Several years ago, my mother sent me a Halloween card. The front depicted two ghosts; instead of saying “Boo”, they said “Oob.” The bottom of the card read “Dyslexic Ghosts” and the inside of the card read “Halloween Happy” rather than “Happy Halloween”. While the card was meant to provide some levity, it really got me thinking about the myriad of misconceptions and myths that exist today about dyslexia. Need more evidence? Check out these t-shirts and bumper stickers all poking fun at dyslexia and perpetuating myths about the reading disability. 

My intent with this post is not to come across as a stodgy person who can’t take a joke; rather my intent is to show how commonplace myths and stereotypes about dyslexia are! So commonplace in fact, that they’ve become fodder for jokes in t-shirts, bumper stickers, and greeting cards.

I plan to write multiple posts, in which I dispel the myths about dyslexia. I assume that many of my readers are parents, without formal training in education. Rest assured that many of the misconceptions about dyslexia are held by professionals and educators in the field. In fact, a 2010 article that I authored shows exactly that! In a research study of over 300 teachers, nearly 75% of participants incorrectly identified dyslexia as a visual impairment in which a reader sees letters and words transposed, reversed, or jumbled! For a link to that article, click here. Even popular media has misconceptions - watch this clip from The Cosby Show - where Theo meets with a learning specialist for a diagnosis with dyslexia.

There are far too many misconceptions out there about dyslexia.

Myth #1: Dyslexia is seeing words and letters backwards. Not true!

There is no way that I can write more eloquently about dyslexia than the experts - MaryAnne Wolfe, the Yale Center for Dyslexia, Literacy How in Connecticut, and the International Dyslexia Association. But let's be clear...Here is what dyslexia is.

Dyslexia is an unexpected difficulty in reading - it is neurobiological in origin (meaning it is rooted in the brain and different wiring in the language portions of the brain. The brains of dyslexics overactivate inappropriate portions of the brain and underactivate the appropriate areas of the brain (the Broca's and Wernicke's area).  

Dyslexia is NOT seeing words backwards / transposing or reversing letters / words / numbers. It is not a deficiency in visual processing. Dyslexia is a language-based reading disorder, meaning that people with dyslexia struggle with the sound components of language. 

I encourage you to look at the linked resources for more information on what dyslexia actually is - and to join me in vocalizing the truth about dyslexia. When I meet parents who tell me "my child is dyslexic", I often say to them, "What does that mean to you?". If I hear these misconceptions above, that when I steer them to my favorite resources above.  

Let me be clear that I believe these misconceptions about dyslexia are perpetuated by the disconnect between the research community and those working every day with children - teachers, pediatricians, etc. It's all well and good that the worlds of medicine, neuroscience, and reading research have come together to collaborate on dyslexia - but until we effectively deliver these practical messages to teachers in the field - our work has not met its true impact. Let's be real - it is very unlikely that we will ever have schools where we put children in MRI machines to get brain scans (and would we even want that?) so we need to find meaningful ways for the real meaning of dyslexia to influence teachers, families, and children.

More to come...

Leveled Libraries Be Gone!

Confession time. When I walk into a classroom and see books and libraries organized by levels, I cringe.

 

Like many things in the field of education, the trend towards leveling books by guided reading / Fountas and Pinnell / Lexile level may have begun with good intentions - trying to get the appropriate books into the hands of young readers. But like many other things, we've let the pendulum swing way too far - and we are officially in the land of over-labeling.  Here's why I find leveled libraries problematic....

1. The leveling systems were created to be used solely by teachers / librarians, NOT for children / parents.  Is there anything more defeating than a child saying, "I'm not allowed to read this book because it's a Level G and I'm a Level E reader". 

2. The difference between each level is relatively minor - and the leveling system does not take into account all of the other complicating factors of reading - background knowledge that a reader brings to the page, vocabulary, and motivation.

3. Levels do not translate into lifelong reading habits.  Think of yourself as an adult reader. When you go to the library, do you choose a book by its level? 

Don't believe me? Read more here - in these additional resources.  Author Donalyn Miller write that levels violate a student's academic privacy.  A statement by the America Association of School Librarians writes that "labeling and shelving books by its assigned label on the spine...threatens the confidentiality of students' reading levels." Even the creators of the leveled system - Gay Su Pinnell and Irene Fountas - have come out saying that "the A to Z reading levels to be used in the way they often are". It's time to stop the madness and lose the levels.