Dyslexia: Sasha's Story

At the age of six, Sasha, my middle daughter showed many signs of dyslexia.

I regard her privacy as being paramount, but I feel fine about sharing this information in public for two important reasons:

1. As a parent who also happens to be a literacy and language therapist, I know I have done everything I possibly can so far to help her acquire literacy.
2. I'm absolutely positive that she will indeed become a competent reader and writer and that her dyslexic brain will therefore be free to express and enjoy all the
   gifts and talents right-hemisphere-dominant people often have, without the stigma and struggle.

   "I Think She's Dyslexic"

   I began to suspect dyslexia on an intuitive, rather than professional basis when Sasha was around three years old. I have sat opposite people with dyslexia, day in, day out, for over fifteen years and not surprisingly, I've developed a feel for the condition.

   Though the actual definition comprises a wide range of symptoms - often disagreed upon - I will use the definition as given by the International Dyslexia Association:

   "Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability.

   Dyslexia refers to a cluster of symptoms, which result in people having difficulties with specific language skills, particularly reading.

   Students with dyslexia usually experience difficulties with other language skills such as spelling, writing, and pronouncing words.

   Dyslexia affects individuals throughout their lives; however, its impact can change at different stages in a person’s life.

   It is referred to as a learning disability because dyslexia can make it very difficult for a student to succeed academically in the typical instructional environment, and in its more severe forms, will qualify a student for special education, special accommodations, or extra support services. "

   For more information about dyslexia, the International Dyslexia Association

   Sasha's Profile

   As a Doman baby myself, that is, one who was taught to read using whole-word flashcards since birth, I expected Sasha, with similar input, to be reading and writing at a five year old level by the time she was three. I certainly could. But she started kindergarten and went through two years of that without recognising many common words in books at all.

   She had other motor and emotional symptoms too, which for the sake of her privacy, I won't go into. Suffice to say that she has come a long way in terms of both those areas.

   She had a fantastic auditory memory, being able to recite whole epic poems and the text from her favourite books, such as "The Lion Who Wanted to Love", but could not point out the word "the" in that or any other book until she reached the age of five.

   She is also excellent at drawing and design. Her pictures have always shown expression and composition well beyond her years.

   Pictures from Sasha's "Zoo Series"-age 4: Zookeeper...

   

   
   

   Giraffe...

   

   
   

   Tiger...

   

   
   

   Crocodile...

   

   
   

   Lion...

   

   Sasha's Learning Experience

   Since babyhood, Sasha has been getting input from Doman as well as the fantastic

   "Your Baby Can Read" DVD series.

   I started the Lindamood LiPS Program with her, getting her to feel what her brain told her mouth to do when she made sounds.

   She loved this program and I think it has given her the phonemic awareness necessary for her literacy development.

   But still she did not read. By this time, her writing, though quite neat, was in perfect mirror formation

   We also did Sig Engelmann's "How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" from the age of 4 1/2. We got up to lesson number 20, but it was a struggle, and I could tell that she didn't think it was as much fun as LiPS.

   I certainly wasn't going to push her, keeping in mind the central Doman tenet for all child teaching success: "Stop before they want to stop!"

   School Began...Uh-Oh!

   Sasha started school in January 2009 at the age of five years and four months. After hundreds of hours of direct reading instruction, as well as thousands of hours of implicit instruction (i.e. being read to, having letters, sounds and words pointed out, talking about the theory of spelling and its rules), Sasha entered school with a huge vocabulary, a love of learning, a passion for literature...and...wait for it...the ability to write and recognise her own Christian name (and she often wrote it the right way round too!).

   Just slightly anomalous, don't you think?

   She made slow progress with the basal readers she brought home every night and was still in the lowest writing group, while some of her peers started writing sentences and stories.

   She began to dislike school.

   Below is an example of her mirror-writing...

   

   Let's Do Something About This...

   In the holidays, her term two report showed her to be in the average band. This was fine, but I felt she needed something else. So we started the Spalding "Writing Road to Reading Program".

   Sasha adored it. She excelled! It's as if all the information she had been given at the different stages of her life regarding reading and spelling was somehow awoken. This program kick-started her brain into coordination.

