The Dyslexic Corner
Dyslexia Information for White Rock Students and Parents
September 2019
What is MTA?
The MTA curriculum meets all state requirements for the remediation of dyslexia. In fact, the descriptors for remediation were based on this curriculum. The MTA program provides a proven approach to teaching reading, spelling, and handwriting to students who require a structured, multisensory presentation. Reliable reading and spelling patterns in the English Language are taught using multisensory discovery techniques that are intensive, systemic, and sequential. Daily lesson plans follow a structured schedule of activities. The rapid-moving of this curriculum from one activity to another helps maintain the student’s attention and keeps the student involved throughout the lesson.
Alphabet Warm Up
Pre-Cursive Warmup
- swing up stop
- swing way up stop
- up over stop
- under over stop
Letter Decks
Fun Times with Letter Decks!
Rainbow Paper
Glow Writing
Shaving Cream
Audiobooks: It's Not Cheating Our Brains!!
Audiobooks or Reading? To Our Brains, It Doesn’t Matter; By Jennifer Walter
If you don’t have time to sit and read a physical book, is listening to the audio version considered cheating? To some hardcore book nerds, it could be. But new evidence suggests that to our brains, reading and hearing a story might not be so different.
In a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers from the Gallant Lab at UC Berkeley scanned the brains of nine participants while they read and listened to a series of tales from “The Moth Radio Hour.” After analyzing how each word was processed in the brain’s cortex, they created maps of the participants’ brains, noting the different areas helped interpret the meaning of each word.
They mapped out the results in an interactive diagram, which is due to be published on the Gallant Lab website this week.
Looking at the brain scans and data analysis, the researchers saw that the stories stimulated the same cognitive and emotional areas, regardless of their medium. It’s adding to our understanding of how our brains give semantic meaning to the squiggly letters and bursts of sound that make up our communication.
This is Your Brain on Words
In 2016, researchers at the Gallant Lab published their first interactive map of a person’s brain after they listened to two hours of stories from “The Moth.” It’s a vibrant, rainbow-hued diagram of a brain divided into about 60,000 parts, called voxels.
Coding and analyzing the data in each voxel helped researchers visualize which regions of the brain process certain kinds of words. One section responded to terms like “father,” “refused,” and “remarried” – social words that describe dramatic events, people or time.
But the most recent study, which compared brains when they were listening and reading, showed that words tend to activate the same brain regions with the same intensity, regardless of input.
It was a finding that surprised Fatma Deniz, a postdoctoral researcher at the Gallant Lab and lead author of the study. The subject’s brains were creating meaning from the words in the same way, regardless if they were listening or reading. In fact, the brain maps for both auditory and visual input they created from the data looked nearly identical.
Their work is part of a broader effort to understand which regions of our brains help give meaning to certain types of words.
More Work Ahead
Deniz wants to take the experiment even further by testing on a broader range of subjects. She wants to include participants who don’t speak English, speak multiple languages or have auditory processing disorders or dyslexia. Finding out exactly how the brain makes meaning from words could fuel experiments for years.
“This can go forever…it’s an awesome question,” she says. “It would be amazing to understand all aspects of it. And that would be the end goal.”
For now, Deniz says the results of this study could make a case for people who struggle with reading or listening to have access to stories in different formats. Kids who grow up with dyslexia, for example, might benefit from audiobooks that are readily available in the classroom.
And if listening to audiobooks is your preferred method of storytelling, you might not be cheating at all. In fact, it seems you’re not losing anything by downloading books on your phone — you’re just being a smart reader, or, listener.
Your Next Read: Suggestions From Mrs. Dunham
** Reviews included in this newsletter are from Amazon.com
It's Called Dyslexia by Jennifer Moore-Mallinos
Fish In A Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
A New York Times Bestseller!
The Dyslexic Advantage by Brock L. Eide M.D. M.A. and Fernette F. Eide M.D.
Homework Connection
Homework can become a huge struggle for your student due to the amount of information already processed that day. I hope to provide you monthly tips to help in this area. The first step is to establish a daily routine. Students with dyslexia thrive on structure and repetitive activities.
1. Practice is required to develop and master literacy skills.
2. Read aloud with your child when they become frustrated.
3. Allow your child to read along with audiobooks like Learning Ally.
4. An adult reading a bedtime story slightly above their students reading level will help the child build vocabulary, generate ideas, and create an enjoyable experience for all.
ABOUT THE DALLAS DYSLEXIA INFORMATION GROUP
The Dallas Dyslexia Information Group is an outreach and educational entity of the Dallas Branch of the International Dyslexia Association.
Meeting Times: 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
"Dual Exceptionality, A Personal Perspective"
Charlotte Showalter, C.A.L.P., Reading Specialist, and M.R.E. The experience of a twice-exceptional student is unique, these students require special consideration in the educational setting. Hear from a practicing Dyslexia Specialist about her personal experience with dual exceptionality and how her own educational circumstances.
This event is free and open to the public.
Location:
Fairhill School
16150 Preston Rd.
Dallas, TX 75248
Monday, Sep 9, 2019, 07:00 PM
16150 Preston Road, Dallas, TX, USA
"Experience Dyslexia Simulation"
Experience Dyslexia Simulation"
Join us for a hands-on experience of the difficulties and frustrations that people with dyslexia encounter daily. The Dallas IDA will guide you through four to six simulation station containing language-based tasks. A general discussion and questions and answer session will complete the experience. Arrive early to gather information from resources for parents, professionals, and educators.
This event is free and open to the public.
Location:
Richardson ISD Professional Development Center Auditorium
701 Beltline Rd.
Richardson, TX 75080
Registration for this event will open September 2, 2019
Wednesday, Oct 2, 2019, 07:00 PM
701 West Belt Line Road, Richardson, TX, USA
Contact Information
Robyn Dunham
Dyslexia Teacher at White Rock Elementary
469-593-2728