Meeting the needs of families part 1

Meeting the Needs of
Families Part 1
“Dyslexia”
By: Louise Elaine Santos
300805225

Case: A child with dyslexia
Annie is in School Age program during the summer
program. During the end of the school year, Annie has been
diagnosed with dyslexia. She has really struggled on her report
card, failing many academic subjects. I have notices that Annie
has very low self-esteem and becomes uncomfortable when
asked to play board games or any activities that involves
reading. Her parents are very upset and disappointed with the
diagnosis. In their Asian culture, the expectation for children
are to be highly successful in school to ensure higher
education in the future. Annie’s parents do not agree with the
diagnosis and feel that Annie is ‘just not working hard
enough’.

What are the needs of the family in this case?
• Annie was diagnosed with dyslexia.
• Annie needs support to learn how to read and to be more
comfortable in reading.
• Her self esteem is very low because of her disability.
• Her parents have very high expectation for Annie to excel in
academics.
• Her parents are upset, disappointed and do
not agree about her diagnosis.

Dyslexia is a learning disability where in a child has difficulty
understanding spoken and written words. The brain processing of
words looks different for a child with dyslexia and how a child without
dyslexia looks.
In this picture, a child that has
dyslexia might write and
perceive some letters and
words differently. Like in this
picture, the child writes letter
“s” and letter “e” differently in
other words of her sentence.
(photo: www.gannett-cdn.com)
Dyslexia

Dyslexia
According to Thereadingclinic.ca (2016), “Dyslexia is a specific
learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by
difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor
spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a
deficit in the phonological component of language that is often
unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of
effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include
problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience
that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge”.

Dyslexia
According to Mayoclinic.org (2014), “Dyslexia is a learning disorder
characterized by difficulty reading due to problems identifying speech
sounds and learning how they relate to letters and words. Also called
specific reading disability, dyslexia is a common learning disability in
children. It is a lifelong condition caused by inherited traits that affect how
your brain works”.
From Thereadingclinic.ca, dyslexia may present with varying
degrees of severity. In Ontario, dyslexic students may be identified by the
Ministry of Education as learning disabled with a Communication
Exception. The terms Specific Reading Disability, Specific Spelling Disability
or Specific Writing Disability may also be used. Many people refer to
dyslexia simply as a reading disability.

Dyslexia
Dyslexia is not an indication of low intelligence or laziness. It is a
disability wherein the brain of a child process words and letters
differently. Dyslexia is one of the most common diagnosed learning
disability in children. It is estimated that 15-20% of the population has
dyslexia and approximately 5 million Canadians have this disability. In
every classroom, there are likely 4-5 students have difficulty in reading
and writing.
Here is an example video of a child with dyslexia reading by
Wendy Wick uploaded on youtube.com last May 9, 2011 entitled
“Maya Reading”.

Causes of Dyslexia
According to researches and studies, dyslexia is hereditary. It might run in the
family or could be pass to members of the family. Dyslexia is linked to some defect
from genes that control the development and processing of the brain. Typically, a
person with dyslexia has problems with phonological awareness.
Here is a sample MRI of a person
without dyslexia and a person
with dyslexia. The red shaded
part are the parts of the brain
that are usually functioning during
reading. In this image, we could
see that a person with dyslexia, in
(photo: archive.adl.org) this case, functions only one part of his
brain when reading.

Causes of Dyslexia
According to Lapkin E. (2014), there are three possible cause of dyslexia.
• Genes and heredity: Dyslexia often runs in families. About 40 % of siblings
of children with dyslexia may have the same reading issues. As many as
49% of parents of children with dyslexia may have it.
• Brain anatomy: The planum temporale, the area of the brain for
understanding language, is typically larger in the dominant hemisphere
(the left side of the brain for right-handed people) than the other
hemisphere. But a child with dyslexia, the planum temporale is about the
same size on both the left and right sides of the brain.

Causes of Dyslexia
• Brain activity: To be able to read, our brains have to translate the
symbols we see on the page into sounds. Then those sounds have to
be combined into meaningful words. Children’s brain with dyslexia
does not work the same way.

