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.
The importance of learning to listen
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.)
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.
The fear of Mathematics and numbers is called Dyscalculia, which is a learning disability, also termed as number blindness. Extensive studies have recorded that nearly 7% of the population with average intelligence have the problem. The innate number sense of the human brain is not in sync in dyscalculics, as numerical ability relies on special brain networks.
The theory that separates Dyscalculia from other deficiencies of memory and language is that the approximate number sense gets severely affected. A common symptom that defines the problem is the inability to recognize the place value system. The mathematical ability of people who are unable to grasp the recognition pattern of small numbers is impaired significantly.
Brain Function In Dyscalculia Sufferers
The inability to properly estimate and grasp quantifiable figures is the hallmark of Dyscalculia. The disability signifies the inability or impaired ability to recognize small numbers. The brain scans of persons suffering from this issue show that the intraparietal sulci show less activity and are less connected with the greater brain when dealing with numbers.
Other learning disabilities like dyslexia and aligned problems like ADHD and autism spectrum disorder are also common in dyscalculics. The treatment becomes a little complex as it is difficult to separate the issues. These comorbidities often make the diagnosis difficult. The neuronal basis of Dyscalculia is not widely studied due to this phenomenon. Several neuroimaging studies have detailed the representation and processing of numerical information, but no comprehensive and conclusive findings are available. There are many forms of Dyscalculia, and some of them are associated with demonstrated alterations in metabolism, brain structure, and function.
Developmental Dyscalculia tends to present as abnormalities in the parietal cortex and involves the cortical and subcortical regions. Recent studies have given clarity on brain activity during number processing as well as calculation. The IPS or intraparietal sulcus is known to be the centre for numerical processing. Research has illustrated that the IPS is activated when mathematical tasks and even simple counting exercises are carried out.
Memory, perceptual, spatial and motor functions are also involved in the process. Attention is also a key factor. The cognitive processes that are involved in calculation tasks add to the complexity. Developmental Dyscalculia (DD) demonstrates deficits in core brain regions associated with number processing. The brain activation pattern is also not adequate in children afflicted with DD. The gap is bridged with the child resorting to finger counting and memory to compensate.
The need for remediation measures and education for children with special needs is the need of the hour. There are some steps taken in this direction by experts, but the gap is much more significant than the remedy. Urgent intervention is needed to collate research findings and create practical special education resources to help children suffering from DD.
Practical Application of Research in Educational Processes for Special Needs
The first step is to recognize that the child has a problem. Unfortunately, the children suffering from Developmental Dyscalculia are not even diagnosed in time to help them. They are often labelled as slow or below average and are left to fend on their own. The need of the hour is to educate parents and educationists alike about the existence of DD and how it affects the child.
Academic and emotional negligence often tortures the otherwise intelligent child. They are special and hence need proper guidance and help, more than the other children. They may be subjected to bullying and rampant ignoring in the classroom. Teachers need to be sensitized about the occurrence and issues related to Dyscalculia as they are prone to dismiss the condition as a lack of general intelligence. There are few practical steps that can be taken to ensure that the child finds a way to cope with the problem and even overcome it to a certain extent.
Reading is the key to success. Anyone who reads well and who understands what has been read automatically learns the rules of correct spelling.
Precise, accurate reading is a prerequisite for writing and learning. The specific design for children of the Easy Reading Card makes reading easy and fun.
Scientific studies have shown that a majority of individuals that exhibit reading problems are affected by subjective visual perception. When reading, the visual channels have to work precisely timed together so that there is no overlap of visual information.
Science has proven the positive effects of the influences of colors while reading. Especially the color blue leads to a phasic activity of the channels, which leads to an increase in reading achievement, reading comprehension and reading speed. The color thus supports the sub-processes of the visual sensors.
Teachers from around the world are already using the Easy Reading Card when working with children.
In this groundbreaking book written for both lay and professional readers, Dr. Harold Levinson, a renowned psychiatrist and clinical researcher, provides his long-awaited follow-up work about truly understanding and successfully treating children and adults with many and diverse dyslexia-related disorders such as those found on the cover.
