Harnessing Intellectual Potential: AI and Dyslexia

Students with dyslexia often have challenges with tasks associated with reading and writing and can find written work frustrating. Artificial Intelligence technology is transforming the lives of dyslexic students at all levels with speech recognition tools that are supporting their creative and intellectual development.

Teacher observing students using technology

Dyslexia is a hidden learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling. It is a life-long, genetic condition that is thought to affect around 10% of the population. Dyslexia affects the way information is processed, stored and retrieved, with problems of memory, speed of processing, time perception, organisation and sequencing. Students with dyslexia tend to have difficulties in phonological awareness, verbal memory and verbal processing speed.

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      string(299) "Speech, language and communication needs are the single most prevalent need among children with SEN, whatever their diagnosis—and the impact, should this need remain unaddressed, can last a lifetime. Bob Reitemeier, Chief Executive of children’s communication charity I CAN, examines the stakes."
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      string(5707) "delayed language and language disorders have different causes and different presenting characteristics, and therefore require different solutions. However, if left unchecked, both will significantly impact the child’s life.Identifying language disordersSLCN cuts right across labels and diagnoses. But every child with SLCN is different—they will have their own strengths and particular needs, even if they have been diagnosed with a specific disorder. In some cases, the diagnosis itself will obscure the communications needs a child has, as teachers attribute certain behaviours to the disorder and fail to correctly interpret the symptoms. This is why staff must be given proper training to identify these needs accurately and ensure appropriate support.Autism Most children with autism have communication difficulties. Ensuring teachers understand these and know how to support them can make a huge difference. Interventions for children and young people with SLCN as well as autism should take into account their needs as a whole. In addition, in order to develop their language and communication abilities, children and young people with autism and SLCN require support to develop effective peer relationships and to address emotional difficulties.Teaching skills such as how to start and finish a conversation, how to make friends and how communication changes in different situations can support this. Use of strategies tailored to a child’s needs is valuable. Many people with autism are thought to be visual learners and therefore language and communication development can be supported by helping staff to present information in a visual way. Approaches such as visual timetables, photographs and pictures to support transitions and to introduce content for curriculum subjects can all be beneficial.Visual cues can be used as part of other approaches such as Social Stories. For all children, including and perhaps especially those with autism, ensuring he or she can understand the language around them, and employing strategies to support this, are also important. Keeping language within their level of understanding and ensuring they have time to process the information are key steps in the process of learning.Learning disabilitiesAll children with learning disability have delayed communication development. It is crucial that senior leaders, and particularly SEN coordinators (SENCos), have a sound understanding of the learning and development needs of very young children, in order to enable effective and early identification of learning difficulties.Of course, with the SEND reforms, this will now be equally important for all staff working in a setting. It is therefore essential that all teaching staff understand the developmental stages of language development, in order for them to appropriately target and support a child’s language skills. Children with learning disability may rely on different forms of communication—for example, signing, symbols or use of technology, as well as speech.  Strategies and resources to enable this will equally be essential. Strategies to support comprehension skills, such as clear, simple instructions, repeating key information, and pre-teaching of vocabulary, will also be beneficial.Social, emotional and mental health issuesA large percentage of children with social, emotional and mental health issues have communication needs—often, these are hidden. Studies show that children and young people with communication difficulties are at increased risk of social, emotional and behavioural difficulties and mental health issues, are at greater risk of exclusion from school8, and have lower self-esteem.9 Due to their language difficulties, they often find it difficult to form and maintain friendships, so are more likely to be socially isolated.10 Overall, the main areas of difficulty are the development of successful peer relationships, prosocial behaviour and the risk of developing emotional difficulties.As mentioned earlier, the behaviour is often very obvious, but the underlying cause less so. For this reason, it is essential that teaching staff consider SLCN as a possible cause for behavioural and/or emotional difficulties. One report examined the failure of schools to identify and assess underlying behavioural problems in children, which it claims are often the cause of a child’s permanent exclusion from school and recommended the introduction of screening for SLCN.11DyslexiaDyslexia and language disorder are closely linked. Knowledge about language difficulties can help staff to interpret the difficulties a child is having and will enable appropriate strategies to be put in place. Many of the characteristics are interlinked—difficulties with sequencing, understanding of higher order language, processing of language, and memory.  These are all language-based skills with which a child with dyslexia may experience problems.How can we help the workforce identify SLCN?Everyone working in the field of SEND shares the objective of ensuring staff have the right competencies to support these children and young people.  Over the past 15 years, I CAN have explored different routes to supporting the children’s workforce and have identified many opportunities. It is our view that staff working across the full age range of children, from early years through secondary school and FE, need the tools and training to help children and young people at every stage of their learning. Our portfolio of interventions, training materials and programmes of support include"
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ADHD

