Essentials of Dyslexia Assessment and Intervention

Nancy Mather, Barbara J. Wendling

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9781118152669
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Research & Methodology in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Quickly acquire the knowledge and skills you need to effectively understand, assess, and treat individuals struggling with dyslexia

Essentials of Dyslexia Assessment and Intervention provides practical, step-by-step information on accurately identifying, assessing, and using evidence-based interventions with individuals with dyslexia. Addressing the components that need to be considered in the assessment of dyslexia—both cognitive and academic—this book includes descriptions of the various tests used in a comprehensive dyslexia assessment along with detailed, evidence-based interventions that professionals and parents can use to help individuals struggling with dyslexia.

Like all the volumes in the Essentials of Psychological Assessment series, each concise chapter features numerous callout boxes highlighting key concepts, bulleted points, and extensive illustrative material, as well as test questions that help you gauge and reinforce your grasp of the information covered.

Providing an in-depth look at dyslexia, this straightforward book presents information that will prepare school psychologists, neuropsychologists, educational diagnosticians, special education teachers, as well as general education teachers, to recognize, assess, and provide effective treatment programs for dyslexia. The book is also a good resource for parents who are helping a child with dyslexia.

• A practical guide to understanding, assessing, and helping individuals who have dyslexia
• Expert advice and tips throughout
• Conveniently formatted for rapid reference

Other titles in the Essentials of Psychological Assessment series:
Essentials of Assessment Report Writing
Essentials of School Neuropsychological Assessment
Essentials of Evidence-Based Academic Interventions
Essentials of Response to Intervention
Essentials of Processing Assessment
Essentials of Conners Behavior Assessments
Essentials of Cross-Battery Assessment, Second Edition
Essentials of WISC-IV Assessment, Second Edition

Chapter One

UNDERSTANDING DYSLEXIA

In the first half of this century the story of dyslexia has been one of decline and fall; in the second half it has culminated in a spectacular rise. From being a rather dubious term, dyslexia has blossomed into a glamorous topic; and rightly so, for with a prevalence of around 5% the condition is remarkably common.

—Frith, 1999, p. 192

WHAT IS DYSLEXIA?

Steven, a second-grade student, knows only four letters of the alphabet. His teachers have tried to help him memorize letters and their sounds, but he always seems to forget what he has learned the next day. Lately, he has started to say that he is dumb and that’s the reason he can’t learn to read and spell.

Maria is in middle school. She is often confused by letters that have similar sounds, such as spelling every as efry. These subtle sound confusions are also apparent in her speech when she pronounces certain multisyllabic words, saying “puh-si-fic” when she means to say “specific.” She sometimes confuses words that have similar sounds. Even though she has a good vocabulary, she may say “that book really memorized me” when she really meant “mesmerized.” At times, she avoids saying certain words because she is unsure about their pronunciation.

Jeff is a junior in high school. He recently took the SATs and only finished half of each section. He said he knew how to do the rest of the questions, but he didn’t have enough time to attempt them. He wonders why his peers seem to always have plenty of time when reading takes him so long.

Mr. Brogan has just attended his fifth-grade son’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting at the local elementary school. His son, Matthew, is having great difficulty learning to read and spell. Even though he has an adapted spelling list, Matthew still forgets how to spell the words when the weekly spelling test is given. He spells words just the way they sound, not the way they look, such as spelling they as thay. When Mr. Brogan hears Matthew’s fifth-grade teacher, the special education teacher, and the school psychologist describing his son’s severe reading and spelling difficulties, he immediately thinks: “That was just like me.”

What do these four people who struggle with certain aspects of literacy have in common? They all have dyslexia. Although this seems to be an accurate label to explain difficulty in learning to read and spell, confusion exists regarding what having dyslexia actually means.

WHAT DYSLEXIA IS AND IS NOT

What is dyslexia? This simple question is asked every day by both parents and teachers as they struggle to understand why a child is not learning to read with ease. It is a question asked by Matthew who wonders why reading and spelling are so difficult. It is also a question asked by older students like Jeff as they attempt to determine why reading is so effortful and why they read so much more slowly than their peers. Although Mr. Brogan was well aware that he had always struggled with reading, when he hears the description of Matthew’s difficulties and that the school team thinks that Matthew has dyslexia, he realizes that he too has dyslexia that was never diagnosed. He now understands the reasons why he never reads for pleasure and why the stack of books that others have suggested he read sits undisturbed by his bedside.