This fascinating, life-changing title is primarily about helping children who suffer from varied combinations and severities of previously unexplained (“inner-ear/cerebellar-determined”) symptoms resulting in difficulties with:
reading, writing, spelling, math, memory, speech, sense of direction and time
grammar, concentration/activity-level, balance and coordination
headaches, nausea, dizziness, ringing ears, and motion-sickness
frustration levels and feeling dumb, ugly, klutzy, phobic, and depressed
impulsivity, cutting class, dropping out of school, and substance abuse
bullying and being bullied as well as anger and social interactions
later becoming emotionally traumatized and scarred dysfunctional adults
Feeling Smarter and Smarter is thus also about and for the millions of frustrated and failing adults who are often overwhelmed by similar and even more complicated symptoms—as well as for their dedicated healers. Having laid the initial foundations for his many current insights in an earlier bestseller, Smart But Feeling Dumb, Dr. Levinson now presents a compelling range of enlightening new cases and data as well as a large number of highly original discoveries—such as his challenging illumination that: “All the above dyslexia-related manifestations are primarily ‘inner-ear’ or cerebellar-vestibular—not cerebrally or thinking-brain— determined and so do not impair IQ and have a favorable outcome.”
And an “ingeniously clear” and explanatory theory of symptom formation, including the triggering of phobias and anxiety, has been formulated by Dr. Levinson using a simple analogy: “I can rapidly but transiently induce the entire dyslexia syndrome in perfectly normal individuals by spinning them around until their brain signals become dizzy or scrambled. And then mandating they perform varied reading, writing, conentration-demanding…tasks.” In other words, dyslexia is recognized to be a complex multi-symptomatic syndrome encompassing all of the above mentioned symptoms—and many more. Clearly, it’s not just a pure reading disorder as now also recognized by the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA’s) diagnostic manual, DSM-V.
This syndrome results when diverse normal thinking brain and related processors fail to descramble the “dizzy” or distorted signals received from a fine-tuning signal impairment within the inner-ear and its supercomputer—the cerebellum, man’s lower “little brain.”[1]
Most important, all the dyslexia/inner-ear based impairments and their symptoms were discovered by Dr. Levinson to respond rapidly and often dramatically when treated with simple and safe inner-ear enhancing medications and nutrients—thus enabling bright but dumb-feeling children and adults to feel smarter and smarter. In addition, by clarifying and more effectively utilizing a diverse range of educational and non-medical therapies which enhance inner-ear and/or cerebral compensation, all dyslexics can be best helped.
Using the above mentioned spinning analogy in order to better explain improvements, Levinson states: “The dyslexia-like or inner-ear/cerebellar syndrome triggered by spinning normal individuals till dizzy signals arise can be minimized or prevented by pretreatment and/or treatment immediately following symptom formation, using anti-vertigo or inner-ear-enhancing meds and non-med therapies.”
Additionally, Dr. Levinson discovered and similarly treated the relatively “minor” inner-ear/cerebellar dysfunction found associated with ASD or autism as well as traumatic brain injury and other major disorders. This enabled overall improvements, albeit the primary impairments persisted.
In summary, this book’s content is highly unique. Its many patient-derived insights are fully capable of explaining and successfully treating all the known dyslexic symptoms and their determining mechanisms as well as clarifying all data and theories characterizing the dyslexia syndrome—including the frequently overlapping attention deficits and phobias. Significantly, most all of Dr Levinson’s highly original inner-ear/cerebellar concepts—considered “decades ahead of their time”— have been independently validated via hundreds of referenced neuroimaging and other studies.
To order this “life-improving” book from Amazon or its publisher, Springer, log onto Dr. Levinson’s website: dyslexiaonline.com
Feeling Smarter and Smarter: Discovering the Inner-Ear Origins and Treatment for Dyslexia/LD, ADD/ADHD, and Phobias/Anxiety by Harold N. Levinson, MD
1 This theory was considered “ingenious” because it replaced and resolved several long held mistaken concepts—previously leading to scientific dead ends and paradoxes. For example, it was mistakenly believed:1-that dyslexia was a pure reading disorder of primary cerebral origin, despite its typical “symptomatic impurity” and the absence of cerebral neurological signs as well as the presence of only inner-ear/cerebellar signs, and 2-that all the many non-reading symptoms found among dyslexics were considered “co-morbid”—meaning they were/are believed due to separate non-dyslexic cerebral-related processing impairments—rather than due to a common inner-ear/cerebellar origin akin to the way the diabetic syndrome is caused by a common underlying insulin deficiency. So the illuminated paradoxes to be resolved were: 1-How could dyslexics have normal and even genius IQ’s and improve if they had so many separate and irreparable cerebral processing impairments? They couldn’t! Indeed, their IQ’s would approach zero, 2-How could dyslexia be due to a primary and irreversible cerebral impairment akin to Alexia in the presence of only inner-ear/cerebellar neurological signs and mechanism? It can’t! , 3-How could spinning, which destabilizes only the inner-ear/cerebellar signals, create all the dyslexia-related symptoms and how might inner-ear-enhancing meds “cure” them? This would be impossible if the dyslexia syndrome was of a primary cerebral origin affecting multiple sites of primary brain functioning.
