http://DyslexicAdvantage.org “Don’t listen to what anyone tells you what you can or cannot do…there is no dyslexia ceiling. Doesn’t exist unless you create it in your own mind.” – MIT Professor of Chemistry and Biology Catherine Drennan, PhD. Dr Drennan also shares how she is able to read molecular spatial configurations like how she learned to read. The Conference was made possible by a generous grant from the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation
For over 100 years, dyslexia has had a good run. It’s caused heartache, misery, and frustration for millions. That’s over now. A fifth independent study has once again proven that dyslexics can become better readers than non-dyslexics. It takes between 20 and 40 hours of practice with a method called “Eye-Hop.”
The Eye-Hop exercises are fun and easy to do. Through progressive levels, people move from processing one word at a time to reading 5 to 8 words at a time. This is all done with high comprehension. Amazingly, those with the worst phonological processing achieve the greatest percentage increase in their reading abilities. This appears to be due to the ability to process so much information in one glance. Like predictive text on a smartphone, the more information provided, the more certain it is of the word you’re typing.
Eye-Hop is an element of the SuperReading Program. This course, developed in 1995, has always produced these results. The difference today is that SuperReading is now available 100% online. Nearly a year was spent creating compatible online testing, which is rigorous and accurate. Resources were also spent to perfect an online App which converts ordinary text into the Eye-Hop format almost instantly. This means that age-appropriate material of interest can be used to fulfill the hours required to overcome dyslexia.
The online SuperReading course is easy to understand and apply. Any parent or guardian can read about a tool or watch a 3-minute video and explain it to a child in a minute or two. Coaching is available, though not required. Every child graduating the SuperReading Program has become the best reader and learner in their school in 60 days or less. In the case of some dyslexics, it has taken closer to 90 days.
Skill levels are measured by “Reading Effectiveness” (RE) with standardized tests. RE is reading speed multiplied by comprehension/recall (expressed as a percentage). For example, a person reading at 200 words per minute (wpm), able to recall 50% of what they read, would have an RE of 100, or 200 x .5 = 100. A person reading at 150wpm with 50% accurate recall would have an RE of 75, or 150 x .5 = 75. In plain English, RE tells us how fast we read and what we have to show for the time spent. The SuperReading Program guarantees to at least double the baseline RE scores of any person. With the online testing, this is now a much “cleaner” process than from paper. All scores are computed, graphed out, and tracked in a secure database.
SuperReading was developed in Silicon Valley in the mid-1990s. One of the first companies to bring in the Program was Apple Computer. After 5 weeks, their Global Response Team was able to reduce 28 hours of reading each week down to 5 hours. They also reported that their engineers did a better job reading incoming emails, as their “Negative Response Rate” (NRR) dropped by 85%. The NRR was end-users complaining that the engineers did not understand their email. The first identified dyslexic to enter the Program was from the legal department at Hewlett-Packard in 1996. In a group of 25 engineers and managers, Nancy started off with the lowest RE scores in that group. 35 days later she had the highest RE scores. This would become a trend in the years to follow.
From 1996 to 2005, hundreds of dyslexic readers came through the SuperReading Program, did their Eye-Hop exercises, and became brilliant readers. In 1996, these engineers asked to have the Program for their children. Some companies held family classes after hours. Those children quickly became the best readers in their school. Many of them were dyslexic, others had ADHD, ADD, and other learning challenges. No condition or label seemed to make any difference. They all became great readers and progressed from dreading having to read to loving it. When asked why they felt that way, most replied that it was no longer a chore, or torture. It was easy and felt like fun. Apparently, children do not run away from fun- they move toward it. Combined with memory tools and stress-free study techniques, these students thrived. After a major exam, one student commented that the memory tools made it easier than cheating! Other students agreed.
In 2006, I moved to the UK. There I met Dr. R. Cooper, one of the UK’s leading authorities on dyslexia. At first, he dismissed the results, believing those people were not truly dyslexic; that they only thought they were. As a person who sat on the board when the UK defined dyslexia, he had been teaching teachers how to help dyslexics for 16 years. Dr. Cooper politely dismissed me. Nearly a year later, while teaching law students at the London City Law School, I had two dyslexic students take the course. They had papers from bona fide Assessors of Need proclaiming them as dyslexic. They more than tripled their initial RE scores and wrote glowing testimonials. I sent the documents and comments to Dr. Cooper, who invited me to London South Bank University to run a course for a group of dyslexic students and adults. Dr. Cooper was, in his words, “astounded at the results.” The last class was very emotional- lots of tears from people who had just finished a book for the first time in their lives. Some were in their 40s and 50s. We ran a second course, this time with a control group. We got the same results. 84% of the dyslexics ended up with higher RE scores than a group of non-dyslexic university professors! In future studies, they would be compared to their non-dyslexic peers, and 100% would end up with higher RE scores. Since 2009, the UK government has funded SuperReading for all dyslexic university students in the UK.
