Th is i s wah t mnay dys lxe ics wh en see rea ding. You may not know what the previous sentence says, but one in five people do – that’s the number of people in the U.S. who are dyslexic. According to the International Dyslexia Association, dyslexia is a language-based learning disability that may affect an individual’s ability to read, write, spell and pronounce words. The degree of difficulty a dyslexic person has with such tasks varies from person to person.
This summer at the Johnson Co. Fair I had the opportunity to meet Greenwood resident Cheryl Clemens who shared with me about Indiana’s Decoding Dyslexia organization. Decoding Dyslexia is a grassroots movement driven by Indiana families to raise awareness about dyslexia among parents, educators, community leaders, legislators and the general public. Indiana was the 13 start a Decoding Dyslexia group and did so in February of this year.
Cheryl and other members of Decoding Dyslexia met with me and other legislators at the Statehouse last week. They shared with us more information about dyslexia and what we can do to create change in Indiana.
Despite the commonness of dyslexia, misconceptions about the learning disability still remain. Dyslexia occurs in people of all backgrounds and is unrelated to intelligence. Dyslexia does not limit one’s ability to think, speak or be creative. In fact, quite the opposite is true. Some filmmakers such as Steven Spielberg have dyslexia in addition to business leaders like Charles Schwab. Even Apple founder Steve Jobs had dyslexia.
With appropriate teaching methods dyslexics can learn successfully. The method of instruction the Decoding Dyslexia group recommend was the Orton-Gillingham approach. This technique was developed by Dr. Samuel Orton, a neuropsychiatric and pathologist, and Anna Gillingham, an educator and psychologist. It is a multisensory, phonics-based method that utilities the three learning pathways through which people learn – visual, auditory and kinesthetic. Simultaneously hearing, seeing and feeling the letters helps to ensure automatic memory. This method is not only critical to the success of dyslexic students, but it provides a strong foundation for all students.
The Orton-Gillingham approach was used in a pilot program in two of the lowest performing schools in the Indianapolis Public School district last year. The program consisted of daily instruction for students in kindergarten through second grade using the Orton-Gillingham approach for 30 minutes of the 90-minute reading block. The teachers were trained prior to the school year and received daily lesson plans in addition to monthly, grade-level specific professional development.
The results of the pilot program were phenomenal. At the beginning of the year, only 22% of all kindergarten students met benchmark goals, but by the middle of the year that number increased to 92%. These students were able to blend short-vowel words by the end of the first quarter as well as read and write short-vowel words with blends by the middle of the third quarter.
I am encouraged by the success seen in this pilot program. Since dyslexia is not defined in administrative code and there are not clear policies and procedures in place regarding it, some students do not receive the assistance they need. As a member of the Commission on Education, I think it is important that we take a look at this issue and do what we can to ensure a bright future for all Indiana students.
