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Spotlight on: Dyslexia
(Said like: dis-lek-see-uh)
Dyslexia: A type of learning disability that makes it hard for people to read because the letters of words often appear mixed up. Dyslexia does not have anything to do with how smart someone is. People with dyslexia have trouble making the connection between the way things sound and the letters that make up that sound. The sounds of speech are called phonemes (said like: fo-neems); an example of a phoneme is the "l" sound in "leg." People with dyslexia might read the phrase "When you read" like this: "Whe nyo uread." Some people with dyslexia also have a hard time spelling, writing out their thoughts, and speaking.
Every few months, you will find new learning tips for a different health issue in the "spotlight." The current spotlight offers ideas for dealing with dyslexia.
Students with dyslexia are often as smart as or smarter than the other kids in class, but they have to find different ways to learn. Below are some tips for understanding what you read by following the SQ3R method, one of the many ways of learning with dyslexia. SQ3R stands for survey, questions, read, recite, and review (the 3 R's).
- Survey: Scan or look quickly at the reading to check out headings, subheadings, sidebars, boxes, and other ways that information is highlighted or stands out.
- Question: Ask yourself questions as you scan, such as, "What did the teacher say about this chapter?" and "What do I already know about this subject?" Also, turn the bolded headings within the reading into questions that you will answer later.
- Read: Read carefully, answering the questions you created with the headings along the way. Read sections that are hard to understand again until you feel good about it.
- Recite: Take notes from your reading and then ask yourself questions out loud about what you just read.
- Review: While there are many ways you can review the reading, try writing a checklist of things you need to know from the table of contents. List all of the topics you need to know, and then both say out loud and write down what you need to know about each topic.
Content last updated June 2, 2007