It was about three years ago when I started doing my dyslexic blogs and pod casts with comedian Mark Simmons. For me at the time it did not matter whether people read or listened to it (other than my mum of course) because I was just doing it for me. I guess it was a way of putting pen to paper or pressing record and just getting stuff off my chest and putting them out there in a notional black hole that maybe one day someone may dip into.
However, it surprised me when people started to comment on them and started to engage feeding back their stories. It soon turned out that I was not the only one that was forced to wear coloured glasses and eye patches and being placed in classes branded as special needs. It made me feel better in myself that I was not the only one who was going through this.
So from that I decided to write to my dyslexic man crush, Jamie Oliver! Why wouldn’t he be anyone’s man crush, he is driven, successful, focused, you could take him home to your mum and you would not go hungry!!!
For many dyslexic children the one-size-fits-all approach of traditional classrooms doesn’t work and can leave them feeling frustrated, singled out and upset. This experience can affect the whole family and you may be left feeling helpless with little choice.
Homeschooling is an increasingly viable option for many families. While the idea may initially seem daunting, you can tap into your child’s strengths to aid their learning and best of all, the whole process is led by them. At home they can learn at a pace to suit them and in an environment they are comfortable with. If a new concept requires several different approaches before it’s really embedded in their mind, then you have the time and space to enable that creativity. You can also explore a wide range of technology to support their learning that isn’t permitted in mainstream schools. Homeschooling is flexible and that’s key.
Kailash’s son Innes has dyslexia and homeschools with Wolsey Hall Oxford: “Homeschooling with Wolsey Hall has been fantastic for Innes. With Wolsey designing the yearly study plan, Innes has been able to tailor his schedule of work to accommodate his dyslexia. He immerses himself in a subject for days at a time, finishes an assignment and then moves on to the next topic. This pattern of working is very effective for Innes, as his short term memory is not very good – the knowledge is placed in his long term memory, giving him a very high retention rate.”
For many dyslexic students their low self-esteem is also a major issue. The nurturing approach of homeschooling builds this up, giving them the confidence to try new things without the ridicule of their peers should they fail.
Becoming your child’s home educator can feel overwhelming at the start, but many parents use a combination of approaches. From finding free resources on the internet and borrowing library books to meeting up with local homeschooling groups who often organize activities and trips. Online forums are a great resource for answering tricky questions, and the many Facebook groups offer a network of support from families in a similar boat.
While homeschooling often means one parent losing their potential income, many families run home-based businesses alongside home educating. You could also sign up for some homeschooling courses online, where your child will have their own tutor and learning support. At Wolsey Hall Oxford, we help parents to identify the best ways they can support their child in order to unlock their potential. We pride ourselves on the learning support we offer students and their families including a mentoring service and development of personal learning plans. Your Student Progress Manager is with you every step of the way to answer your queries, and your tutor will follow the pace set by your child.
Alfie, who has dyslexia, has been homeschooling for the past three years. Last year, he achieved four IGCSEs and is now studying another four IGCSEs this year. His mum, Helen explains why it works for them: “I can honestly say that Wolsey Hall was a fantastic choice for us. We really like the structure that Wolsey provides, the assignment schedule, and the online facility. Michaela, our Student Progress Manager, has been brilliant, always there to offer support and advice. I think what has been excellent for Alfie is the structure of the learning.”
Wolsey Hall Oxford offers a wide range of courses from Age 7 Primary right through to Secondary, IGCSE, and A Level. For more information about our Cambridge-accredited school and how we support children with additional needs such as dyslexia, visit: www.wolseyhalloxford.org.uk
Homeschooling a child with dyslexia works best when you understand how the learning difference actually works. Parents who want that grounding can take an online dyslexia certification for homeschooling parents and learn the AFS method at their own pace.
