Lori and Patricia,
You may both benefit from exploring the website for the International
Dyslexia Association. They have links to resources and articles and
regional/local organizations that can offer you support in your educational
journey. I've had several students with dysgraphia/dyslexia and I allowed
modifications as necessary. All my students were very intelligent but
couldn't read or spell. My school (then) offered a class on Orton-Gillingham
methods for reading and writing. That turned out to be the best class I ever
had. It gave me knowledge to help with students who were struggling with
reading and writing. In addition I had the vocabulary to discuss their
issues with their parents, dr.s, therapists, counselors. That makes a
difference in helping a child receive services. There are also special
schools that focus on students with dyslexia. The students learn strategies
that help them adapt in the 'real world' of education such as learning to
explain their needs and ask for specific kinds of help. Their methods for
teaching theses students successfully include lots of multi-sensory
strategies. Theses methods and strategies are also helpful to students with
milder yet often overlooked disabilities and are easily implemented in a
classroom by trained teachers.
Deidra Chandler
MA Early Childhood Ed
MA Reading
Orton-Gillingham tutor
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ljackson" <[email protected]>
To: "Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group"
<[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, June 15, 2009 12:24 AM
Subject: [MOSAIC] Dysgraphia
Isaac can close his eyes and spell nearly anything orally, but put a pen
in his hand and that same word turns to mush. Handwriting has a very
immature feeling to it--irregularly formed letters, awkward letter spacing
and huge spaces between words. Because he struggles with the recording of
thought, he has become the master of sparsely worded prose. He can cut to
the issue very quickly and effectively, measuring his words carefully. The
assessment showed he often represents simple images in mirror, without any
realization that he is doing so. He cannot draw precise,straight lines.
Tends not to close circles, even when making a concerted effort to
reproduce designs with closed circles. It is as if there is a
miscommunication between mind and pen. He does not seem impaired in his
reading, but reads slowly. When asked to read orally, he is very
dysfluent, so I do think his reading is impacted to some extent. In
general, organization is an issue for him. He is scattered in his
thinking and just when you think he has lost the thread completely, he
cuts to the chase and lets you know how deep his understanding his. He is
very artistic, a highly visual and auditory learner and his strengths lie
in creation and performance. This kid takes the most amazing photographs,
always coming at things from different perspectives. I don't know that it
played any role in his development, but early on his speech and hearing
were impacted by severe ear infections (two surgeries to place tubes). He
was in speech for articulation issues at four, leaving his therapists
scratching their heads at a four year old with two year old articulation
patterns and the vocabulary of a ten year old! He simply has never fit
into any neat boxes. We are just beginning our exploration of the issue,
but his psychologist has suggested the use of a laptop and a recorder for
classroom note taking. Primarily, knowing these were what he needed, we
were seeking some expert validation of this modification.
Lori Jackson
----- Original message -----
From: Patricia Kimathi <[email protected]>
To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group
<[email protected]>
Date: Sunday, June 14, 2009 8:30 PM
Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] ***SPAM*** Re: Do we really need to
teachexplicitstrategies?
I have a very gifted child that you have described to a T. Can you
tell me more about dysgraphia. Did they give you exercises to do with
him. I teach gifted students and have always been aware of gifted
students with learning disabilities. My husband and I run a tutorial
center and most of our students are gifted with either learning
disabilities or able underachieving gifted.
You and your husband might be interested in SENG an organization
founded with children like your son in mind.
I am so sorry you can't find teachers who think out of the box.
An article from SENG
Strategies to Help
The most effective way to inoculate twice exceptional students against
the devastating effects of these emotions is early identification and
support. That way the student's strengths and weaknesses are
documented, understood, and more likely to be addressed. These
students need programming options which allow them to pursue areas of
giftedness, while also providing opportunities to concretely learn
compensatory skills (rather than having to learn them intuitively
through trial and error). The twice exceptional students who are most
likely to achieve are those who know and accept their strengths and
weaknesses, who utilize accommodations in their areas of weakness, who
know and accept that they might have to work harder than other gifted
students to achieve the same results, and who have developed a
positive sense of personal competence about addressing difficult
academic tasks.
Even with a strong program which provides for both exceptionalities,
these students will still encounter negative emotions and setbacks.
They need an active support system to access during these times, to
talk openly about their feelings, and to problem solve about getting
beyond the emotions in a given situation. This support can take place
in informal discussions with teachers, parents, or peers; or it may
demand more formal situations such as individual counseling for mild
issues and, perhaps, therapy for deeper or high impact issues.
By arming these twice exceptional students with ways to compensate for
their academic weaknesses, as well as the means to overcome typical
emotional issues which can daunt them, they can be freed to achieve,
to set high standards, and to succeed academically. Then, hopefully,
they can develop a strong sense of competence as expressed by the
following in a college essay: "I realize my learning disabilities have
been a blessing in disguise because despite the difficulties they
cause me, I have been able to make myself a better stu-dent." David
reminds us that when our twice exceptional students achieve this sense
of competence and control in the academic arena, they may once again
dare to dream.
Jean Strop is Counseling Coordinator and Gifted/Talented Resource
Teacher at Cherry Creek High School, Colorado. She is a consultant and
presenter on affective and academic programming for gifted and
talented students. David Goldman, a senior at Cherry Creek High
School, is a debater as well as a presenter on Twice Exceptional. He
will attend University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business
This is from an article on Seng
On Jun 14, 2009, at 6:47 AM, Ljackson wrote:
> He did not qualify for services BUT was clinically diagnosed as
> dyslexic with a specific focus on dysgraphia. In other words, he
> could spell and visualize words correctly but then scramble them
> when asked to write the same thing. He cannot transcribe
> information well, makes reversals and transpositions that impact
> meaning. He is not lazy, he CANNOT do this due to a specific
> processing disorder. I had met someone about about a year ago with
> a son with the same diagnosis and as she described her son to me,
> along with the fight it took to get him services, she could have
> been talking about my son.
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_______________________________________________
Mosaic mailing list
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To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to
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Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
_______________________________________________
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[email protected]
To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to
http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org.
Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
