Wired Differently for Reading

"C-a-m-p, cap, no, pac?”  If you have a dyslexic reader, you may have watched them painstakingly say each sound in a word, only to leave sounds out or mix them up when they try to pronounce the word.  Maybe your child says the word correctly, but a few lines later on the page, he has to go through the whole sounding out process again because he doesn’t recognize it as a word he just read.

Research tells us that dyslexic readers use different pathways for reading than skilled readers do. This is a wonderful discovery because it can guide us in more effective ways to help our dyslexic students become comfortable readers.

You Don’t Have to Be Dyslexic

A dear friend and mentor for me  in the field of learning, Dr. Joan Smith, wrote a book called You Don’t Have to Be Dyslexic in 1996.  The title was pretty controversial because people believed that dyslexia was a permanent and often debilitating condition.   The perplexing thing to me, after decades of brain research, is that it is still a common belief that dyslexia and other learning differences are best dealt with by using accommodations and working around them.

What we have learned from neuroplasticity studies is that through intensive and targeted training, the brain can be retrained to process information more effectively.  The brain can literally rewire itself, creating new connections and neural pathways.  Challenges associated with dyslexia and other learning disabilities can be eliminated.

Wired Differently

Through the research of Dr. Sally Shaywitz and other brain studies worldwide, we now have a much better idea of what parts of the brain are activated in skilled readers and how that looks different for dyslexic readers.

For most people, reading primarily takes place in the left (language) hemisphere of the brain, activating highly connected neural pathways in the front and back.   

Beginning readers activate the parieto-temporal (word analysis) area of the brain in order to pull words apart and link letters to sounds.  This is a slow, step-by-step, analytic process.  Broca’s area, which is associated with speech production, is co-opted by beginning readers to support word analysis by sounding out words with the mouth.

As readers become more skilled there is less activation in front of the brain and more in back.  After the initial learning-to-read stage, reading should become a quick, fluent process that happens primarily in the occipital-temporal (word form) area in the back left hemisphere of the brain. When a word has been analyzed and read correctly several times, an exact neural model of the word is formed in this area.  It is here that words are automatically recognized with all relevant information – pronunciation, spelling, and meaning.

Imaging studies show that the reading areas in the back of the brain are under-active for dyslexic individuals. They may become accurate readers, but don’t reach a place of ease and fluency because they are stuck processing reading in the over-activated Broca’s area in the front left side of the brain. Systems in the right hemisphere may also be recruited to support reading, which is functional but not automatic.

Application for Teachers, Parents, and Practitioners

1. Do not encourage sound by sound decoding.  When decoding new words, have students say the vowel sound and then the whole word or syllable.
2. Utilize strategies like Neurological Impress Reading where the instructor and the student read slowly but fluently together, pointing to each word as they read.  With the instructor as the guide, students are able to see, hear, and say the words accurately.  Tapping twice at punctuation helps students to notice the punctuation and provides space to regroup and think about the meaning of what was read.
3. Encourage/teach reading in phrases versus word by word.  This improves attention to meaning and comprehension.
4. Stimulate visual memory and recognition of what words look like for reading and spelling by having students look up and visualize words.  Have them point to imaged letters and say the letter name or sound.

Neuroscientists and clinical researchers from all over the world have uncovered not only where reading pathways are being disrupted in the dyslexic brain, but the profound understanding that the brain can change.  The critical underlying skills needed for fluent, independent reading and learning can be developed.

I remember one of the very first profoundly dyslexic students I worked with.  His name was Kris.  At 9-years-old, he was a completely shut down learner, unable to recognize letters or words at all. By retraining the reading pathways in the brain and then teaching him to read, he was able to move out of special education by middle school and into honors classes in high school. The last time I saw his mom, she shared that he was an avid learner and going back to school for his second master’s degree. 

Jill Stowell, M.S.

Author:  Take the Stone Out of the Shoe: A Must-Have Guide to Understanding, Supporting, and Correcting Dyslexia, Learning, and Attention Challenges

Founder/Executive Director Stowell Learning Centers where we help children and adults eliminate struggles associated with dyslexia and learning disabilities.  

www.stowellcenter.com 

Listen to or watch this episode on the podcast: https://stowellcenter.com/2023/02/10/episode-50-wired-differently/

References:

Shaywitz, Sally. Overcoming Dyslexia (2020 Edition): Second Edition, Completely Revised and Updated.  2020. Vintage: (2nd Edition), 2008.

Smith, Joan, Ed.D. You Don't Have to Be Dyslexic. Sacramento, CA: Learning Time Products, Inc., 1996.

Smith, Joan M. Ed.D. EDU-Therapeutics Specialist Certification Sourcebook. CA: EDU-Therapeutics, 2019