Dyslexia Queensland
Dyslexia Queensland provides a dyslexia screening service designed to identify students who exhibit characteristics of the dyslexic learning style. Understanding the dyslexic brain is core to our work.
The Dyslexic Brain
You may remember that the left hemisphere is associated with language skills (e.g., Broca’s area). Brain imaging studies (Shaywitz, 1996; Shaywitz and Shaywitz, 2005) have found that typical readers use the left occipital temporal region, known as the ‘word forming area’, to sound out words while reading. Does the dyslexic brain also reveal the same pattern? Shaywitz’s recent study looked at a group of 20-year-olds who had been diagnosed with dyslexia in kindergarten. Brain imaging scans found that there is very little activation in the left temporal area; instead they had greater activation in the right temporal area. Some interpret this to mean that the dyslexic student will bypass mental pathways in the left brain areas associated with phonological awareness skills and rely instead on more visual methods to support their reading.
Extract from “Improving Working Memory: Supporting Students’ Learning”, Tracey Packiam Alloway; Sage Publications Ltd, London, 2011:39
Your Facilitator
Qualifications: Certificate of Teaching, Bachelor of Education, Master of Education, Teacher Registration No. 17056
I am a trained primary school teacher and have upgraded my skills over the years to obtain both Bachelor and Master Degrees in Education. My focus area in the Master’s Degree was in Learning Support and Inclusive Education because I was then working in a learning support role with students with learning difficulties. In fact, I have worked with students with learning difficulties for more than 25 years.
I have developed a broad understanding of the nature of learning difficulties and an empathy towards the frustrations that dyslexic students experience. Strategies used in schools to help children with these difficulties simply address the symptoms and support the student through the compulsory years of schooling. The strategies schools employ support students, but they demand significant repetition from the students and still yield slow progress.
Teachers are fully aware of the need to take into account individual differences in the classroom. If we acknowledge that there are two basic learning styles to address, we realise that teachers are already addressing one of the two. Auditory-sequential learners are more likely to perceive school as a positive experience, while visual-spatial learners are more commonly encountered among underachievers, creative individuals, and bright minds who face challenges with reading, spelling, maths, or maintaining focus. Visual-spatial methods work well with all who are visual learners – individuals who think in pictures.
So how can I help? I can investigate whether your student is dyslexic via a recognized screening process which includes analysing reading and writing samples (and Maths sample if needed).
Contact me to discuss your needs.