Week 8 - FINAL Flashcards
Reading Disorders
Dyslexia—Impaired basic literacy skills (inaccurate single word reading, poor fluency and spelling)
Poor comprehenders—normal single word readers but impaired reading comprehension (broader language processing problems)
Dyslexia across languages
Found across languages including logographic languages (e.g., Chinese)
More severe in alphabetic languages that
have inconsistent mapping of letters to
sounds (English) than those that have consistent mapping (Spanish, Italian)
Dyslexia predictors: impairments in
Impairments in:
phoneme awareness
rapid serial naming, vocabulary
verbal short term naming,
vocabulary
verbal short term memory
Diagnosis Discrepancy model
Ability vs achievement
Look at cut off scores, if you have score below cut off score, you have learning disability
Disadvantage: if you are really smart with a LD, your scores will be high and wont show a discrepancy
Tests for Dyslexia
Battery of tests are necessary so that comparisons can be made between tests that generally are not as affected by dyslexia to those that are tapping common weaknesses in dyslexia
However, there is no characteristic deficit or profile that can be used to rule in or rule out diagnosis. Be alert to the patterns that are inherent to dyslexia
Common weakeness in dyslexia
reading accuracy
fluency
spelling
Common cognitive difficulties in dyslexia
phonological awareness
rapid naming
nonverbal processing speed
verbal short term memory
vocabulary
Woodcock Johnson IV Tests
Woodcock-Johnson-IV Tests of Cognitive Abilities
Woodcock-Johnson-IV Tests of Achievement
Woodcock-Johnson-IV Tests of Oral Language
Woodcock-Johnson-IV Tests of Cognitive Abilities
Measure of aptitude or IQ
comparable to WAIS, but has more subtests and you pick what to use
Woodcock-Johnson-IV Tests of Achievement
VS
Woodcock-Johnson-IV Tests of Oral Language
Achievement focuses on written skills
Oral Language focuses on oral skills
WJ Terminology: AE/GE and SS
AE/GE = Age equivalent/grade equivalent
With kids typically do grade
SS = standard score
WJ: subtests or clusters more important?
Clusters!
Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT5) (2017)
Another achievement test
Pros: short
Cons: not comprehensive
Focal Reading tests
Gray Oral Reading Test
Nelson Denny Reading Test
Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing
Florida Nonsense passages (phonic based)
Diagnosis of PSW for Dyslexia (personal strengths and weaknesses)
Dependent on convergent data from HOT
Key Sx: difficulties learning to read & spell generally apparent from beginning of formal literacy instructions
Virtually all with dyslexia have difficulty:
reading aloud and
learning phonics
Virtually all with dyslexia have difficulty:
reading aloud and
learning phonics
History for Dyslexia
1.. family history
2. school history
3. reading and language history
Observations for Dylexia
Often report not liking reading or embarrassed or reluctant to read aloud
Pay attention to what is most difficult: More difficulty on timed tests than untimed test of word, nonword, and paragraph level reading (sensitive to dyslexia)
**Analysis of specific reading and spelling errors
Error analysis for specific reading and spelling errors
Dysfluency (disruption or interruption of the ongoing flow of speech)
Errors on functional words (little words)
Visual Errors
Lexicalizations (the realization of a meaning in a single word or morpheme rather than in a grammatical construction)
Spelling errors
Reversal errors
Unusually quiet because of word finding problems
Dysfluency
slow and halting in oral reading (especially with younger readers; old readers may have over learned vocabulary)
Errors on functional words (little words)
misread “a”, “the”, and prepositions because working hard to decode and relying on context so miss the little words (can be puzzling to parents)
Visual errors
Whole-word guesses based on visual similarity to target words (e.g., tired for tried). Using visual similarity rather than phonological coding
Lexicalizations
Reading a nonword as a visually similar real word (e.g., clip for clup). Because weak phonetics skills, they use similarity in word recognition.
Spelling errors
Dysphonetic errors, especially consonants added, omitted or substituted (e.g., exetive for executive)
Reversal errors
but the occurrence in dyslexia is low and
those without dyslexia make reversal errors
also, so not diagnostic
But in age 9 and over reversals have diagnostic significance. Most commonly b and d confusion
Heterotypic continuity – dyslexia
Early years manifests as differences in speech perception and babbling
Then vocabulary and syntax
Later phonemic awareness
Beginnings of Dyslexia occur very early, perhaps prenatally
But early signs do not have enough sensitivity and specificity to diagnose individuals prior to formal literacy instruction.
Tasks emphasizing speed become increasingly important diagnostically as literacy development progresses.
Etiology of dyslexia
Dyslexia is the intersection of an evolved behavior (language) and a cultural invention (literacy)
Both genetic and environmental factors contribute to dyslexia
Etiology: Environment and dyslexia
Training parents in home literacy activities promotes child vocabulary and early reading skills, but it is unknown if these gains are maintained beyond beginning stages of literacy
Dyslexia and WAIS
Relative weakness on processing speed or verbal working memory (digit span)
VCI lower than PRI
Dyslexia and Screening
Screen for emotional issues (often comorbid due to the struggles endured with dyslexia)
Assess for exclusionary conditions (e.g., sensory deficits)
Assess for comorbid conditions (e.g., ADHD, math)
Treatment for dyslexia: early years
The earlier the better!–identification, prevention, and treatment
Early years:
1. One-on-one intervention or small groups
- Intensive, explicit phoneme awareness instruction (*most important)–you can’t teach around it. May also include training in segmental language skills
- Also, supported reading with increasingly difficult text, writing exercises, comprehension strategies
Explicit instruction is important because those with dyslexia may not pick up what normal readers can infer
Treatment for dyslexia: elementary years
Later elementary, normally transitioning “from learning to read to reading to learn”
Treatment for dyslexia: older years
Older people with dyslexia may need help with reading comprehension and study skills
Spelling problems appear less remediable than reading –> better to use compensatory devices such as spell-check
Understanding the difficulty having dyslexia is critical for parents, teachers –> otherwise labeled lazy or stupid & may believe it
*Helpful if parents provide success experiences in areas of strengths
Outcome: Dyslexia
Generally, people with dyslexia CAN learn to read well, but learn more slow
Accommodations: Dyslexia
Extra time on tests (time and a half)
Marking but not downgrading spelling errors (use spell check)
Excused from foreign language requirements
Oral exams for severe dyslexia
Transitions: Dyslexia
Transitions from HS to college and college to employment should be planned and not taken for granted
Help build study skills and ease into college
LD increases risk for psychosocial difficulties
– low self esteem
– counseling can be important (especially for adults with LD)
Memory systems
Multiple Memory Systems
Explicit (> Declarative memory, like semantic information and specific episodes)
Implicit (> Procedural memory, like learning skills and patterns)
Infants and memory
Infants learn extremely quickly—but mainly implicit learning
Memory as a cornerstone
Memory is the cornerstone of cognitive function
Memory is intertwined with all aspects of normal cognition
Attention and concentration are prerequisite to memory
Measures of memory
Wechsler Memory Scale-IV
Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test
California Verbal Learning Test
Selective Reminding Test
Rey Austerity Complex Figure Design
Benton Visual Retention Test
Test of Memory and Learning (TOMAL)
Etc. etc
Memory problems
Anterograde amnesia
(unable to make new memories)
Retrograde amnesia
(unable to recall past memories)
