Recent research on dyslexia and other learning disabilities
When I started working with students who have learning disabilities back in 1990, the research on dyslexia was really starting to take off. Researchers had recently been able to pinpoint the sections of the brain that were involved through fMRI images and to refine their definition of dyslexia…
How Important Is Handwriting Instruction?
Handwriting is a hot topic among educators at the moment. What with technological advancements, core curriculum requirements, the need to prepare students for standardized testing..
Selecting a Program to Teach Keyboarding to Young Children
Many children who come to our clinic struggle with poor handwriting issues. We have a successful handwriting program and many children demonstrate great improvement after receiving this treatment…
Technology and Dyslexia – Part 2
The Winter 2013 issue of Perspectives – a quarterly magazine published by IDA – delivered the second part of the technology discussion started in the fall of 2013. Here is our take on it…
Dysgraphia – Part 4
We’ve looked at three reasons why writing skills don’t develop as they should. Remember Tim, the first grader who struggled to process spatial information so he “melted down” over tasks that required writing on paper? Then there was Sophie. She had a phonological processing deficit, or dyslexia, that made spelling accuracy a “hit or miss” proposition…
Dysgraphia – Part 3
Dysgraphia – “difficulty writing”. Remember Tim and Sophie? Tim was the first grader with the visual-spatial processing deficit making it hard for him to write legibly, and Sophie was the 4th grader with dyslexia who couldn’t spell very well so “hated” to write…
Dysgraphia – Part 2
Remember Tim? He’s the little first grader with a visual-spatial processing deficit making it hard for him to develop writing skills. He had a form of dysgraphia – difficulty writing. In this article I want to describe another child with a form of dysgraphia. Sophie was in 4th grade when we started working with her. She was behind in reading and “hated to write”…
Dysgraphia – Part 1
Does your child struggle with writing? Do you suspect she has dysgraphia? There are several reasons why children fail to develop good writing skills, and it might take a little digging to figure out which one is giving your child fits when it comes to getting her thoughts down on paper…
Learned Helplessness
When we receive calls from parents, we frequently hear them telling us not only about their child’s struggle with academic performance, but also their emotional struggles in the classroom. Frequently comments are made like, “He’s lazy”, or “He is just not trying hard enough.”…