[senco-forum] dyslexia

'My point was that this is assessment to inform intervention - not

Biff makes some excellent points.

I agree that the label dyslexia really helps guide provision.  If brains
function differently then they learn differently too and provision needs to
take that into account.

Read a really good book recently by Duncan Milne... Teaching The Brain to
Read.  It summarises fMRI of brain function and neatly describes the
existence of upper and lower left hemisphere circuits for reading
acquisition.   The upper circuit is the route used for reading or spelling
new words (synthetics - build up words from units when reading or break
words down into units for spelling).  The lower circuit deals with whole
words.  This is the first time I have seen the reading brain function so
clearly described, though it pulls together many threads from research into
the psychology of the acquisition of reading for dyslexics and
non-dyslexics.  And having brain function outlined like this really threw
light on why some of our pupils have displayed certain reading behaviours.

Milne notes that both synthetic phonics and whole word reading are essential
to learning to read and I agree with that too, but not at the expense of
discarding good synthetic phonics teaching to activate the upper circuit...
whole word reading without activation of this circuit has led to disastrous
reading results for children.  Once this is active (ie once the alphabetic
principle is actively understood and applied) then whole word learning is
exactly what needs to follow.  So phonics and phonological awareness re key
teaching and learning points. Once learned word, sentence and text word are
needed asap.

Those children that do not learn these things as fast as their peers need
the detailed investigation and work Biff refers to.   Needs could include:

vision and/or hearing (hardware and software)
motor coordination, planning
sensory integration
dyslexia
add/adhd
short-term memory issues
non-verbal discrepant from verbal  (speech and language or non-verbal
deficit)
autism

Mary Kelly uses Lucid Rapid to screen all Y1 & Y4 children for signs them
being at risk of dyslexia.  We have relied largely on teacher assessment and
referral and this week, discovered that a boy has gone through the past 7
years in our school without anyone identifying his dyslexic tendencies.  He
must have been hard to spot though, as he also escaped the net we threw out,
scanning SATS and NFER scores and assessing the suspects culled from that.

Referrals and assessments are notoriously hard to get right and find
*all*the people at risk, but maybe screening with something like Lucid
Rapid is
the way to go?  With the EP coming in to work with staff on those enigmas
that need more through investigation?

Philippa

On Thu, Mar 6, 2008 at 12:03 AM, Biff Crabbe <ba at biffc.vispa.com> wrote:

> 'My point was that this is assessment to inform intervention  - not
> assessment with a purpose of identifying 'dyslexics', or a special group
> of
> students who qualify for a particular type of support.'
>
> Julie - I have wrestled with this statement, but still hate it.  In order
> to
> inform intervention, assessment has to identify needs.  And the notion of
> 'qualifying' for support (rather than simply 'needing' it) is definitely
> an
> LEA construct that schools have been forced to embrace.
>
> A few days back, Martin (Miles) asked the forum about ways in which SENCOs
> seek to use and deploy the EP resource.
>
> In my first few years as a SENCO I hoped to draw on the expertise of the
> EP
> in identifying the nature and scope of a child's needs, and we would then
> put our heads together to identify the type of support interventions that
> would meet the needs.  The EP knew stuff that I didn't about the nature of
> children's learning difficulties; I learned to devise individual, small
> group and curriculum-based support interventions.  But it started with the
> EP making an assessment of the individual child's difficulties and needs,
> and this always involved (her) spending some time in the child's company.
> The more completely I could describe the child's difficulties initially,
> the
> more refined and focused the EP's assessment could be (and it might only
> be
> an observation of and a chat with the child).
>
> In later years (and with different EPs) more of the EP time came to be
> allocated (by the LEA) to 'systemic' bits - assistance in understanding
> and
> completing the latest new whizz of a paperwork scheme for 'monitoring',
> looking at 'criteria' for placement at a particular support stage,
> moderation processes etc.  There was more discussion about longer lists of
> children (and the longer the list, the shorter each segment of the
> discussion).  Inexorably, less and less time was spent by the EP with
> children.
>
> You say that, 'we promote a careful process of assessment through teaching
> and appropriately targeted support for any pupil who needs it.'  And
> therein
> lies a summary of the change in the role.  What is 'assessment through
> teaching', and who is carrying out the assessment that the EP is
> 'promoting'?
>
> As to your previous message about the usefulness of 'dyslexia' as a label
> (long discussion issue that has cropped up often on the forum), I'd still
> find it more useful as a starting point than 'shares some of the same
> difficulties as the common or garden poor reader'.
>
> Regards
>
> Biff Crabbe
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "julie cozens" <juliecozens at yahoo.co.uk>
> To: "senco forum" <senco-forum at lists.becta.org.uk>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2008 9:11 PM
> Subject: Re: [senco-forum] dyslexia - screening/testing/assessment
>
>
> Hello Phillipa
>
>  I have a copy of your book and I have heard about your successful work in
> Dubai.
>  I am also aware of Martin Turners work.
>
>  I certainly didnt mean to give the impression in my posting that we never
> assess children in Devon! I did say in my email that we promote a careful
> process of assessment through teaching and appropriately targeted support
> for any pupil who needs it.
>
>  My point was that this is assessment to inform intervention  - not
> assessment with a purpose of identifying 'dyslexics', or a special group
> of
> students who qualify for a particular type of support.
>
>  Hope this clarifies
>
>  best wishes
>
>  Julie
>
>
> ---------------------------------
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