Do you have a child who is in first grade who receives special education services but is already struggling with reading? Have you been told by special education personnel that you are worrying too soon, and that your child does not have dyslexia? Many school districts have a very narrow view of dyslexia which is harming many children all over the USA! This article will discuss definition of Dyslexia as well as a tool called the Boder Test of Reading Spelling Patterns; that may be used as part of an evaluation, to determine if your child has dyslexia.
The International Dyslezia Association defines dyslexia as: A specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent work recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities, and the provision of effective classroom instruction.
Many school districts do not define dyslexia this way, and many children go undiagnosed, which harms children. Why is this harmful? Because children are not able to get the special education services they need for their dyslexia, if they are not diagnosed properly.
A tool developed in the 1980’s called the Boder Test of Reading Spelling Patterns was designed to specifically aid in the diagnosis of dyslexia. The test is recommended to be included as part of a comprehensive (psychological) educational evaluation.
The test was developed to differentiate between the four subtypes of reading problems; one unspecific reading disability and to classify the three types of dyslexia. The three types of dyslexia are called: dysphonetic dyslexia, dyseidetic dyslexia and mixed dypsonetic/dyseidetic. Dysphonetic dyslexia means auditory dyslexia and Dyseidetic means visual dyslexia, and mixed dypsonetic/dyseidetic means both. Another article stated that this test is also used to provide guidelines for the remediation of all subtypes of dyslexia. This would be extremely helpful to parents and special education personnel.
As part of a comprehensive psychological evaluation the Boder test is helpful in determining if a child has dyslexia. A standardized achievement test like the Weschler Individual Achievement Test including the reading comprehension subtest, requires that the child engage in higher level comprehension, which could also show difficulties in reading. Also testing in the areas of: Speech/Language (receptive and expressive), visual and auditory perception, sensory integration, visual spatial, visual motor integration, occupational therapy, phonological awareness, phonological memory, rapid naming, work finding ability, nonsense word ability, reading comprehension, spelling and written expression will be needed.
All of this information can be used by the IEP team to help determine if your child has dyslexia, and determine type of remediation given. Research has shown that children with dyslexia need a multisensory reading and spelling program that uses a synthetic code emphasis approach. A few names of these types of programs are: Orton-Gillingham, Wilson, and Lindamood Bell, though you may find more by using a search engine such as Google.
Recommend this test to your school district as well as testing in the areas recommended above. You will well be on your way to helping your child learn to read and enriching the rest of their life. Good Luck!
By: JoAnn Collins
Posts Tagged ‘Educational Evaluation’
Could the Boder Test of Reading Spelling Patterns Help Determine If My Child Has Dyslexia?
January 3rd, 2010Educational Evaluation For Special Education Student With Autism
November 25th, 2009
All students in special education are required by law to have a complete evaluation every three years to determine eligibility for special education services. The following case study is about a student named “Adam”. Adam is seven years old and has autism. He is in a Special Day Class setting in a public school. The case study includes details of Adam’s three-year educational evaluation.
The student in this case study has autism. His name is Adam. Adam is seven years old. He is in a Special Day Class for Severely Handicapped students. Adam’s 3-year evaluation needed to be completed to determine eligibility for his special education services. Adam has an advocate and parents who are intensely involved with his education. When the assessment plan was presented to the parents, they requested additional assessments including a functional analysis, occupational therapy and an assistive technology assessment. A copy of the signed assessment plan was given to the appropriate specialists: psychologist, occupational therapist, speech therapist, speech therapist, nurse and special education teacher.
The school psychologist observed Adam on several occasions before administering the psycho-educational profile revised (PEP-R). The PEP-R covers a variety of developmental areas. The test items are presented with simple, concrete instructions and most of the expected responses are nonverbal. The PEP-R provides information on developmental functioning in imitation, perception, fine motor, gross motor, eye-hand integration, cognitive performance and cognitive verbal areas. The PEP-R consists of a set of toys and learning materials that were presented to Adam within structured play activities. The psychologist recorded Adam’s responses to the test. His scores were then distributed among seven developmental and four behavioral areas. The resulting profile revealed Adam’s strengths and weaknesses in the different areas of development and behavior.
Adam’s portfolio was used as an assessment tool. Included in his portfolio were work samples, progress reports, behavior reports, notes from parents and daily reports. The teacher sent home daily reports that included performance, compliance and prompt levels on Adam’s tasks and goals/benchmarks. His parents signed and returned the daily reports and became part of his portfolio. The daily reports were used to assist in the assessment of Adam.
The school psychologist also conducted the functional analysis to determine why Adam was exhibiting disruptive behaviors. Questionnaires were sent home for the parents to complete. Screaming and biting were behaviors his parents and teacher were concerned about. The classroom teacher was responsible for collecting data on the behaviors. The psychologist and the teacher created a data collection form. The teacher recorded the occurrence of the undesired behaviors. The information from the parents, psychologist observations and teacher were compiled by the psychologist and the report was written.
The occupational therapist observed Adam, assessed him and wrote a report. The school nurse tested Adam with a special device. She was able to determine that his hearing appeared to be normal. Adam’s parents reported no problems with his vision and hearing. The speech therapist, who worked with him over the past year, also assessed him.
Other tests that can be used to diagnose and assess students with autism are the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC), Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R), Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) and Pre-Linguistic Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (PL-ADOS). These tests are individual autism assessment instruments that have been specifically designed to assess children with autism. Furthermore, these tests rely on either historical information about the child’s behavior (usually provided by a parent), direct observation of the child by a professional or a combination of these methods.
Adam’s assessment for his 3-year evaluation was extensive and comprehensive. This assessment gave the team information on Adam’s development, behavior, communication, health, coordination and cognitive levels. With this information, the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) team determined that his placement was appropriate. Occupational Therapy (OT) services were recommended. The occupational therapist wrote several goals and will provide services for Adam. The functional analysis concluded that Adam’s undesired behaviors occurred during transitions. The assistive technology assessment revealed that Adam excelled in this area. No recommendations were needed. Although Adam’s assessment was extensive and required hard work for the IEP team, valuable information was provided that assisted the team in making recommendations for Adam’s education. The assessment also revealed that Adam was making great progress in his special day class setting.
By: Vivek Chaturvedi