The SuperReading course is the most powerful, life-changing experience for dyslexic readers. This program takes a revolutionary approach to solving the issues around dyslexia, which have stubbornly eluded effective resolution since the 1870s. Ironically, the course was not developed with dyslexics in mind at all. It was created to help engineers, developers, and high-tech managers cope with the overwhelming amount of technical information and reports they had to read. The problem to be solved was processing a lot of information quickly and accurately, with excellent recall.
Traditional “speed reading” proved inadequate to the task. After about 350 words per minute (wpm), comprehension becomes ineffective. Why? Reading involves our internal voice, known as “sub-vocalization.” After 300 to 350 wpm, most people can no longer process the words and hit the “Sub-vocalization Barrier” like a brick wall. What was needed was a way around the processing of one word at a time. In 1994, I heard that it would be beneficial if we could read “more than one word at a time.” I tried to do this but found it quite frustrating, and volunteers agreed. Deciding which words to include each time was distracting from the meaning of the words. Multitasking was not the answer!
Eventually, after trying to separate the words with spaces, tabs, and a variety of other ideas, there was only one thing left, though it went against my nature. The answer was to take the decision-making out of the formula. The words must already be in groups and the groups separated from one another. The penultimate step was to arrange them in columns where the reader would “hop” from one group to the next, first across to the right and then down to the left, then across- like how you’re reading now. The hopping was necessary to “define” each word group as a single thought or experience. We start with 2 words per hop, then 3, then 4, and finally 5 to 8 words in a single fixation or glance. Always putting comprehension first, the reader now understands the text, but without sub-vocalizing the words! There are simply too many words to pronounce them all in that little time. The Sub-vocalization Barrier was broken. Voila!
The ultimate step was to have people adapt this motion into “Pattern Reading,” moving down the page in an S-like pattern. The back-and-forth motion of Eye-Hopping subtly trains people to be able to read backwards, at least up to about 6 or 7 words across. It’s been compared to the “wax on, wax off” reference in The Karate Kid movie. This begins to occur in the 4-word and 5-word Eye-Hop, as sub-vocalization is diminished. The reader is now able to pivot their eyes down the page, effectively “scooping up” the words as they go. At these high speeds, the brain is fully “engaged with the page,” and we see increased focus, understanding, and retention. There is no time for mental drifting, and “unconscious regression” is all but eliminated (the eyes skipping around the page). The result is highly focused attention to the meaning with high comprehension and accurate recall. The problems associated with dyslexia disappear, and the reading experience is superior to that of non-dyslexics. VOILA!!
The reading strategies in SuperReading cater to “big picture” learners, which describes most dyslexics, who need to “understand the whole” before attempting the sequences and details of information. SuperReading facilitates this through effective self-understanding strategies.
Most dyslexic people are visual thinkers. SuperReading builds on this by enabling the visual understanding of text at all levels: words, sentences, paragraphs, chapters, ideas, and the underlying visual structures of books. Visual strategies enhance memory retention through the use of a “memory room” tool and mapping tools. SuperReaders learn a non-linear approach to understanding what they read.
Most dyslexic people are better at learning by doing, rather than through verbal instruction. SuperReading enables this by requiring specific kinds of physical practice and the evaluation of progress through measuring reading speed, comprehension, and recall.
Dyslexic readers learn more effectively when learning is directly linked to passionate interests. SuperReading caters to this by giving free access to the Eye-Hop website, which produces practice materials for reading that are of high interest. Also, the Eye-Hop practice radically reduces or eliminates the effect of visual stress.
The SuperReading course provides a wide range of skills and reading tools. The reader becomes more skilled with the tools each time they work with them and understands them more deeply, which suits holistic learners. The program relies on doing and evaluating progress, rather than on memorizing.
As a coach, I understood the importance of a positive mental attitude (PMA). We use the power of positive emotion to generate interest and focus, especially when reading assignments are not of great interest or poorly written (boring). We also cover the crucial area of positive self-talk. How we talk to ourselves internally is one of the greatest determinants of whether we are successful or not in whatever we do. Most people came to the SuperReading course because reading was a problem for them. Their belief was that they were slow, poor readers who were not as good as others. They came with low self-esteem. I realized early on that this belief system was holding many of them back from allowing the tools to be totally effective. Some were self-sabotaging, and their progress was being artificially hampered. Using the power of positive affirmation, they could now be on a more stable track to reading success. It helped them not only with their reading abilities, it also helped them gain ground in all areas of their life.
