Blog Speech Language Literacy Lab. As shown above, the fractional anistrophy of the arcuate fasciulus and IFL increase with age for both above average readers shown in black and below average readers shown in grey. Furthermore, the connections for above average readers increase in a linear fashion, while poor readers have more ups and downs in their development. For both groups, development is approximately linear from ages 7 1. Dyslexia Where is the BreakdownMost researchers agree that dyslexia has a genetic component. However, the results are still not sufficient to unravel the complexity of the reading circuit due to heterogeneous study design and data processing. Mascheretti S, 2. Basically, genes might predispose children to reading decoding weakness, but would this weakness be exposed if a child had solid instruction in systematic word study Its unclear. What is clear is that in children with dyslexia, their white matter tracks, as described above, are not as directional nor as dense as children with solid reading abilityZhaoa,  2. Researchers are so certain that these white matter tracks are the key differentiating feature of dyslexia that they propose using neuroimaging to better identify individuals with dyslexia Cui, 2. Personally, I dont think we need to subject children to brain imaging to determine that they struggle with reading when there are plenty of psychological tests that can identify weaknesses and create treatment plans. Doubleclick For Publishers Training Courses here. So what can we do about dyslexiaPrintable practice activities to teach reading skills through grammar activities, sight word worksheets, and flashbased games. Many interactive English Games and Activities to help improve Literacy Skills Woodlands Literacy Zone making learning fun. Speech Language Literacy Lab provides dynamic assessment universal language benchmarking for a Response to Intervention ModelRTI for language. The data can be used. Build vocabulary, literacy, phonics, spelling skills with VocabularySpellingCity. Improve vocabulary, a core reading skill, with gamified contextrich. Remediation Research recommends an integrative approach to dyslexia treatment aimed at connecting all networking areasKershner, 2. This includes systematic word study instruction in Phonological Awareness. Orthographic Awareness PhonicsVocabulary Semantics. Morphology Word Roots, Prefixes, Suffixes. Mental Images of Words connectionist mnemonic strategies for memorization of words that do not follow orthographic patterns. The best instructional program on the market right now for educators that integrates these areas is called SPELL Links by Learning by Design. SPELL Links leverages the brains innate, biological wiring and organization for oral language. Unlike traditional phonics and word study programs which begin with the written letter and teach students to match the letter to a sound, with SPELL Links students first learn how to attend to the sound structure of spoken English words and then how to connect and combine sounds, letter patterns, and meanings to read and spell words. This is exactly how the brain works in good readers and writersThings that DO NOT Work. Even though the research is clear about how the brain reads and what works, there are many educators who attempt to help children with dyslexia in others ways. Literacy Games Blends' title='Literacy Games Blends' />A Variety of fun English Games and Activities to help improve English Skills in easy to read format and navigation from Woodlands Junior School. A few things that do not work Whole Language Approaches Whole language comes in many different names. If a child is learning decoding strategies like look at the picture, skip it and come back, sound it out with little instruction as to the orthography besides initial sounds, blends, and digraphs, or ask a teacher and progress is measured by movement on leveled texts, they are being instructed through a whole language approach. While this may lead to small gains, as part of building the white matter tracks is simply reading more, relying solely on a whole language approach is not best practice for children with dyslexia. For a discussion on this, see here. Literacy Games Blends' title='Literacy Games Blends' />Changing Fonts In 2. Christian Boer, a Dutch artist, developed a special font Dyslexie to facilitate reading in children and adults with dyslexia. The font has received a lot of media attention worldwide, even though there was no research to support it. So does it work There are still limited studies on this area. One recent study with only 3. Dyslexie font than in standardly spaced Arial font. However, when within word spacing and between word spacing of Arial font was matched to that of Dyslexie font, the difference in reading speed was no longer significant. It concludes that the efficacy of Dyslexie font is not because of its specially designed letter shapes, but because of its particular spacing settingsMarinus, 2. Color Overlays Some educators believe that putting different colors over print may help students read. Several studies have proved this false. For example, sixty one schoolchildren aged 7 1. Irlen diagnostician. Researchers looked at reading rate across 3 conditions using an overlay of a prescribed color using an overlay of a nonprescribed color and using no overlay. The data concludes that there was no difference across groups in reading rate. Ritchie, 2. 01. 1. Advocating in School In many public schools, dyslexia is housed under the generic catch all terms learning disabilities or reading disability. This is not a problem, as long as educators are providing treatment that works. All students need access to high quality literature. Whole language approaches may be suitable for children with learning disabilities who struggle with reading comprehension, yet possess adequate reading decoding skills. However, whole language is not enough for students who struggle with decoding. Parents and educators alike need to advocate for systematic word study instruction, as this is the most efficient way to change the brain of children with dyslexia. Some good news is that the Common Core now mandates that schools include systematic word study instruction for all children under the Reading Foundations Standards. Here is some information on what these standards look like in practice for Kindergarten Print Concepts. Phonics. Phoneme Awareness. Fluency. More Information. Spell Talk Spell Talk is a free international group of reading researchers, teachers, speech language pathologists, and parents sharing resources and ideas about reading. Spell Talk releases weekly research references with the group via a listserve. Members are invited to pose questions to the group on any reading related topic. The author can be reached at jpreschernsl. References. Linkersdrfer, 2. The association between gray matter volume and reading proficiency a longitudinal study of beginning readers. J Cogn Neurosci. Marinus, E. A Special Font for People with Dyslexia Does it Work and, if so, why Dyslexia, 2. Mascheretti S, Neurogenetics of developmental dyslexia from genes to behavior through brain neuroimaging and cognitive and sensorial mechanisms. Transl Psychiatry. Kershner, John.  Network dynamics in dyslexia Review and implications for remediation   Research in Developmental Disabilities Volume 5. December 2. 01. 6, Pages 2. Ritchie, S. Irlen colored overlays do not alleviate reading difficulties. Pediatrics, 2. Zaixu Cui, Disrupted white matter connectivity underlying developmental dyslexia A machine learning approach Human Brain Mapping. January, 2. 01. 6. Zhaoa, J  Altered hemispheric lateralization of white matter pathways in developmental dyslexia Evidence from spherical deconvolution tractography Cortex Volume 7. Serif Page Plus X4. March 2. 01. 6, Pages 5.