CASE STUDY

A Case Study on Dyslexia

Background Information1

Dyslexia2

Neurobiological Explanation2

Cognitive Processing3

Visual Attention Modulation Approach3

Phonological Deficit Standpoint4

Developmental Dyslexia4

Models of Dyslexia5

Surface Dyslexia5

Phonological Dyslexics5

Deep Dyslexia5

Dyslexia and Teaching5

Identification of Signs at Pre-School6

Signs for Teachers at Kindergarten Stage and Further6

Efficient Teaching Methodologies for Dyslexia7

Other Strategies7

Use of Tape Recorder7

Small Amount of Work7

Blocking out Distractions8

Early Identification8

Controversies and Dyslexia9

Diagnosis and Assessment9

Informal Assessment10

Early Screening10

Conclusion11

References………………………………………………………………………………………..12

Case Study on Dyslexia

Background Information

Vaun was a premature baby, born 2 weeks early than his expected time. Even then, doctors considered him a healthy and full-term baby from the start. His progress was customary and according to his own age. He was shy but got along with his peers well. People around him noticed that although he had hit the milestones for his age earlier than standard but had difficulties expressing himself verbally. He was good in remembering and understanding directions. Vaun was a book lover, but when he started his kindergarten at age 5, his mother had a shock when his teacher informed her that Vaun did not know his letters. The problems continued, and Vaun's condition got undiagnosed or consulted till he turned 7 years old. His consultation began when he was in second grade, and his teacher met and conferred with the language specialist and school counsellor. Vaun's mother and uncle had also suffered dyslexia and Vaun was also implementing the same strategies in his studies. Vaun was good at science and social studies but showed below his grade level performance in reading, writing and spelling. The teacher observed that Vaun had difficulty in finishing directions, and had high distractibility, and his main strategy in reading was to guess by the pictures. He also depicted little phonological and phonemic awareness. Poor word fluency and accuracy characterized his reading ability. Vaun also showed high levels of distractibility while studying, reading or in programmes. Vaun's remedial and consultation programs started immediately, and he was soon assigned to a Child Study Team (CST) which comprised of a guidance counsellor, a reading and learning specialist, social worker, and speech pathologist. His programming and consultation went through out second to fifth grade, and his teachers implemented various approaches, strategies and interventional models (Cooper et al, 2004, pp. 85-90).

Dyslexia

In lay man's term, dyslexia refers to a condition which produces exceptional difficulties in learning and reading. According to The International Dyslexia Association (IDA), individuals or children with dyslexia are unable to make a connection between symbols of a word and the smallest perceptible segment of speech, known as phonemes (IDA, 2008 p. 1).

Neurobiological Explanation

Neurobiological perspectives validate the inability of dyslexics to read. Research defines that inability occurs because that person lacks awareness about the fact that phonological constituents make up the spoken words and vice versa. This condition consequently results in lack of perception that alphabetic characters combine to form spoken language. Empirically, results of the researches show that the readers who are dyslexic exhibit a functional disturbance in an extensive system of the brain. This extensive system is in the posterior cortex which encompasses two regions, traditional visual and traditional language ...