Dyslexia

Victor Widell (2016) created this GIF to show what dyslexia looks like.

LD Online describes dyslexia as “a language-based learning disability. Dyslexia refers to a cluster of symptoms, which result in people having difficulties with specific language skills, particularly reading. Students with dyslexia usually experience difficulties with other language skills such as spelling, writing, and pronouncing words. Dyslexia affects individuals throughout their lives; however, its impact can change at different stages in a person’s life. It is referred to as a learning disability because dyslexia can make it very difficult for a student to succeed academically in the typical instructional environment, and in its more severe forms, will qualify a student for special education, special accommodations, or extra support services.”

If an English learner is literate in his or her first language, Kelli Sandman-Hurley recommends diagnosing dyslexia in the student’s first language.  Diagnosing dyslexia is a complicated process that teachers frequently struggle with, and according to Dr Sandman-Hurley, “when a school has the added challenge of identifying struggling English language learners (ELLs), the task becomes an even more complicated process, and often, these kids are completely missed.”

A great tool that dyslexic students can use to help with reading is a reading guide highlighter strip, that allows a reader to see only one line of text at a time. 

Widell, V. (2016). Dlixyesa. Geon. Retrieved from    http://geon.github.io/programming/2016/03/03/dsxyliea