Struggling Readers: How Can We Help Them?

By Hans J. A. Dekkers
When your child struggles with reading, know that you are not alone. An estimated
510% of children1 struggle with reading.
Reading Struggles or Dyslexia?
The term dyslexia is perceived differently in society versus the scientific
community. We speak of dyslexia when a child reads too slowly and/or too
inaccurately (guessing words) in spite of adequate instruction, motivation, and
intelligence. Dyslexia has its origins in the unique neurology of a child. Research
has proven that it has nothing to do with intelligence.2 Your child is not less gifted
or less intelligent but rather slightly different.
How Do Children With Dyslexia Differ From Others?
To answer this question, I first need to point out that reading is a learned behavior,
just as piano playing and gymnastics are learned behaviors. Our brain is
neurologically wired and arranged for language but not for reading. Reading is an
acquired skill. When we group the different subtypes of reading struggles into
categories, four out of five of these types have difficulty in phonological
processing.3
A Word on Reading and How We Read
In the reading sciences it has been established that we use two different routes to
transition from the printed letters and words to reading out loud. Dr. Max Coltheart,
Ph.D., has been instrumental in this research and has published a research paper
about the Dual Route Cascaded Model in 2001.4 When a child learns to read, every
word is new. New words can be laboriously decoded phonetically only by taking
each letter and grapheme and translating these to sounds or phonemes. This
process is called the Slow Route or Non-Lexical Route. Take the word deos, for
example. You read this word as dee-os.
The other route is the Fast Route or Lexical Route. This route is the one we use in
fluent reading of words we already know. Read this sentence, please: You can sitll
raed tihs whoutit a pboerlm bucseae the fast ruote deos not raed ervey ltteer by
istlef.
Note that you read deos again in this passage, but this time you actually said
does. This demonstrates the reality of the Slow and Fast Route reading systems
different routes that use different logic to arrive at speech.
The Fast Route uses all contextual, syntactical (arrangement of words and
phrases), semantical (meaning), and letter input available to quickly search for the
word sound in its lexicon. For this Fast Route to work, the word must first have
been successfully decoded by the Slow Route and mapped or coupled to the childs
verbal language knowledge of that word.

As already stated, four out of five reading struggle categories demonstrate difficulty
with Slow Route functioning. These children struggle with decoding, with the result
that their Fast Route remains relatively empty or polluted with incorrect data. This
is a neurological issue: fMRI/EEG research demonstrates reduced neural activity
among the temporal lobe (auditory processing), occipital lobe (visual cortex), and
temporal parietal occipital (TPO) junction or word form areaand between these
areas and the Brocas area in the frontal lobe, where the Fast Route lexicon is
primarily located.5
Symptoms of Dyslexia
Key symptoms are lack of fluency and automaticity, and lack of accuracy
(guessing), in spite of adequate learn-to-read instruction, motivation, and
intelligence. Secondary signs vary per child and condition and may not always be
present: weakness in memorizing sequences, weak spelling, early development
speech issues, and current pronunciation issues. Parents or grandparents who
struggled in reading increase the risk (genetic link6). We may also observe
deteriorating motivation for school and changes in overall behavior.
By the age of 8 to 10, behavioral changes typically start to surface. For some
children this expresses itself in withdrawal, depression, and isolation. In others it
may go in a more outward direction of frustration, anger, rebellion, and antiauthoritarianism.
Diagnosis
Proper diagnosis is key to effective remediation. Linda Siegel, Ph.D.,7 strongly
recommends screening or testing every child who does not progress after three
months of primary reading education. Sadly, research shows that only 5% of
struggling readers are appropriately diagnosed by the age of 10. Since the majority
of struggling readers struggle with phonological processing, a cost-effective
diagnostic approach is to specifically measure the Fast Route and Slow Route
functioning. For younger children, consider Dibels (dibels.uoregon.edu) or the
Reading Readiness Screening Tool (RightToRead.ca). For children aged 7 and up,
Dynaread (Dynaread.com) offers a free online assessment. Results are reviewed
and followed up by a science team member free of charge.
Remediation: Age-Dependent
With children under the age of 7, remediation should focus on methods based on
the Orton-Gillingham approach. The International Dyslexia Association
(Interdys.org) features a short article8 defining this approach. To read this article,
google search for interdys OGBased and MSL Approaches. Google search for
Orton Gillingham to locate programs. Key is multisensory, contextually relevant,
systematic, direct instruction.
When children pass the age of 7, the playing field changes, as the struggle typically
is no longer restricted to the field of reading. Years of consecutive failures have
eroded belief in their reading ability and their intrinsic motivation to learn to read.
Nobody likes to be engaged in sure-to-fail and sure-to-frustrate activities.

