Reading

Reading with Dyslexia and Other Learning Disabilities

             When people talk about the word literacy, the first thing that comes to most people's minds is reading.  Reading is fundamental to being able to understand and interpret the world around us and many of us take this fact for granted.  Most of us learned how to read all throughout elementary school, maybe we had a couple of stumbles here and there, but we overcame these obstacles soon enough.  Unfortunately for students with learning disabilities this isn't quite as easy.  Whether a student's visual, executive, or auditory processing is affected by a learning disability, all of them face multiple challenges associated with the reading strand of the Ontario language curriculum.  Thankfully however, recent efforts by teachers and provincial/federal government have resulted in the beginning of a shift in education to introduce new approaches to teaching that can better support the specific needs of these students.


             Although provincial reporting shows an impressive percentage of students achieving provincial standards in reading, the percentage that does not meet those requirements is still significant.  I sometimes have wondered to myself what proportion of these students have not reached provincial standards because of some form of learning disability that was not properly supported.

EQAO (2017). Provincial Assessment Results [Digital Photo]. Retrieved from  http://www.eqao.com/en/about_eqao/media_room/facts_and_figures/Pages/infographic-2017-elementary-results.aspx  

Text Difficulty

            One of the most important things to consider when teaching reading to any student is the difficulty of the texts being chosen.  Too often students become disengaged in their learning or develop a disdain for reading when presented with reading material that is inappropriate for their reading level.  To quote the Grade 7 reading curriculum "students will read and demonstrate an understanding of a variety of literary, graphic, and informational texts...".  This indicates to me that the engagement that stems from appropriate text difficulty is key to encouraging students to want to explore the variety of texts the curriculum expects.  For a student with a learning disability, a teacher may need to take extra steps to ensure that the factors that contribute to text difficulty and readability are being assessed in the correct context of the disability.

            While researching, I was able to discover this document, created by the Ontario government to assist teachers with the process of determining text difficulty.  The focus is on varying types of knowledge that can be cumulatively evaluated for text difficulty.  This includes the reader/student's knowledge and experience, text vocabulary, concept density, and structure.  Specifically, it encourages teachers to look beyond the surface features of a text before passing judgement.  Just because a text appears difficult doesn't mean that the content and themes are as well.

           I also appreciated the mentions of not applying these concepts universally to every text and student.  Instead, it encourages teachers to consider the genre specific demands of each text, and consider whether a student would struggle only due to a specific requirement posed by the category of book.  An "easy" text, may be difficult if a student has processing issues with abstract concept/themes or making inferences or struggle with non-fiction if they have a weak background in the subject area.


Development of Awareness

           In recent years, in particular with the invention of the internet, information regarding specific disabilities has become more accessible than ever.  Educators are more aware of how a disability could make a "simple" reading or assessment difficult for students, and students are more accepting of their peer's differences and need for extra help when they can understand how a disability changes their peer's perception of the world and classroom.

          Take for example the video I have embedded below from Seeker about dyslexia (the host of which has dyslexia).  It provides an accessible, easy to follow structure, that can concisely and accurately educate a class of students from a reliable source, an actual person with dyslexia.  Previously, this would need to be done either through individual research, or a more traditional lecture style, increasing the chances of students running into misconceptions or becoming distant from the information.


Seeker, (Nov 13, 2014). Can This Font Help People with Dyslexia? [Online Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwuMhDNi1_w

           As an example of the effectiveness of this video, after watching this, I immediately went to research the font being discussed towards the end of the video, something I had never previously heard about beforehand.  A researcher by the name of Christian Boer, developed a font that aims to correct some of the aspects of letters that cause people with dyslexia to misread them.  I have provided a link which talks in detail about the specific element of letters that are being changed.

         In the span of just a couple of minutes I have been able to inform my own practice and how I can support students in my classroom with disabilities to give them as much equal footing with other students as possible.  The importance of accessible content like this to educators is equaled by its importance to students struggling with a disability, or students sharing the class with one of these students.

Assistive Software

        Technological advances have increased the normality of assistive software in the classroom.  Text to speech software has allowed students to complete similar activities to their peers without feeling like they are at a disadvantage.  This software also takes focus off the disability, as it can assist all students in their reading abilities while still supporting the students it was intended for.


        Awareness through accessibility is invaluable in continuing the advancement of reading education to students with disabilities.  As educators we have a double responsibility.  We must bring awareness to ourselves, so we can acknowledge and respond to the challenges that will face our students and adjust our teaching and assessment accordingly.  We must provide opportunities for other students to become aware of these issues, so we can create an environment encouraging collaboration between students and help them support each other in addition to support from the teacher.