Dyslexia Activity Adaptation Case Study
Reading and writing are essential in early childhood education. Children start their reading and writing journey the moment they start hearing and responding to sounds from those around them. Reading and writing is the foundation of a child’s literacy as it allows them to comprehend and communicate information. Children, therefore, need to learn About print letters, how o form words and how to read them (Pazeto et al., 2020). This might seem easy, but not for children with dyslexia. Dyslexia is a condition that is linked with trouble learning to read, and it affects a child’s ability to understand and manipulate sounds in any language. Therefore, children with dyslexia have a challenge breaking down new words into small manageable pieces that they can readout. This is also challenging for early childhood teachers to teach dyslexic students how to read and write as well as spell the various words and all these activities are connected and mandatory in early childhood learning (Freedman et al., 2017). Early childhood learning is a child’s education foundation, and therefore all kids at this level should understand everything they are taught for their future studies. It is therefore important to incorporate adaptation mechanisms to assist dyslexic students in reading and writing.
Learning to read and write should facilitate the participation of children with dyslexia. Dyslexia is a lifelong condition, and the child will not outgrow it in the future. Therefore, coping Strategies are essential to enable the child to live with the condition without it being a bother. Learning to read and write makes life easier for dyslexic children and to achieve this from an early age is by incorporating visual elements in learning. Dyslexic children easily learn through activities that involve body movement (Humphre, 2003). To encourage participation, the educator should offer manipulatives such as cardboards with words and letters, and when they get involved in matching the letters to form a word, they see and understand better. Also, dyslexic students’ children learn better when they listen to themselves reading aloud (Humphre, 2003). Therefore, the educator should Allow the children to read words because it acts as an auditory pathway to the brain.
Childhood educators should be culturally sensitive when teaching dyslexic children who come from diverse cultures. Dyslexia affects individuals from different cultures, races and nations. However, dyslexic children from diverse backgrounds have a harder time reading and writing English words when it is not their first language. Therefore, it is important for educators to be careful when teaching such children because English is already a challenge, and they also have a preexisting issue of dyslexia, which makes reading even harder. Children who show characteristics of dyslexia and they are from diverse cultures need all the help they can get. For instance, when introducing new words, they should be accompanied by images. This is because an image is captured easily in the brain’s visual memory. Visual aids are therefore important in assisting children with dyslexia to see and understand what is being communicated. It also makes learning easier without having the children feel out of place in a different culture and environment.
The Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) major goal is to assist families and professionals in the community on how to deal with the developmental needs of a child with special needs. These goals should also include the needs of dyslexic children because they need assistance in reading and writing which is critical for the future of their education. Also, the IEP goal should allow children to demonstrate their knowledge (De Beer et al., 2014). The IEP/IFSP goals should accommodate dyslexic students needs which will aid in their ability to read and write, and it also helps in proper growth and development such that in future, they will be independent despite their underlying dyslexic condition. Educators should also come up with developmentally appropriate instructional strategies for children who show characteristics of dyslexia (De Beer et al., 2014). For instance, they should utilize multisensory learning, which allows the children to absorb and process information in ways they can retain by involving the visual, touch, movement and hearing senses. For instance, when writing words, they can use materials such as sand, pasta, glitter glue or beads. They should also be involved in physical activities to aid in their reading and spelling. Educators should also learn to elaborate on even the simplest instructions to avoid missing anything.
Reading and writing should foster the expression of the ideas, needs, and desires of children who show characteristics of dyslexia. Children with dyslexic characteristics struggle to read mostly because most of their focus is on trying to read the words out loud. Decoding is the major child’s focus, and when it takes all their attention, they fail to understand the meaning of the words. Dyslexic children assume that reading is the same as calling out words. Therefore educators Should encourage children to make a mental picture after every few words and visualize what exactly the words are trying to communicate (Freedman et al., 2017). Learning to visualize may seem hard at first, but eventually, it gets easier, and it is also helpful and becomes an automatic process. This allows them to express their ideas, needs and desires of dyslexic students. In situations where the child’s condition is severe that they can hardly read or write anything, it would be necessary to refer to appropriate professionals to meet the unique needs of children who show characteristics of dyslexia. Regular educators are not specifically trained to handle dyslexic students, but their role is to teach all students (Freedman et al., 2017). In more special cases, dyslexic children need special assistance from professionals who can teach them some coping strategies, which are useful in class and as they practice reading and writing.
In conclusion, reading and writing are crucial in early childhood education as it is the foundation of building literacy and the foundation of the child’s education. Children who show characteristics of dyslexia need some adaptation mechanisms and strategies to assist them in reading and writing, which can be challenging since they can hardly decode new words. These adaptation mechanisms include incorporating visual images to assist in learning, encouraging children participation in classroom activities, involving body movement, reading out loud, mental visualization and elaborate instructions. Dyslexia is a lifelong condition where children need to adapt to living with it. As soon as the children learn to read and write their lives become a bit simpler and they can manage to keep up with the others in the class. Educators should be sensitive to students from diverse cultures who struggle with the English language on top of dyslexia and provide them with all the aid they can get to assist them in learning to read and write.
References
De Beer, J., Engels, J., Heerkens, Y., & van der Klink, J. (2014). Factors influencing work participation of adults with developmental dyslexia: a systematic review. BMC public health, 14(1), 1-22.
Freedman, E. G., Molholm, S., Gray, M. J., Belyusar, D., & Foxe, J. J. (2017). Saccade adaptation deficits in developmental dyslexia suggest disruption of cerebellar-dependent learning. Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders, 9(1), 1-8.
Humphrey, N. (2003). Facilitating a positive sense of self in pupils with dyslexia: the role of teachers and peers. Support for Learning, 18(3), 130-136.
Pazeto, T. D. C. B., Dias, N. M., Gomes, C. M. A., & Seabra, A. G. (2020). Prediction of reading and writing in elementary education through early childhood education. Psicologia: Ciência e Profissão, 40.