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Understanding Dyslexia (answer all questions with complete sentences)
You would probably agree that Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso, and Walt Disney were brilliant men. But did you know that all of them had dyslexia? Dyslexia is a condition that makes it difficult for people of average or above-average intelligence to learn to read.
Today, most people know that dyslexia is a learning disability. However, in the past, dyslexic children were often labeled as lazy or unintelligent. As you can see from the list of names in the previous paragraph, dyslexics are often very smart. In fact, they tend to be highly creative thinkers. They are good at looking at problems in interesting ways and finding unique solutions.
IDENTIFY AUTHOR'S PURPOSE:Why do you think the author started by mentioning four famous people with dyslexia?
You may have heard that dyslexics see and write letters backward or in a mixed up order. This is not true.
SET A PURPOSE FOR READINGAfter reading the two sentences above, what do you think the author will tell the reader next?
The trouble dyslexics have is with the sounds that make up words. To learn to read, a child needs to be able to break words apart and link letters to sounds. For example, to read the word cat, a child must break it into three separate sounds "cuh-ah-tuh." Then, the child must blend the sounds and connect the result with the meaning of the word. Children with dyslexia have difficulty breaking words apart into individual sounds.
CONNECT:What do you remember about learning to read? Was learning fairly easy for you or did you struggle with it?
Recently, new technology has allowed scientists to learn a lot about dyslexia.
SET A PURPOSE FOR READING: After reading the first sentences of this paragraph, what do you think the text that follows will talk about?
Educators had thought for many years that dyslexia is genetic. They noticed that children who had difficulty reading often had family members with similar difficulties. Recent studies have supported this idea. By studying the genes of dyslexia-prone families, scientists have linked parts of certain chromosomes to reading problems.
CONNECT: Are there skills that many of your relatives and family members are particularly good at or bad at? Do you think this has to do with genetics? Explain.
Some of the most interesting findings about dyslexia have come from studies of the brain. Until recently, neuroscientists (scientists who study the brain) learned about the brain by studying people who were having brain surgery or who had brain injuries. This was not very convenient, and it did not allow scientists to study healthy brains. In the 1990s, a technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was developed. Using fMRI, scientists can see what parts of the brain are most active when a person is doing a particular task, such as reading.
Neuroscientists have used fMRI to identify three areas of the brain that are involved in reading. All three areas are on the left side of the brain.
• Broca's area is located just behind your forehead. It can be thought of as the "vocalizer." It helps you sound out a word, either silently or out loud.
The left parieto-temporal area is located over your left ear. It is the "word analyzer." It pulls words apart into their basic sounds and links letters to their sounds.
The left occipito-temporal area is found in the back of your brain, behind your left ear. It is the "word identifier." It allows you to automatically identify a word you have seen before, so you can read it quickly.
When non-dyslexic children first learn to read, they use the vocalizer and word analyzer most frequently. As they get older and have more reading experiences, the word identifier becomes stronger. This allows their brains to quickly process familiar words. In time, reading becomes almost effortless.
IDENTIFY AUTHOR'S PURPOSE: Why do you think the author explains how the brain works when non-dyslexic children read?
In children with dyslexia, the three regions look normal. But their brains have a "wiring glitch." This makes it hard for their brains to use the word analyzer and identifier. This causes two problems. First, dyslexics find it hard to break words apart and link letters and syllables to sounds. Second, they cannot recognize words they have seen before. Most dyslexics rely mostly on the vocalizer. This means they must sound out words one at a time, even if they have read them many times before.
Understanding dyslexia has helped educators develop programs for overcoming it. Most schools focus on teaching children to read sentences. Gina Callaway, the director of a school for dyslexic children, believes that dyslexics must be taught to "recognize sounds, then syllables, then words and sentences." She says dyslexic children need lots of practice and lots of repetition.
CONNECT: What are some things that you have learned by practice and repetition?
It is especially important for them to practice reading to someone who can correct their mistakes. This helps the child's brain learn to associate words and sounds.
Ideally, children should be screened for dyslexia in kindergarten. Dyslexic children can then be given specialized instruction from the start, before they fall behind and become frustrated.
RESPOND: Why do you think it is best to identify dyslexia early, before children fall behind and get frustrated?
There are signs of dyslexia that parents and teachers can look for even before children learn to read. For example, a preschooler who has trouble rhyming words and learning the names and sounds of letters may have dyslexia.
Children diagnosed with dyslexia at an early age and taught in an appropriate way can become very successful readers. In fact, brain scans of young dyslexics who have had a year of special instruction resemble those of non-dyslexic children. In other words, it seems that their brains actually "rewire" themselves to work like non-dyslexic brains.
Unfortunately, most dyslexics are not identified until they are between eleven and seventeen years old. One reason is that many schools don't evaluate children for learning problems until they are one or two grade levels behind. Another reason is that dyslexic children often use their good memories to hide the problem. They memorize words, rather than reading them. When they are older and the reading becomes more difficult, this strategy stops working.
Fortunately, older children, teens, and adults with dyslexia can all benefit from targeted instruction. Effective programs emphasize practice with manipulating sounds, increasing vocabulary, and improving comprehension. It may not be possible for an older dyslexics's brain to "fix" itself. However, brains scans have shown that dyslexic adults use the right side of their brains to compensate for weaknesses in the left side. In other words, their brains have found alternative ways to help them read. It will always take dyslexics more time and effort to read than non-dyslexics. However, with patience, hard work, and practice, dyslexics of all ages can learn to read fluently.
IDENTIFY AUTHOR'S PURPOSE: What you think the author's purpose was in writing this article? Explain in your own words.
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