve language comprehension and memory.

• Visualising & Verbalising (V & V) is a program that assists - Reading and oral comprehension- Expressive language skills- Descriptive skills- Narrative and written expression- Critical thinking

Other intervention programsA specific diagnoses of the particular subtype

of reading difficulty your child has provides a good basis for developing a specific remediation program. There are many in Australia

The Lindamood Program www.lindamoodbell.com

The Spalding Program www.spalding.orgThe Lexia Program www.lexialearning.com.auCellfield – www.cellfield.com Fast For Word www.scilearn.com.au

Classroom Management  Taking notes in the classroom involves a division of attention between listening and writing,

children with auditory deficits often find this particularly challenging. Difficulties with writing and spelling may leave the child struggling with “hearing” the spoken message. Should the child’s writing be poorly organized and lacking in key elements, assistance with writing skills may be beneficial for the child.

  Positive reinforcement should be used generously to keep children motivated during the day.   Avoidance of auditory fatigue can be overcome with regularly planned “listening breaks” or times

when listening is kept to a minimum to avoid auditory fatigue.   Metacognitive strategies are designed to assist listeners in thinking about and planning methods

of enhancing spoken language comprehension. Mnemonic strategies such as chunking (breaking down long messages or links into smaller components) and elaboration (use of analogies and acronyms) may be beneficial for the child.

  Discourse cohesion devices (training in the rules of language) may also be beneficial. Words that

help the child to order or sequence steps (eg first, last) or adversative terms (but, however, although). Once the child has become adept at identifying and interpreting these terms they may be able to separate the instruction into smaller linguistic units without relying on her Teacher to simplify the communication.

This is weird, but interesting! fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe  out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee  taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was  rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid,  aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy,  it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a  wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the  frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The  rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it  whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid  deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod  as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot  slpeling was ipmorantt!

In summary Assessments and intervention programs can be provided by a variety of

specialists but it is important to ascertain whether they have specific training and experience with reading disorders. A multidisciplinary approach to assessment and intervention may prove beneficial especially if there are emotional problems due to poor educational experiences or motor planning and motor weaknesses due to dyspraxia.

There are many subtypes of reading disorders, your child may show weaknesses in more than one area.

There are many computer programs available but always check that products have some scientific research to back them up.

Reading is a complex skill – small frequent amounts of repetition to assist a child master a skill will cause less frustration than plugging away for hours once a week.

Many actors, entertainers, scientists and inventors have had the ‘gift’ of dyslexia – MRI scans show that they use more of their brains than people without dyslexia. Focus on the positive your child could be the next Albert Einstein, Tom Cruise Leonardo Di Vinci or even Richard Branson!

QUESTIONS

ReferencesDunoon L, 2010 Helping children with dyslexia:21 super strategies to

ensure your child’s success at school first edition National Library of Australia.

Jones, Castles, Kohnen, 2011 “Subtypes of developmental reading disorders: recent devleopments and directions for treatment: ACQuiring Knowledge in Speech, Language and Hearning, volume 13, Number 2,

Coltheart, M, Rastel K, Perry C, Langdon R & Ziegler J (2001)DRC: A dual route cascaded model of visual word recogition and reading aloud. Psychological Review, 108, 204-256

Reid G and Green S (2007), 100 Ideas to support pupils with dyslexia. Continum International Publishing Group, New York, New York.

Squires, G & McKeown S (2003) Supporting Children with Dyslexia Questions Publishing Chatswood

Greenberg J & Weitzman E (2005) Learning Language and Loving ItHanen Early Language Program