The Italians have translated SuperReading into Italian and are taking it through their university system. They have seen equal success in a high school and in their dyslexia centers. You can view their latest published study. The other studies can be accessed from our website.
The SuperReading Program is available now, at https://superreading.com, along with the unique Eye-Hop exercises. Dyslexia has had its day. Now you can have yours.
Ron Cole
The Reading & Learning Coach
Soaring Students, Delighted Parents,
Turned-On Teachers
Abeye, a French healthtech startup has developed Lexilens, a revolutionary reading aid for dyslexics.
This new product is based on science and provides instantaneous effect to dyslexic readers. It was awarded several prizes among which the CES innovation award at Las Vegas in 2020 and Silmo Gold award (health & vision category). It will be launched in France soon after this summer and in Europe afterwards.
Dyslexia is a reading disorder affecting 8 to 10% of population
Dyslexia makes reading very difficult and is declared as a handicap by the World Health Organization. Children suffer the most from it as they must read a lot at school while they have not yet learned how to cope with this disorder by setting up alternative strategies to read.
Dyslexia makes reading difficult and can lead to school failure, loss of self-confidence & potentially social isolation. It is a daily pain for the children and their family.
Abeye develops smart eyewear for health and wellness
Launched in 2018, the startup Abeye (abeye.tech) creates smart eyewear, eg standard looking eyewear that embeds electronics to provide health related services to the user. Abeye just released earlier this year a product called Spectalert which is a fall detection eyewear for seniors. Lexilens is their second product, developed with the same rules : simple, useful, elegant and affordable.
Abeye is incubated by “Atol les opticiens”, a French optician retail network (800 shops in France). Abeye can therefore rely on Atol expertise to design eyewear that looks like….eyewear and that people will actually want to wear
Lexilens is a revolutionary reading aid for dyslexics
Lexilens is the result of a 2-year R&D effort by Abeye in collaboration with the scientific academic laboratory that discovered in 2017 a potential cause of dyslexia.
These French scientists showed a link between the eyes, the brain, and dyslexia: In the image processing center of the brain, every single human at some point creates a mirror image of what they are seeing. Think of looking in the mirror when letters seem backward. In a person with dyslexia, the incomplete decoding in the brain of the mirror image can result in overlays or omissions. For non-dyslexics, the two eyes are asymmetric, which means not exactly alike. And this asymmetry gives clues to the brain in selecting which image to pick. For dyslexic people, they have two eyes that are too perfect. So the brain cannot tell the difference and can mix the two mirror images.
Lexilens can filter mirror images with its electronic lenses and reading is easier for the dyslexic wearer.
After several versions, a real-life test was conducted with several testers. The results are unprecedented. The children’s parents’ testimony is extremely promising, as some children can read up to twice as fast with Lexilens. For many testers, reading is faster and easier, memorization is increased, and academic results are improved, increasing social confidence.
Lexilens effect is instantaneous (no training required), universal (does not depend on the age, gender or native language). The spectacular effects of Lexilens have been since confirmed for adults and children from a broad range of countries. A formal clinical trial is under way to generate scientific data to measure the improvement rate.
A non stigmatizing device
Abeye has been working on improving the design of Lexilens so it can be worn at school without stigmatization. Lexilens will be available in two sizes : children & adults. Lexilens is compatible with all prescription lenses for increased reading comfort.
Lexilens will be available for preorder in the coming months (in Atol shops in France and online (abeye.tech) for the rest of Europe). Abeye is currently in discussion with distribution partners to support its global expansion.
Lexilens: https://abeye.tech/lexilens/
Dyslexia Spelling = Phonetic Spelling + Creative Spelling
When you’re dictating a word and tell your son or daughter that he should write what he hears, your child will attempt to map the sounds in the words to the sounds of the letters.
However, English is not a phonetic language. There are a very large number of English words where there is a gap between how the word sounds and how the word is actually spelled. Not to mention, there are many times multiple correct phonetic options to a given sound (for example: k , c, ck, and qu – all sound about the same)…
Given that English spelling is not phonetic, and each sound may have several spelling options, a lot of correct English spelling is dependent on the visual memory of a written word. If you have good visual memory of words, you will be able to spell a word correctly simply by writing it down, and from memory deciding if this is the correct spelling.