Causes of Dyslexia
According to Dyslexiacentre.ca (2016), “Another cause of dyslexia is the
absence of phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is related in
learning to read”. It is the capability of a person to distinguishing
between different sounds that make up syllables or spoken words.
According to Dysleciacentre.ca (2016), Children without phonemic
awareness are incapable of executing phoneme segmentation,
phoneme elimination, phoneme comparison and association, phoneme
numbering, phoneme replacement, sound segregation and rhymes.

Causes of Dyslexia
• Phoneme segmentation is the ability to break a word into individual sounds
of its letters.
• Phoneme elimination is the ability of know what letters would be left if a
letter in a word is removed.
• Phoneme comparison and association is the ability of comparing and
knowing the similarity of words with the same starting letter.
• Phoneme numbering is knowing the sound of the letters in a word.
• Phoneme replacement is determining what new word would be formed if
replaced by one letter in a word given.
• Sound segregation is the ability to recognize a word when combing several
letters.
• Rhymes or rhyming is the ability to know words that have the same ending
sound.

Effects of Dyslexia
There are negative effects brought by dyslexia. There are social
and developmental skills that could be affected when a child has
dyslexia. According to Mayoclinic.org (2014), the number one effect of
dyslexia to children is having trouble in learning. Since reading is a basic
skill needed most in academic activities, a child with dyslexia might
have a hard time learn lessons and may have trouble keeping with
peers. This would also cause withdrawal behaviours and low self
esteem. According to Mayoclinic.org (2014), children with dyslexia has
a high risk of having ADHD as well.

Developmental skills affected by Dyslexia
According to Lapkin E. (2016), there are everyday skills that are affected
by dyslexia to a child. Here are the following skills that are affected by
dyslexia:
• Social skills: Dyslexia can affect a child’s social life. Struggling in school
can make a child feel inferior around other children.
• Listening comprehension: People with dyslexia tend to be better
listeners than readers. But dyslexia can make it hard to filter out
background noise. This means that a child could have trouble
understanding what a person is saying in a noisy classroom.

Developmental skills affected by Dyslexia
• Memory: Children with dyslexia can take so long to read a
sentence that they may not remember the sentence that
came before it. This makes it tough to grasp the meaning of
the text.
• Navigation: Children with dyslexia may struggle with spatial
concepts such as “left” and “right.”
• Time management: Dyslexia can make it hard to tell time or
follow to a schedule.

Signs and symptoms of Dyslexia to children
Children who’s speech and language during early age has a high
risk to have dyslexia. There are many signs and symptoms that a child
might have dyslexia and these signs and symptoms must go together
and does not go away easily. Basically, children with dyslexia shows
signs and symptoms of difficulty in developing learning skills such as
determining letters, speaking, writing, or grasping pencil or crayon.
Children with dyslexia has difficulty recognising letters in the alphabet
and was not able to learn to read even in older age.

Here are the signs and symptoms of dyslexia in preschool age according to Lapkin E.
(2016):
• Has trouble recognizing the letters of the alphabet
• Struggles to match letters to sounds, such as not knowing what sounds b or h make
• Has difficulty blending sounds into words, such as connecting C-H-A-T to the word chat
• Struggles to pronounce words correctly, such as saying “mawn lower” instead of “lawn
mower”
• Has difficulty learning new words
• Has a smaller vocabulary than other kids the same age
• Has trouble learning to count or say the days of the week and other common word
sequences
• Has trouble rhyming

Here are the signs and symptoms of dyslexia in school age according to
Lapkin E. (2016):
• Struggles with reading and spelling
• Confuses the order of letters, such as writing “left” instead of “felt”
• Has trouble remembering facts and numbers
• Has difficulty gripping a pencil
• Has difficulty using proper grammar
• Has trouble learning new skills and relies heavily on memorization
• Gets tripped up by word problems in math
• Has a tough time sounding out unfamiliar words
• Has trouble following a sequence of directions

Forms of Dyslexia
There are three common forms of dyslexia determined DDT or Dyslexia
Determination Test.
• Dysnemkinesia (motor)- A deficit in remembering how to do the
movements needed for writing. A child would reverse writing letter such as
‘b’ and ‘d’.
• Dysphonesia (auditory)- A deficit in the ability to sound off, to syllabicate,
to pronounce and to distinguish sounds of unfamiliar words.
• Dyseidesia (visual)- A deficit in the ability to recognize whole words by sight
and match them to whole-word sounds.

