Noise, loud or soft, effects learning environments, especially for neurodiverse students. These students may have especially acute hearing, hear outside the normal range of human hearing, or have trouble sorting background noise from what they need to pay attention to. Loud Noise Can Be Problematic for Everyone Loud noise can harm our hearing, whether it […]
Does Audio-Assisted Reading Help Dyslexic Students? Audio-assisted reading refers to reading text silently while hearing it read aloud. Hearing and seeing the words at the same time is the key. Research on audio-assisted reading shows widely different results. Some research shows that audio-assisted reading does not improve comprehension or retention of information by dyslexic students. […]
Proust and the Squid: The story and science of the reading brain, by Dr. Maryanne Wolf Dr. Maryanne Wolf has authored more than 160 scientific articles, she designed the RAVE-O reading intervention for children with dyslexia, and with Martha Denckla, co-authored the RAN/RAS naming speed tests, a major predictor of dyslexia across all languages. Currently […]
The Dyslexic Advantage is Real I first encountered Brock and Fernette Eide’s ground-breaking research on dyslexia when they published the first edition of The Dyslexic Advantage, back around 2011. At least that’s when I found it. It changed my life and my career. That book explained how my daughter could be both brilliant and extremely […]
The Saddest Word in Dyslexic History I think the saddest word in the history of dyslexic education is despite. For many dyslexic people, despite seems to define them: “If I work harder than anyone else, maybe I can get a college degree despite being dyslexic — I learned to read 150 wpm despite being dyslexic […]
The First Edition was Great; This One is Even Better! I first reviewed this powerhouse of information back in 2017. So why did I buy the 2023 Revised and Updated edition? Because A LOT has happened in dyslexia research in the past few years, and the Eide’s are in the thick of it. This book […]
Sold a Story is important I’ve just finished listening to all six episodes of Emily Hanford’s masterful podcast, Sold a Story. Should educators and concerned parents listen? Yes. Should they take it as gospel truth? No! Keep reading… Children have been harmed! Hanford is a talented and courageous journalist. I am grateful to her for […]
My classroom experiment I was happily teaching yearbook, newspaper and photography classes at a medium-sized high school. Then my principal asked me to teach a special English class that had been mandated by the state. It was a high-stakes class for seniors who had twice failed the state graduation test and now had to pass […]
Dr. Sam is a Wonderful Reading Teacher Resource Thanks to Dr. Sam Bommarito, I was alerted to an incredibly important 2022 paper on reading — full citation included at the end of this blog. One reason I blog is to read research papers and simplify them for those who need the info but don’t have […]
Kids Teaching Kids I came across this great teaching resource on peer-assisted learning in a podcast by Dr. Sam Bommarito. The book is available in both the UK and US. Peer Assisted Learning: A Practical Guide for Teachersby Keith ToppingCambridge, MA: Brookline Books (2000) What is Peer-Assisted Learning? Topping defines peer-assisted learning as the “acquisition of knowledge […]