Helping children communicate

31 Oct 2016

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      string(5799) "Introduction and Context This work has been developed because of the need for a greater understanding of the needs of those with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDS). As an experienced teacher, I have seen many students with a range of needs facing difficulties with accessing curriculum, coping with demands upon them and suffering mental ill health. The purpose of this article is to illuminate the examples of the lived lives of those with both dyslexia and depression and to underline the correlation between them.  Dyslexia and depression—an overview The key aspects associated with dyslexia are difficulties in a number of principal areas. These include, although not exhaustively—reading, writing, spelling, concentration, processing, perception, organisation and memory. The British Dyslexia Association suggests: Contrary to popular misconception, Dyslexia is not only about literacy, although weaknesses in literacy are often the most visible sign. Dyslexia affects the way information is processed, stored and retrieved, with problems of memory, speed of processing, time perception, organisation and sequencing.1 The relationship between dyslexia and depression, the specific focus of this work, can be caused by excessive stress levels. Individuals with dyslexia also have to work exceptionally hard in order to achieve a level of success and ‘keep up’ with the class.2 Equally, some, despite their best efforts, cannot ascertain why they are not making the same progress as their peers are, which adversely affects their self-esteem.3 Consequently, high anxiety and decreasing self-esteem due to perpetual feelings of failure and actual academic failings are commonly experienced. Those with dyslexia are faced, on a daily basis, with a number of tasks that they may find challenging and unable to adequately access. A positive diagnosis of depression is reliant upon confirmation by the individual of the occurrence of a cluster of symptoms. Some of the pertinent features of depression are psychological, affecting the mind, in which a person may become unable to think clearly and rationally and, in cases of severe depression, unable to work. The individual may also suffer physical symptoms, for example, erratic sleeping patterns, alterations in behaviour and eating, as well as exhaustion and aching muscles and painful sensations in areas of the body, such as the head and back. At present, what is known about dyslexia, stress and mental health is generally from dated sources. Moreover, innovative research in this field is limited. Thus, the timely and original nature of this work, offering fresh insights into an area which is currently under explored other than by a small number of inspired individuals, such as Alexander-Passe.4     MethodologyThis work has used ‘storying’ to gather qualitative thick description to describe what it is like to live with dyslexia. In so doing, this research asked participants to describe their experiences of living with a diagnosis of dyslexia and the holistic impact this had upon them. Each participant had experienced difficulties with dyslexia and mental health. A method called Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), a sociological and psychological approach which examines the interpretation of life experiences, was employed to capture and analyse the experiences of those interviewed.  The impact of power relations on the research were minimised by explaining that the researcher was an equal who sincerely wanted to hear their account. No judgements were being made, but, rather, this was seen as providing potential empowerment to the interviewees, where their story may also inspire or help other people.  The following case studies present the individual stories of two of the participants, where each interviewee has been assigned a pseudonym. The first is based on an interview with Alex and the second with Katie. Both describe their experiences at secondary school and beyond.Alex’s StoryWhen Alex was at secondary school, he reported feeling that he was a ‘burden’ upon the hardworking staff who really did not want him in their class. Alex said:They used to sigh loudly to me, in way of resentment that they had to differentiate materials for me. I was often made to sit on a table away from my peers and facing towards the back of the room. Some of the children just ignored me from then onwards and others called me names, which I still remember today.   Alex was aware that he had concentration problems when at secondary school and the staff called him ‘naughty’ and he felt as though they had no desire to help him achieve his best. Moreover, they lacked understanding of what Alex was struggling to do in meeting the demands of the curriculum and, at the same time being constantly compared to his peers. He stated:The continual comparison to other kids in the class was wearing and lacked of any real compassion or understanding of SEN [Special Educational Needs].    When Alex left secondary school, he felt relief, but also trepidation. He was relieved that he was away from the school who had ‘written me off’, but scared at the prospect of further and higher education. Alex received the diagnosis that he had dyslexia in the first year of college. On receiving the diagnosis, Alex stated that he felt relieved that, although he knew he was ‘different’ from the others in the class, he now knew why. He explained that the difficulties he had"
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Conditions