Strategies to Meet the Needs of Annie

1. Using S-E-E-S
• For Annie to be able to easily read the boards and charts such as the
scheduled routine in the room, I will make it printed in bigger fonts, I
will use pictures for her to see and I will simplify the words that I will
use so that she can understand it easily.
Here is an example of a scheduled routine that is
simplified with bigger fonts and pictures.

1. Using S-E-E-S
• I will also label the bins of toys, shelfs and materials in the room with
bigger fonts and pictures. I will also glue a sample of the toy in the bin
or in the shelf if possible for Annie to see where the things in the
room go.

2. Talking Near to Annie
From the definition of dyslexia from the previous slide, it was stated
that a child with dyslexia sometimes has a hard time decoding spoken
words especially when there is too much noise. Talking closer to Annie
and going to her eye-level would be another strategy to support her.

3. Buddy System
To boost Annie’s self-esteem and social skills, I will use a buddy system
for the children. It is not only for her but also for all the children in the
room to make more friends and increase their social skills. Everyday, I
will assign each child in the room with a partner. This buddy system will
change everyday so that all the children could connect more to all the
children in the room. The buddy system will also assist Annie if she also
struggle with spatial concept of left and right. With a partner, Annie
would be able to get more familiarize with the environment of the
center.

4. Using Adaptive Device
Since Annie is in school age now, she is able to use and navigate
gadgets and use applications to help her learn to read and write
without having a hard time by using adaptive devices. Here are some
examples of adaptive devices that Annie can use for her homework and
for learning.
• Dragon Naturally Speaking- According to
L. McCaie (2016), it is a computer program
that has a speech dictation program. It uses
the power of speech to create, format and
edit documents. This amazing adaptive device
lets the child talk to it and types for the child.

• Inspiration Child- According to L. McCaie (2016), it is a computer
program that helps the children organize their ideas using pictures in
a form of a diagram. Here is an example how this computer program
works:

• Kurzweil 1000 and Kurzweil 3000- According to L. McCaie (2016), this
two software that can access virtual information whether it is printed,
electronic or from the internet. It reads aloud using a humanlike
voice. It also highlights, enlarge fonts, brighten text, use voice notes
and text circle tools for better visual learning. It is also used to create
outlines, study guides or word list.
• Here is a video how Kurweil 1000 works by Berman
• J. (2014):

• Zoom Text- According to L. McCaie (2016), it is a device that enlarges
and enhances everything on the computer screen, and making
applications larger.
• Here is a tutorial video by Aisquared (2012) on how to use Zoom
• Text.

Here are more applications that is
available to be downloaded directly
through the phone or tablet:
Reading Apps
 ClaroPDF
 ClaroSpeak
 Google Play Books
 KNFB Reader
 Learning Ally Audio
 NaturalReader
 OCR Instantly Pro
 Pocket
 Prizmo
 Shakespeare in Bits
 Talk – Text to Voice
 vBookz
 vBookz
 PDF Voice Reader
 Voice Dream Reader
 Writing Apps
 Co:Writer
 Ginger Page
 Google Keyboard
 Google Keyboard
 Keeble Keyboard
 SnapType Pro
 Spell Better
 Voice Dream Writer

5. Providing Role Models
• Providing role models with the same disability would also help Annie
to be inspired to work on her disability. Renowned people such as
Albert Einstein, Orlando Bloom, Jackie Chan, Selma Hayek, and
Whoopi Goldberg are well known people who also have the same
disability but was still successful in life.