In short, SuperReading builds on typical dyslexic strengths: holistic and visual thinking. It avoids the humiliation of correcting perceived ‘deficits.’ It’s worth mentioning that the eye-hopping practice also happens to provide better synchronized control over saccades- the rapid movement of the eye between fixation points. Dyslexic readers become effective through activity rather than instruction. Everything about the program fosters the best of what works for dyslexics while not requiring anything that does not work for dyslexics (or for ADD and ADHD). Every test and measurement associated with reading skills verifies the validity of the SuperReading Program, and no assessment has ever measured a negative or neutral outcome. The outcome is that the dyslexic reader gains skill levels beyond those of non-dyslexic readers in a matter of weeks.
Testimonials, university studies and purchase options can be viewed at www.superreading.com
KAZ Type Limited’s SEN/Dyslexia Typing Software (also known as their Neurodiverse Edition) was shortlisted as a BETT Awards 2019 Finalist for the Special Educational Needs Solutions Sector. The award aimed to reward products that make a distinct contribution to supporting learners with special educational needs.
With regard to dyslexia, the judges were highly impressed with how the program and the skill of touch typing helped with the following challenges:
Visual Disturbances
KAZ’s unique preference screen helps address visual disturbances by offering the user a selection of preferences to choose from. Once chosen, their preferences are ‘saved’ and applied throughout the course – tailoring it to each individual for optimum visibility comfort.
Cognitive Limitations
KAZ’s multi-sensory ‘accelerated learning’ teaching method enables students to learn using more than one sense (sight, sound, and touch). With this method, information is more likely to be remembered and retained. Students can hone in on their most comfortable and preferred style of learning (visual, auditory, or tactile pathways). If the teaching method closely matches the student’s preferred way of learning, learning becomes more natural, making learning easier and in turn faster – ‘accelerated learning’.
Difficulties with spelling
With KAZ’s unique accelerated learning teaching method incorporating ‘muscle memory’, spelling and vocabulary are ingrained in memory, as spellings become a series of finger movements and patterns on a keyboard, dramatically reducing the likelihood of transposing and misspelling words. Additionally, the program uses only ‘real words’ and repetition of typing these words helps train students to recognize them by sight, saving the decoding process that often causes trouble when reading. Spell checkers also highlight mistakes and offer alternatives.
Poor and messy handwriting – (this can lead to embarrassment, frustration, and anxiety).
Teaching typing skills eliminates the need for neat handwriting, as touch typing automatizes the translation of thoughts and ideas into written language. Additionally, errors can be easily edited without messy crossings out, resulting in neat and presentable work – automatically boosting confidence and self-esteem.
Slow work rate – (due to poor penmanship).
Quick and accurate typing can reduce the amount of time spent on a piece of work, and often increases the amount of work produced. Additionally, when typing efficiently, without even thinking about it (subconsciously) –the individual’s ‘conscious’ mind can concentrate on the question at hand, concentrate on creative writing, but most importantly, type quickly enough to finish their paper.
Poor Working Memory
The KAZ course is presented in a structured and light-hearted manner and has been designed NOT to overload the working memory. The program is broken down into short modules in order to hold focus and concentration and allows the student to work at their own pace. Additionally, they are allowed to return to previous modules at any time, should they wish to refresh. Working at a computer allows students to work in a non-linear fashion, where they can process their thoughts first and structure them later.
KAZ was thrilled to be shortlisted as a finalist, as the recognition of the product from such a recognized organization within the education sector and the publicity has greatly helped with the awareness of the product, which is now helping the masses, who continually send them testimonials on how their software has helped them.
‘Thank You UK, for caring and investing in tools for Dyslexia. You have helped me make a breakthrough!’ K.Hamerski – US
‘Thanks for letting me trial KAZ, which I found surprisingly easy, and I am touch typing this email! I need to speed up a lot, but only practice will do that!’ Kate Ireland – Learning Support – City of London School
‘Honestly, your method is like magic. I sent your website to other friends with dyslexic kids and another adult friend who never learned to touch type. Thank you so much for your method. I feel so lucky to have discovered KAZ. I love typing now.’ Rachel Rosenthal – US
‘We loved the ability to customize your screen display to ensure you can read comfortably, and the typing and demo areas on the screen are clear and easy to use.’ The School Run magazine Review
