Dyslexia Definition
Academic Interventions for Children with Dyslexia Who Have Phonological Core
DeficitsERIC Digest #E539
August 1995
Authors Julie A. Frost and Michael J. Emery
Overview
Approximately 3% to 6% of all school-aged children are believed to have developmental
reading disabilities, or dyslexia. In fact, almost 50% of children receiving special
education have learning disabilities, and dyslexia is the most prevalent form.
Consequently, dyslexia has been given considerable attention by researchers and
extensive literature exists on instruction and remediation methods. Dyslexia is a neurocognitive
deficit that is specifically related to the reading and spelling processes.
Typically, children classified as dyslexic are reported to be bright and capable
in other intellectual domains. Current research indicates that the vast majority
of children with dyslexia have phonological core deficits. The severity of the
phonological deficits varies across individuals, and children with these deficits
have been shown to make significantly less progress in basic word reading skills
compared to children with equivalent IQs. For example, some experts report that
between ages 9 and 19, children with dyslexia who have phonological deficits
improve slightly more than one grade level in reading, while other children
with learning disabilities (LD) in the same classroom improve about six grade
levels. Without direct instruction in phonemic awareness and sound-symbol correspondences,
these children generally fail to attain adequate reading levels. Definition
Phonological core deficits entail difficulty making use of phonological information
when processing written and oral language. The major components of phonological
deficits involve phonemic awareness, sound-symbol relations, and storage and retrieval
of phonological information in memory. Problems with phonemic awareness are most
prevalent and can coexist with difficulties in storage and retrieval among children
with dyslexia who have phonological deficits. Phonemic awareness refers to one's
understanding of and access to the sound structure of language. For example, children
with dyslexia have difficulty segmenting words into individual syllables or phonemes
and have trouble blending speech sounds into words. Storage of phonological
information during reading involves creating a sound-based representation of
written words in working memory. Deficits in the storage of phonological information
result in faulty representations in memory that lead to inaccurate applications
of sound rules during reading tasks. Retrieval of phonological information from
long-term memory refers to how the child remembers pronunciations of letters,
word segments, or entire words. Children with dyslexia may have difficulty in
this area, which leads to slow and inaccurate recall of phonological codes from
memory. Classification and Identification
Historically, classification criteria for developmental dyslexia have been vague
and, consequently, open to interpretation. For example, according to the Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, revised 3rd edition (DSM-III-R), developmental
reading disorder (dyslexia) may be diagnosed if reading achievement is "markedly
below" expected level; interferes with academic achievement or daily living
skills; and is not due to a defect in vision, hearing, or a neurological disorder.
Because of such imprecise guidelines, educators and clinicians use a wide variety
of criteria when defining dyslexia. School psychologists classify children based
on federal and state learning disability placement criteria. The federal guidelines
for LD placement are as follows: - 1. Disorder in one or
more of the basic psychological processes (memory, auditory perception, visual
perception, oral language, and thinking).
- Difficulty in learning
(speaking, listening, writing, reading, and mathematics).
- Problem is not primarily
due to other causes (visual or hearing impairment, motor disabilities, mental
retardation, emotional disturbance, or economic environment or cultural disadvantage).
- Severe discrepancy between
apparent potential and actual achievement.
While the federal guidelines
are more specific than the DSM-III-R criteria, they are still rather nonspecific.
Consequently, eligibility criteria for LD services for reading disabilities
vary from state to state. Fortunately, there is some general agreement among
educators, clinicians, and researchers in terms of identifying phonological
deficits in children with dyslexia. Phonological processing impairment is generally
identified by significantly impaired performance (generally, a standard score
less than 85) on phonological processing tasks. The following include some assessment
measures that may be used to identify these phonological core deficits: General reading ability
Metropolitan Achievement Tests - Reading
Gray Oral Reading Tests, 3rd Ed.
WRAT-R-Reading
WRMT-Word Identification
Storage and Retrieval
SB-4-Memory for Sentences
Verbal Selective Reminding Test
Rapid Automatized Naming Test
Boston Naming Test
Phonological awareness
WRMT-Word Attack
Test of Awareness of Language Segments (TALS)
Test of Auditory Analysis Skills (TAAS)
Lindamood Auditory Conceptualization Test
Decoding Skills Test Suggested Interventions - Teach metacognitive
strategies. Teach children similarities and differences between speech sounds
and visual patterns across words.
- Provide direct instruction
in language analysis and the alphabetic code. Give explicit instruction in
segmenting and blending speech sounds. Teach children to process progressively
larger chunks of words.
- Use techniques that make
phonemes more concrete. For example, phonemes and syllables can be represented
with blocks where children can be taught how to add, omit, substitute, and
rearrange phonemes in words.
- Make the usefulness of
metacognitive skills explicit in reading. Have children practice them. Try
modeling skills in various reading contexts. Review previous reading lessons
and relate to current lessons.
- Discuss the specific
purposes and goals of each reading lesson. Teach children how metacognitive
skills should be applied.
- Provide regular practice
with reading materials that are contextually meaningful. Include many words
that children can decode. Using books that contain many words children cannot
decode may lead to frustration and guessing, which is counterproductive.
- Teach for automaticity.
As basic decoding skills are mastered, regularly expose children to decodable
words so that these words become automatically accessible. As a core sight
vocabulary is acquired, expose children to more irregular words to increase
reading accuracy. Reading-while-listening and repeated reading are useful
techniques for developing fluency.
- Teach for comprehension.
Try introducing conceptually important vocabulary prior to initial reading
and have children retell the story and answer questions regarding implicit
and explicit content. Teach children the main components of most stories (i.e.,
character, setting, etc.) and how to identify and use these components to
help them remember the story.
- Teach reading and spelling
in conjunction. Teach children the relationship between spelling and reading
and how to correctly spell the words they read.
- Provide positive explicit
and corrective feedback. Reinforce attempts as well as successes. Direct instruction
and teacher-child interactions should be emphasized.
ERIC Digests are in the
public domain and may be freely reproduced and disseminated, but please acknowledge
your source. This publication was prepared with funding from the U.S. Department
of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, under contract
no. RI93002005. The opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect
the positions or policies of OERI or the Department of Education. The
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