6. Full disclosure and providing accommodations
for the family
• It is very important that we educate not only the child but also the
family about the disability of the child. They have to know how it
happened and how we can help the child meet the needs. We should
set SMART goals for the child in her reading ability by working and
adapting with her disability. It is very important that the family
supports the child especially in this cases. School, teachers and ECEs
should also educate theirselves how they could accommodate Annie
and her family’s needs. As an ECE, we should be flexible and open for
new environment suitable for Annie’s needs.

Agencies and Resources for Dyslexia in Toronto
Assessment and Therapy Centers
• Sick Kids Hospital
Sick kids hospital is a hospital
located in downtown Toronto that
accommodates children. They
accommodate and assess children
with disability.
Address: Phone No.
555 University Avenue 1-866-797-0000
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
M5G 1X8

• Learning Solutions
Learning Solutions is a therapy
center for people with learning
disability. They have a specific
dyslexia program the uses the
method of Ronald Davis called
Davis Dyslexia Correction.
Address Phone No.
The Harbour Centre (905) 825-3153
20 Stavebank Rd #201,
Mississauga, ON L5G 2T4

• ACE Clinics
Advanced Cognitive Enhancement
(ACE) clinic is a therapy clinic in
Toronto, specializing in treating
children and adults suffering from
learning disabilities such
as dyslexia.
Address Phone No.
148 Finch Ave 416-222-0004
West Toronto,
ON M2N 2J2

Resources and Websites
• International Dyslexia Association (www.eida.org)
The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) is an organization
that looks with the complex issues of dyslexia. The IDA
members are consist of a variety of professionals in
partnership with dyslexics and their families and all others
interested in there mission.

Schools that has Dyslexia program
• Dunblaine School
Dunblaine is a non-profit elementary school that meets the needs and
abilities of students who have been diagnosed as learning disability.
Address Phone No.
21 Deloraine Avenue, 416 483 9215
Toronto, Ontario
M5M 2A8

Schools that has Dyslexia program
• Claremount School
Claremont School is the only elementary co-educational school
dedicated exclusively to the teaching of students with dyslexia from
Grades 1 – 9
Address Phone No.
C-1, 310 Danforth Avenue 416-778-6336
Toronto, ON M4K 1N6

Bibliography
• Picture
(n.d.). Retrieved April 3, 2016, from http://liphook-eyecare.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/dyslexia_spellings.jpg
(n.d.). Retrieved April 3, 2016, from http://cdn.tegna-tv.com/-mm-
/bf36b4c6941ee8531d0aa6cc129086fad95ded7c/r=x404&c=534x401/http/www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-
/d6f29255218053fbec4160e0e8e0ed0ac2642b45/c=29-0-479-338/local/-
/media/2015/02/04/WVEC/WVEC/635586508166148927-dyslexia-child-school-getty-image.jpg
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(n.d.). Retrieved April 3, 2016, from http://learningworksforkids.com/wp-
content/uploads/gty_child_reading_dyslexia_thg_120405_wg.jpg
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(n.d.). Retrieved April 3, 2016, from https://s-media-cache-
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(n.d.). Retrieved April 3, 2016, from http://thumb1.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/91282/144566138/stock-photo-
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(n.d.). Retrieved April 3, 2016, from http://johnadamscenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Buddy-system-field-
trip_Pic.jpg
(n.d.). Retrieved April 3, 2016, from http://www.it-echo.com/cgi-sys/suspendedpage.cgi
(n.d.). Retrieved April 3, 2016, from http://www.inspiration.com/sites/default/files/images/glassmenagerie.png

Bibliography
• Videos
(n.d.). Retrieved April 3, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgmUBa9M6uw
(n.d.). Retrieved April 3, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwalGlPW7OQ
(n.d.). Retrieved April 3, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYuyApOvmlM

Bibliography
• Website
(n.d.). Retrieved April 3, 2016, from http://www.thereadingclinic.ca/Dyslexia.html
(n.d.). Retrieved April 3, 2016, from http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-
conditions/dyslexia/basics/definition/con-20021904
(n.d.). Retrieved April 3, 2016, from https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-
issues/child-learning-disabilities/dyslexia/understanding-dyslexia#item2
(n.d.). Retrieved April 3, 2016, from
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