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Andrea Durant“>Andrea Durant

I think that the biggest misconception that I had before being trained in dyslexia is that they saw letters backwards or rearranged. The more I learned, I realized it is more of a recognition deficit with similar letters, lowercase b and d for example. They struggle with processing letters and patterns rather than just flipping the letters in a word. Also, you hear a lot of assumptions about there being a test for dyslexia. Knowing that there is not just a single test to determine if a child is dyslexic helps me better look out for any signs that a student might be exhibiting rather than just waiting for them to be tested. The earlier we start advocating for them, the sooner they are able to get the services they need to be successful.

I love using the gifted objectives in my classroom! I think that our state standards should include so many more social and emotional skills to help our students better process everything, including the academic skills. In a class that is half sped and half gifted, I always want to make sure my gifted students also grow. I try to get them to push beyond grade level academically, but more importantly socially. I have my gifted students practice leadership and effective communication by having them lead lessons or small groups. I have a ‘tutoring’ program in my room where if a student can demonstrate their ability to help a classmate understand their mistakes, they get to work with that student on test corrections but must show they did not just give them the answer. I also have them practice SEL situations and let them act them out for the class in order to teach and demonstrate appropriate responses. I differentiate my small group stations with them by giving them more hands on and creative tasks. They have a lot more options because they are better at processing multi step instructions and are able to work and problem solve as a team now. It took a little bit of pushing, but they have grown so much!

Tearney Wells“>Tearney Wells

According to the Mississippi Best Practices Dyslexia Handbook, “Dyslexia is the result of a neurological difference beyond the control of the student. Motivation is not usually the primary problem for the student with dyslexia but may become a secondary problem because of continued lack of success in academic endeavors”. Additionally, Dyslexia is a neurological learning disorder that effects reading and phonics comprehension skills. Dyslexia is a lifelong learning disorder that cause be treated with early intervention program. Thusly, there are a lot of misconceptions about Dyslexia.

Before reading about the common misconceptions associated with Dyslexia, it was presumed that individuals with Dyslexia see words backsword; however, people with Dyslexia have difficulties oral language, reading and language components. As a child I had trouble before/after, right/left, etc. learning the alphabet, songs, understanding concepts and relationships, retrieving words or naming problems, learning to read. I was placed in an early intervention program, and I discovered that I had Dyslexia. This learning disorder caused me to try harder that other kids. Still today, I have to study harder to learn new material. However, this learning disability has caused me to understand how to support my students with learning disabilities.

Students with Dyslexia should receive accommodations. The accommodations should meet the requirements of the student’s IEP. If the student have not been diagnosed with Dyslexia, then the teacher will have to closely evaluate their students to see if they student shows any signed of the learning disorder. If the student shows signs the disorder, then the teacher must take the necessary steps to get the students tested and accommodated.