What is Dyslexia?
The decades old stereotype of dyslexia being letters that shift on the page and the reversal of b and d is not completely accurate. Check out the Latin roots: Dys means bad and lexia means read or vocabulary. Therefore, dyslexia literally means bad reading or bad vocabulary. People with reading struggles are generally weak in one or more cognitive development skills. The National Institute of Health found 88% of learning to read problems were caused by weakness in phonemic awareness which is the ability to hear, blend, dissect and manipulate sounds in words. These are complex skills that require more than the ability to hear sounds; they are auditory processing and auditory memory among many other cognitive skills, such as processing speed.
Cognitive Skills Are Necessary For Phonological Awareness
Phonological awareness is an umbrella term for several specific cognitive skills: auditory processing, auditory and visual memory, working memory, long term memory retrieval of vocabulary and attention that inform expressive and receptive language and reading skills. If processing speed, working memory, attention, and/or comprehension are weak, notice how they would naturally correlate to the signs of dyslexia:
- Poor spelling and limited vocabulary
- Struggles with reading comprehension
- Difficulty with sound discrimination
- Challenges distinguishing between no/on or pin/pen
- Inability to sound out new or out of context words
- Poor ability to summarize or retell a story
- Errors in telling right from left
- Frequently guesses or substitutes words
- Avoids reading aloud
- Early difficulty with rhyming
Phonics Instruction May Not Be Enough
The relationship between reading ability and phonemic processing is illustrated well in a study with deaf children. The National Institute of Health studied the phonological awareness, reading skills and vocabulary in profoundly deaf children who use cochlear implants and found with increased hearing they experienced better than expected reading scores. Unsurprisingly, phonological processing was higher in the children who had a better grasp of lip reading and therefore identification of syllables, a key part of phonics. In addition, a robust vocabulary had a strong correlation to reading ability. The conclusion of the study emphasized a key component beyond phonological awareness and vocabulary, which was the focus, to say, “the performance on the phonological awareness test was not simply a direct reflection of vocabulary knowledge but was also dependent on the development and use of other cognitive skills.” This indicates that teaching phonics, increasing vocabulary, and ensuring the ability to hear are necessary, but insufficient solutions for phonological awareness and therefore dyslexia. Understanding this is a crucial piece of the puzzle for parents and teachers of struggling readers. The need for “the development and use of other cognitive skills” is where cognitive development training rises to meet the need.
Cognitive Development Training
The neuroplasticity of the brain inherently means the weak areas of the brain can be strengthened. This is great news! Teaching more phonics is not how working memory and other cognitive skills are strengthened. We do not train the brain by using challenging content, like phonics for a struggling reader. The brain is better trained when it is relaxed and engaged by using familiar content. More to Grow Cognitive Development Training uses primitive reflex exercises and cognitive games to strategically strengthen the foundational neuro-developmental and cognitive developmental brain functions necessary to overcome dyslexia. This treats an underlying problem of weak cognitive development skills which display the symptom of learning to read difficulties. Training and strengthening attention, comprehension, critical thinking, working memory, auditory and visual processing speed and communication skills have benefits that extend beyond dyslexia. Increasing these vital skills may improve the ability to learn and function in all areas of educational and everyday life situations.
Dillon, Caitin M et al. “Phonological awareness, reading skills, and vocabulary knowledge in children who use cochlear implants” Journal of deaf studies and deaf education vol.17,2 (2011):205-26
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3598411/
The mission of More to Grow Cognitive Development Training is to improve learning ability and function through cognitive exercises that meaningfully transfer to all educational and everyday life situations so individuals maximize their potential.
Darlene Lewis, [email protected], https://moretogrow.com