But kids with dyslexia and dysgraphia have very poor and inconsistent visual memory of spelled words, and therefore, can hardly rely on their visual memory of words…. Not to mention that children with dyslexia or dysgraphia sometimes confuse the direction of letters, and though they meant to write the letter “b” actually end up writing the letter “d”…
A child’s Creative Spelling refers to the spelling of a child who has no idea of how to spell correctly certain syllables of a word, and therefore, creatively makes them up as he writes. And each time he/she “creates” a word’s spelling, it usually ends up as a different spelling creation.
English is not a phonetic language, and therefore, the “creative spelling” of a child with dyslexia or dysgraphia must be taken into account in order for a spell checker to provide value for a dyslexic child. However, the “creative” spelling of such a child is basically “noise” and therefore any computerized program, such as a regular spell checker, that tries to correct a single word at a time (and not based on the context of the sentence) is doomed to fail… That is why Microsoft spell checker many times simply fails to correct a heavily misspelled word written by a dyslexic… and the reason why dyslexic children require…
Continue reading here: https://www.ghotit.com/ghotit-for-kids
French, Danish and even English can be hard for dyslexics students while Spanish, German and Italian may be easier.
It becomes more and more evident that dyslexia, being the same to its core all over the world, also depends on how difficult the language is to learn and to read. Between languages, there are differences in the orthographic, phonological, morphemic, and inflectional structure, but what makes them harder or easier to learn is also the “opaqueness”: how possible it is to break the words up into sounds and how well those sounds match the letters and letter combinations. For example, French, Danish, and even English can be hard for dyslexic students while Spanish, German, and Italian may be easier.
Danish speakers are sometimes said to swallow their consonants, making it a bit of a challenge for learners to hear which words they are using. Looking at a Danish word on paper, you won’t necessarily know how to say it out loud. The same goes for French with its je peux (I can), il peut (he can), and un peu (a little), pronounced in the same way (x and t silent) but with different meanings. Dyslexic students, as well as English students, often struggle with the irregular spelling of the language. They often feel the need for an extensive repertoire of strategies to overcome the challenge.
Studies are being done on dyslexia in different languages but there is still much left to discover. Such as how dyslexia looks in languages that are written in another direction, like Arabic, or in a language that doesn’t have an alphabet, such as Mandarin. Learning Chinese, you must match the meaning and sound to a specific character, which in fact results in a perhaps more complicated and severe disorder than that of English dyslexics.
Continue reading here https://cpen.com/insights/dyslexia-in-different-languages/
Child development isn’t an exact science, which is why it doesn’t usually make sense to compare your child to his/her peers. Some kids take to reading, writing, and math early on, and others need more time to master these skills. There isn’t necessarily anything wrong just because your child isn’t reading yet.
Let’s look at some common language milestones. If you notice issues or your child is experiencing challenges in and out of the classroom, it might be time to consider getting some additional help.
Kids learn to read and write one sound at a time. Here are some typical language accomplishments during early childhood:
Kindergarten (ages 4-5): Links letters to sounds and pronounces simple words. Students may be able to write some letters.
First Grade (ages 6-7): Learns about 100 common words. By mid-first grade, many students can read simple books on their own. They also learn to write the alphabet and sound out words when they’re unable to read them on sight.
Second-Fourth Grades (ages 8-10): By this age, students understand the sounds of all letters and recognize lower versus upper case letters. They begin reading short chapter books and can discuss characters, settings, and storylines. By fourth grade, students can also do basic research projects.
Continue reading here: https://blog.brainbalancecenters.com/in-what-grade-should-my-child-be-reading
By: Judy Zorfass, Tracy Gray, and PowerUp WHAT WORKS
I grabbed my purse, stepped outside into the cold night air, and watched as a flake drifted to the ground. I started walking to my car, but I had to grab hold of a mailbox to keep from slipping.
Did you picture a woman standing outside on a winter’s night watching the snow fall? Or maybe you pictured her taking a step and then slipping on the icy sidewalk as she headed to her car? If so, you were visualizing — a critical reading skill that is necessary to comprehend both informational texts and literature. Within the College and Career Readiness Standards for Reading, visualizing has a role to play in helping students identify key ideas and details and understand craft and structure.