Over the last century, researchers who are concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of dyslexia have attempted to answer the following three questions (Tunmer & Greaney, 2010, p. 229):

1. What is it?

2. What causes it?

3. What can be done about it?

The goal of this book is to attempt to answer these three questions in a straightforward way so that dyslexia can be easily understood by educational professionals and parents alike, as well as by individuals who have dyslexia. Although we do not yet have conclusive answers to the questions above, fortunately, over the last century, researchers, medical professionals, and practitioners have learned a lot about dyslexia, as well as how this disorder affects reading and spelling development.

DON’T FORGET

Dyslexia is a neurobiological disorder that affects the development of both decoding (written word pronunciation) and encoding (spelling).

The word dyslexia comes from the Greek words δυσ- dys- (“impaired”) and lexis (“word”). Although numerous definitions exist, dyslexia can be most simply defined as a neurobiological disorder that causes a marked impairment in the development of basic reading and spelling skills. More specifically, dyslexia is manifested in deficiencies in word-level reading skills; it affects decoding (pronouncing printed words) and encoding (spelling words; Vellutino & Fletcher, 2007). Thus, dyslexia is a complex cognitive disorder of neurobiological origin that affects the development of literacy (Shastry, 2007; Vellutino & Fletcher, 2007).

Both parents and professionals are often confused regarding the difference between a specific learning disability (SLD) and dyslexia. They often wonder if a student is diagnosed with an SLD in reading, does this mean that he has dyslexia? The answer to this question is: Maybe. Essentially, SLD is a broader category that encompasses several different types of disorders, including dyslexia, the most common and carefully studied type of SLD (Shastry, 2007). In addition, the terms dyslexia, specific developmental dyslexia, specific reading disability, and reading disability are often used interchangeably to describe this neurodevelopmental disorder (DeFries, Singer, Foch, & Lewitter, 1978; Vellutino & Fletcher, 2007).

In some school districts, school psychologists and special and general educators do not use the word dyslexia when describing students with severe reading disabilities. In fact, the term dyslexia has fallen in and out of popularity from the early 1930s (Rooney, 1995). Some states do not use the word “dyslexia” in their state regulations, whereas a few, such as Texas and Arkansas, have specific laws that must be adhered to regarding both assessment and service delivery to school children with dyslexia. As of 2018, 42 states had specific statewide dyslexia laws. One state, Alaska, has a law that is pending. The seven states that do not have a dyslexia law include Idaho, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Vermont. Although South Dakota does not have a dyslexia law at this time, it has developed a statewide dyslexia handbook. Because of widespread legislation and increased public awareness, in the coming years, we are likely to hear the term “dyslexia” being used more often.

The addition of “dyslexia” as a separate disorder was considered in the proposed text revisions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), the guidelines of the American Psychiatric Association that are widely used by psychologists and mental health professionals. The final guidelines, however, did not change the category of Reading Disorder to Dyslexia, but instead subsumed it under Specific Learning Disorder, a diagnosis made when deficits exist in an individual’s abilities to perceive or process information accurately or efficiently. Typically with dyslexia, the impairments would be seen in word reading accuracy, reading rate and fluency, and spelling accuracy. Rapid Reference 1.1 provides a review of DSM-5 criteria for Specific Learning Disorder.

Rapid Reference 1.1

DSM-5 Criteria for Specific Learning Disorder

• Specific Learning Disorders fall under the broad category of Neurodevelopmental Disorders and can occur in individuals who are intellectually gifted.
• The Specific Learning Disorder can be in reading, written expression, or mathematics and is manifested during the years of formal schooling.
• If the impairment is in reading, the clinician would specify if the problem affects word reading accuracy, rate or fluency, or reading comprehension.
• If the impairment is in writing, the clinician would specify if the problem affects spelling accuracy, grammar and punctuation accuracy, or clarity and organization of written expression.
• If the impairment is in mathematics, the clinician would specify if the problem affects number sense, memorization of arithmetic facts, accurate or fluent calculation, or accurate math reasoning.
• The current level of severity is specified: mild, moderate, or severe.

SUBTYPES OF READING PROBLEMS AND DYSLEXIA

Not all types of reading problems are considered to be ...