Learning Disabilities

Given this age of information, we should have a distinct picture of what constitutes a diagnosis of dyslexia. Surprisingly, however, many misconceptions still persist about this condition. The following are some common myths and the truth behind them: Myth: You can tell a person is dyslexic because they see words backwards or in reverse. Truth: All young readers up to second grade can have persistent reversals when reading. Many children reverse their letters when learning to write, regardless of whether or not they have dyslexia. Reversing letters or words is not a sure sign of dyslexia. Moreover, a child can be [...]

Does my child or student have a reading difficulty? This question can arise as early as the preschool years when children begin receiving instruction in early literacy skills. Given that fifteen to twenty percent of the population has a reading disability, it is important for educators, as well as parents, to be knowledgeable about the early warning signs of such a difficulty so that proper intervention can be implemented immediately and effectively. Delayed language development, articulation problems, or frequent ear infections can be the first clues to a reading problem. Signs to look for in a child to ensure they are [...]

There has been much speculation and discussion about the idea that people with dyslexia seem to have particular strengths in areas of the brain responsible for perceptual reasoning or visual spatial tasks. Visual spatial tasks or visuospatial processing refers to strengths in tasks that are based on the ability to work with pictures not words. Strengths in visual spatial tasks in the everyday world translates to the ability to understand maps, make origami, figure out puzzles, assemble things, read graphs of data, build complex structures with Legos, make model airplanes, excel at woodworking, draw, direct a school play, make creative videos, [...]

When a child is diagnosed with dyslexia, parents often want to know what the road to reading and spelling success will look like.  While this road varies from child to child, there are certain landmarks that characterize the journey.  These include initial success with word attack which leads to improvement in automatic word recognition and eventually improvement in spelling.  The following case study describes one child and her experience.** Karen’s mother Anna came to Commonwealth Learning Center when Karen was in the middle of second grade.  Karen’s speech was remarkable for phoneme reversals – She said the word breakfast as bress-ket, the word animal as aminal, [...]

Many of the people who we consider as changing the course of history for the better were dyslexic. These people were not only able to think outside of the box, but they had the ability to shatter the limitations of the current thinking of their day. They were visionaries who gave birth to ideas that have impacted history in remarkable ways. These revolutionary thinkers are not limited to one area of pursuit, but have contributed to the world in all areas. They were inventors & scientists, political leaders, writers & journalists, filmmakers, actors & entertainers, athletes, artists, designers, architects, lawmakers, military [...]

Dyslexic second grader Olivia is learning to read and spell words with the digraph ch.  Her learning center teacher asks Olivia to trace the letters ch with her fingers while naming them. She teaches Olivia the key word chin and the sound /ch/.  Throughout her reading lesson, Olivia works with this new sound: she points to and reads ch words in isolation and in sentences, selects pictures that begin with /ch/, and writes dictated words with the target sound on dotted lined paper.  When she spells a dictated word, Olivia segments the sounds in the word with plastic chips and then names the letters while writing them.  Olivia’s [...]