In searching for more articles related to dyslexia, I came across this post that describes the differences between dysphonetic dyslexia (or known as auditory dyslexia) and dyseidetic dyslexia (or known as surface or visual dyslexia). Individuals with auditory dyslexia have difficulties putting sounds to letters, ie not knowing that the letter "b" makes the /b/ sound. Individuals with visual dyslexia, on the other hand, are unable to recognise irregular words (words that don't sound how they are spelled). For example "school"?

This seems to make dyslexia into two distinct categories, but in my experience, they don't always fall neatly into these two categories. Some children have difficulties both ways and may need years of help before they can read and spell adequately. Given that English also has many borrowed words from other languages, and hence can't always be spelt phonetically, (thus making it even more difficult for the dyseidetic dyslexic to learn), it is little wonder that some children with dyslexia spend years catching up with their peers. Does simple drilling help a child with dyslexia learn irregular words? hmm...

Types of Dyslexia

Came across an interesting read online as I was googling about the different types of dyslexia. Now this makes me want to dig out my uni notes to re-read up on them!

Types of Dyslexia: Three Subtypes are Orthographic, Phonological, and Mixed
Types of Dyslexia: Three Subtypes are Orthographic, Phonological, and Mixed

Interesting read!

Read with interest an article in the newspaper today about a British woman who started to speak with a Chinese accent after suffering from a very bad migraine attack. Apparently, her migraine was so bad that it caused the blood vessels in the brain to expand, leading to symptoms similar to those of a stroke. And the change in speech accent because of brain trauma is called Foreign Accent Syndrome. The paper states that brain damage can vary speech patterns by lengthening syllables, changing pitch and causing the mispronouncing of sounds.

It certainly was something very new to me. I guess it must be rather traumatic for the lady, who, after speaking in a certain tone all her life, now has to adapt to another totally foreign tone. She is apparently undergoing speech language therapy now to help her return to her usual speech rhythms and patterns, but I can only imagine that it would take a period of time. I wonder if she'll need to undergo some form of counselling as well.

I wanted to find out more about the g Factor

Came across the term g Factor today, and decided to look it up because I remembered having read about it in my uni days. I turned to trusty Wikipedia, and found that
- it meant general factor (abbreviated g) which shows the correlations among mental tests and mental abilities.
- It claims to be able to hold up regardless of the test type or the way in which the test is administered.
- It was a construct developed by Charles Spearman in 1923.
- It is a statistical technique called factor analysis.

Hmm, there are lots more information about it. Shall digest it before posting more. And perhaps dig up my old textbooks! :)

Definition of learning difficulties

While I was musing over what to blog, I thought that perhaps I should find out how learning difficulties should be defined. This would also create the framework to what I would like to find out more about. And so I googled it. It's the fastest way isn't it? :) I like Wikipedia's definition about learning difficulties, although they termed it as a learning disability. Here's what's written on wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_disability)

Learning disability (sometimes called a learning disorder or learning difficulty), is a classification including several disorders in which a person has difficulty learning in a typical manner, usually caused by an unknown factor or factors. The unknown factor is the disorder that affects the brain's ability to receive and process information. This disorder can make it problematic for a person to learn as quickly or in the same way as someone who isn't affected by a learning disability. Learning disability is not indicative of intelligence level. Rather, people with a learning disability have trouble performing specific types of skills or completing tasks if left to figure things out by themselves or if taught in conventional ways.

A learning disability cannot be cured or fixed. With the right support and intervention, however, people with learning disabilities can succeed in school and go on to be successful later in life.

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Note how it is a difficulty that affects the brain's ability to receive and process information. So it's not about how the child is not able to learn because the child does not want to learn, is too lazy to learn, does not ask, does not speak up etc etc. It is neurological in basis. And I like how they say that it is not indicative of intelligence level. Children with learning difficulties are not stupid, they just need to learn in a different way. Learning difficulties, unlike the common flu, cannot be cured, but they can be helped with the correct strategies. This is something I firmly belive in. And I think all educators need to know this.

Why I started this blog

I've decided that it's time for me to start documenting things I've learnt about special needs / learning needs. I'm by no means an expert in this, but I really just want a place where I can write down what I've learnt about the various learning difficulties as well as reviews of related books / articles. Shall endeavour to keep this going as much as I can. We'll see :)