Remediation for these older children has given birth to a number of indirect
approaches that are non-language basedprograms that seek to remediate reading
through brain exercises. In the last eighteen months scientific research into these
indirect approaches has demonstrated that genuine benefits are typically lacking.
Dr. Dorothy Bishop, Ph.D., offers a very insightful interview on this topic on
YouTube9 titled Dorothy Bishop: Evaluating Alternative Solutions for Dyslexia.
Google search for youtube alternative dyslexia bishop. In this video, Dr. Bishop
provides some very useful tips about how to identify proper programs.
Orton-Gillingham-based approaches are still the preferred means for these older
children. However, in two common scenarios these approaches are no longer
realistic:

When the childs own motivation hinders constructive working

When the level of phonological processing disorder is such that even these
proven approaches reap little results
For such children, Dynaread.com may prove to be an effective solution. This new
science- and language-based approach initially works exclusively with the childs
fully functional Fast Route reading system, delivering fluent reading experiences
right from the start. Children experience much needed reading success, recovering
their intrinsic motivation.
Cant We Just Wait Until the Child Matures?
Categorically and emphatically: No! These children need a learn-to-read approach
that matches their unique neurological wiring. To fall behind in reading is
profoundly painful. When one loses a leg, he or she can understand the issues and
consequences. It is painful and difficult to adjust, but the condition makes sense.
Not so when you are dyslexic. The child with dyslexia invariably starts to think
there is something wrong with him. He may think he is stupid. The child with
dyslexia is often thought to be lazy or not sufficiently engaged or doing his best.
Nobody would consider a quadriplegic to be lazy for not getting out of his chair, but
children with dyslexia have to suffer these sorts of injustices all the time. Why?
Because their struggle is outwardly invisible. Consequently, they choose to
camouflage it, making it all the more difficult for parents and teachers to properly
identify it.
When you suspect there is an issue, perform the litmus test. Lovingly invite the
child to read something. Check each and every word as you read along. You will
notice that too many words are wrong or are guessed at and thatoverallthe
reading goes too slowly. Take action. In spite of public myth, there is no research
evidence to suggest that dyslexia solves itself as the child gets older.
Need More Information?
The book Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete Science-Based Program for
Reading Problems at Any Level by Sally Shaywitz, Ph.D., is an excellent reference
book on the topic. The International Dyslexia Association offers information on their
website: Interdys.org. Our science team at Dynaread.com welcomes questions, and
we answer these free of charge.

Hans J. A. Dekkers is CEO and Head of Research at Dynaread Special Education

Corporation. Research, project initiation, and problem solving have formed a
structural part of his entire career. Hanss number-one challenge was How can we
translate the latest of scientific understanding into an effective learn-to-read
remediation method that can recover the loss of motivation, the ego damage, and
the deep frustration experienced by older struggling readers? Hans built a team of
scientists with complementary knowledge fields, plus curriculum authors and IT
staff. Hans is married and a grateful father of fiveall homeschooled, with the
oldest two currently in University.
Endnotes:
. Shaywitz, Sally E. (1998). Current concepts: Dyslexia. The New England Journal
of Medicine, 15334406, 19980101, Vol. 338, Issue 5.
2. www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/fmris-show-thatdyslexia-isnt-a-matter-of-iq.html.
3. Morris, R. D., Stuebing, K. K., Fletcher, J. M., Shaywitz, S. E., Lyon, G. R.,
Shankweiler, D. P., & Shaywitz, B. A. (1998). Subtypes of reading disability:
Variability around a phonological core. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90(3),
347373. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.90.3.347.
4. Coltheart, Max, Rastle, Kathleen, Perry, Conrad, Langdon, Robyn, & Ziegler,
Johannes. DRC: A dual route cascaded model of visual word recognition and
reading aloud. Psychological Review, Vol. 108(1), January 2001, 204-256. DOI:
10.1037/0033-295X.108.1.204.
5. Van der Mark, S., Klaver, P., Bucher, K., Maurer, U., Schulz, E., Brem, S.,
Martin, E., Brandeis, D. The Left Occipitotemporal System in Reading: Disruption of
Focal fMRI Connectivity to Left Inferior Frontal and Inferior Parietal Language Areas
in Children with Dyslexia. NeuroImage 54 (2011) 24262436.
6. Parracchini, Silvia, Scerri, Thomas, & Monaco, Anthony P. (2007). The Genetic
Lexicon of Dyslexia Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics. Vol. 8: 5779
(Volume publication date September 2007). First published online as a Review in
Advance on April 19, 2007. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.genom.8.080706.092312.
7. Siegel, Linda S. (2006). Perspectives on dyslexia. Paediatr Child Health. 2006
November; 11(9): 581587.
8. www.interdys.org/ewebeditpro5/upload/OGBasedandMSLApproaches.pdf.
9. youtube/2tBX-lRE2FI.
Copyright 2012, used with permission. All rights reserved by author. Originally
appeared in the October 2012 issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, the family
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