   Sasha went back to school in term three after having practised reading and spelling fifty of the 70 phonograms of English according to Spalding.

   This was the result:

   • She moved up four levels in reading (basal readers criteria, so I'm not sure what that means in terms of age and grade, but it's upward progress!),
   • She is writing her own sentences and stories,
   • She is much happier at school,
   • She can sound out multisyllable words where she previously could not,
   • She is very interested in spelling rules and loves to recite and demonstrate them.
   These were the areas that still needed work:
   • She still preferred to guess using the word-initial letter rather than sound the word out,
   • She developed the FATAL habit of looking for little words inside big words, a morphologically redundant strategy that leads vulnerable non-readers into dead-ends,
   • She still looked at the pictures in books for contextual cues.

   In the next holidays, we continued with Spalding, ensuring that Sasha acquired all 70 phonograms and could use them in context.

   We also kept practising her sight words using a method I call "Giant steps, baby steps."

   My goal was then to use the Nanci Bell Visualizing and Verbalizing Stories book to get her to read increasingly harder texts (with no pictures) and to have her answer higher order thinking skills questions based on the paragraphs in the book. This way, I could keep abreast of her comprehension, as well as her decoding skills.
   

   At this Point, Sasha began to write like this...

   

   Summary

   Happily, Sasha is in her second year at school and having a wonderful time. She is progressing through her sight words beautifully and is keeping up with the curriculum.

   One interesting phenomenon regarding Sasha's oral reading is that though she's accurate, thanks to the 70 phonograms, she is still quite dysfluent.

   This, I think, is nothing to be alarmed about, because her comprehension is excellent and she is becoming smoother all the time.

   However, I believe that because I was very emphatic in my teaching that she, like people who read with ease, MUST process EVERY phoneme in EVERY word, this has resulted in her slow, methodical reading style.

   My theory is that she will put it all together very shortly and won't struggle at all by the end of her second year.

   Sasha's journey so far is best summed up in a time line:

   Past:

   Input received:
   • Doman "How to Teach Your Baby to Read"; "How to Teach Your Baby to Be Physically Superb"; "How to Teach Your Baby Math",
   • Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing Program,
   • Engelmann "How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons",
   • Titzer "Your Baby Can Read" DVDs,
   • Spalding's "Writing Road to Reading",
   • Two books read to her per day (on average).
   Output generated:
   • Persistent number and letter reversal, including mirror writing,
   • Inability to sequence sounds within words (until LiPS),
   • Poor sight-word recognition and retention.

   Present:

   Input receiving:
   • More "Writing Road to Reading",
   • Basal Readers from school,
   • Sight-word work.
   Output so far:
   • Coming up to grade expectancy in reading and writing,
   • Poor fluency.

   Future:

   Input Sasha will receive:
   • More Spalding,
   • My own "Spelling For Life" once the Spalding phonograms are mastered,
   • "On Cloud Nine" (math).
   Output expected:
   • Confidence and competence in reading and writing,
   • Enjoyment of maths.

   In telling this story, I'm not trying to champion one method over another. Rather, my aim is to make several key points in order to help teachers and parents who suspect or are dealing with dyslexia:

   1. Early intervention is essential when overcoming reading disorders. In fact, I am a strong advocate for early literacy work with EVERY child.
   2. If your child is younger than eight, and you suspect dyslexia, have a competent literacy and language therapist assess and diagnose straight away. This can be done from the age of three onwards. The earlier the better!
   4. If, however, your child is older than eight, consider carefully the usefulness of this label before going through the battery of diagnostic testing. On the one hand, it may be a relief having a name for your child's struggles, but on the other, it may stigmatize. It is also useful to gain more time during exams and classwork, as well as more understanding and consideration from educators, however, the priority is to have your child undertake skilled, professional tutoring from a practitioner who understands how the brain works and its effects on literacy.
   5. Dyslexia is not necessarily a bad thing, but it requires some work if satisfactory literacy is to be achieved,
   6. When information goes into a brain, it isn't necessarily lost - it's just up to us as parents and practitioners to help students access and use that information - so...don't give up!