Proficient readers scan and interpret text, forming a mental image of what is happening. Visualizing while reading adds texture to a scene by adding imagined details that the text may not spell out, and it is an indication of successful text comprehension.
By incorporating differentiated models, practicing visualization, and supporting your students as they visualize (drawing on principles for Universal Design for Learning), you can help them learn to use all of their senses to engage with and imagine the world of a text, and to bring that world to life as they read. See UDL Editions Visualize Strategy for a student-friendly explanation and rubric for visualizing.
A range of tools (both low-tech and high-tech) can support your students’ ability to visualize. For example, you could encourage students to draw, use dramatizations, and/or create music. Students could use cameras to take photos, or they could search for photos, images, and other graphics. They could create their own videos or watch those produced by others; they could listen to music or use programs to create their own. A variety of software tools and apps are available that stimulate students’ visualizations and support their efforts to draw, diagram, and create images.
If students are reading digital text, they can access a variety of embedded supports to enhance visualization (e.g., audio explanations, photos, and images), including embedded prompts that encourage students to stop and visualize. All of these tools can help you to differentiate instruction. The video below provides ideas for using supports that are built into text to differentiate instruction.
Continue reading here: http://www.ldonline.org/article/Visualizing_to_Make_Meaning
Summer reading is as much a seasonal pastime as baseball and fireworks. Many parents put together a selection of books that are meaningful, educational, and engaging—books to nourish and stimulate young minds during these few freewheeling months.
Parents should consider assembling a summer listening list, too. When we think of literacy, we tend to think first of reading and writing. That’s because for centuries, printed text has been the dominant means of recording and sharing information. Yet for most children, listening is really the first entry point into language—the cornerstone of learning and of cognitive development. In an age when kids are regular users of personal multimedia technologies, the importance of learning to listen and listening to learn is as great as ever.
Listening is an engaging way to learn, a primary approach to developing or strengthening reading strategies, and, in some cases, a necessary means to access information and knowledge. Listening media, such as audiobooks and text-to-speech, can be especially helpful to children with learning disabilities, such as those with dyslexia and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), who struggle with print-based learning, and central auditory processing disorder (CAPD), who may struggle to listen.
For such students, well-chosen listening experiences can open up new vistas of learning, providing access to information and ideas previously ‘hidden’ in books and supporting the reading process itself. Such opportunities provide a powerful supplement or alternative to a reading program focused around printed text.
Research has shown that combining reading and listening through the use of audiobooks or text-to-speech programs improves the literacy skills of struggling readers, including those with learning disabilities. Reading comprehension, listening comprehension, phonological awareness and blending, and naming skills have shown to be improved with a combined reading-listening program. Listening while reading helps children learn the patterns of language, the obvious ‘code’ of letters and words on the page, as well as less obvious codes, such as tone, nuance, and implied meaning. Brain imaging technologies show that when we listen, different parts of the brain are engaged than when we read—or even when we merely hear something. Listening can provide whole levels of information that are essential to determining the value and validity of a source. Teaching children to listen to tone of voice not only helps them develop reading skills but can help in the development of their social and conversational skills, too. (For more information, see Plato Revisited: Learning Through Listening in the Digital World by David Rose& Bridget Dalton, published by RFB&D.)
Continue reading here: http://www.ldonline.org/article/15904/
People with dyslexia have difficulty reading letters and words; it’s a learning disability that has nothing to do with their intelligence. Until recently, researchers assumed the challenge could be traced to language difficulties, including problems processing printed words, and they focused their attention on the language parts of the brain.
But in the latest research published in the journal Neuron, scientists led by John Gabrieli, a professor of brain and cognitive sciences at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, found that dyslexia may be due to a much broader difference in brain function. After analyzing functional MRI brain scans of people with and without dyslexia, they found that those with dyslexia were less adept at something called adaptive learning. When the brain sees something new, whether it’s a word, object, voice or experience, it expends a lot of neural energy to gather as much information about the novel stimulus as possible. But if it does this every time it hears the same voice, or encounters the same dog barking, for example, that wouldn’t be efficient. It’s therefore able to adapt and quickly triage new encounters from familiar ones.
Gabrieli found that in the brains of dyslexics, this process wasn’t occurring when they heard the same person speak different words. Nor did it occur in other tests of the brain’s plasticity, or ability to adapt. That suggests that the trouble with reading has less to do with language specific problems but rather broader issues with adaptivity. In other words, the issues with adapting to new things may compromise skills like reading.
Continue reading here: https://time.com/4608060/dyslexia-reading-disorder/