Surviving the Stress of Dyslexia

6 Feb 2019

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      string(5679) "This month’s Practitioner Researchstudents within lessons. Some enjoydetailed descriptions, whereas otherswill enjoy using pictures to triggertheir memory as a visual support.Sir Jim Rose1 found that lessonsorganised to ensure students werelearning in small, frequent ‘chunks’really helped those with low literacylevels.Using a range of learning styles andapproaches ensures there is a focuson a larger portion of preferences,enabling an increased opportunityof inclusion for all. However, thereis a need to guard against focusingthe majority of the lesson to theSupporting literacy difficulties in themainstream classroomAll students must be provided with equal educational opportunities– the DfE and Ofsted make that quite clear– which is why catering to the wide-ranging needs of students with dyslexia or other literacy difficulties canbe so awkward to manage in a class of thirty pupils. Gareth D Morewood and Emily Watson detail somesimple strategies observed during their own research to make supporting these students easier.One of the most commonliteracy barriers is dyslexia– a learning difficulty inhibitingreading, spelling, verbalmemory, and processing ability.Students with dyslexia cannotbe directly categorised intospecific groups as their learningneeds vary greatly. This requiresindividualised plans for studentsto support their needs and whatsuits one student may not suit all.A variety of methods ofcommunication therefore, help tofacilitate the inclusion of dyslexic http://www.teachingtimes.comThis month’s Practitioner Researchteacher’s preferred learning style, asthis could alienate some learners.Rose explained that focusing on onelearning style that a student findsdifficult could lead to low self esteem.Providing strategies to supportstudents’ needs therefore reducesthe risk of them becoming detachedfrom learning, and also helps supportthem to reach their full potential. Thesuccess of inclusion depends uponthe teacher’s attitude to modifyingand adapting these strategies andpractices to suit the needs of theirstudents. When approaches aremodified according to a student’sspecific learning needs and thestudent feels included, he or she hasmore chance of achieving.We observed a female Year 10student who had low literacy levelsand dyslexia in a range of learningcontexts. By taking the time toobserve this student, we increasedour knowledge of her needs,identifying and understanding thespecific difficulties she experiencesand then enabling us to employsuccessful strategies to support her.Multiple questions andinstructionsDuring observations andconversations with staff, it becameevident that teachers adapted theway in which they communicatedwith students dependent upon need.Instructions were usually brokendown into small steps, allowingstudents to fulfil one task beforemoving on. This ensured all studentswere able to follow instructions andkept the pace of the lesson sharp. Onoccasions when multiple instructionswere given, students appearedconfused – therefore not achieving asmuch as when shorter instructionswere provided.Observations highlighted thatduring questioning, the studentanswered separate questions in turnto develop answers, rather thanleaping straight into one complexquestion. Encouraging teachersto use a series of questions alsosupported an inclusive environmentas understanding could be clarified,thus preventing leaving the studentbehind.WorksheetsWhen observing one cateringlesson, we noticed using questionsto support learning was done in ananonymous way – students wereallowed to write any questions thatthey had on a worksheet. Staff thenidentified the questions and eitheranswered them to the individual, orposed the question to the group,allowing the high achievers to supportthe inclusion of those of a lowerability. The sheet also supportedan inclusive learning environmentin other ways, allowing students tohighlight what they identified to bethe key facts, differentiating theirlearning to their target grade.http://www.teachingtimes.comThis month’s Practitioner ResearchCare was also taken to ensure thatall teachers followed simple guidelinesabout the production of worksheets,in order to universally supportstudents’ possible difficulties withaccessing the written text. (See box atthe end of article)While completing worksheets inthe catering session, students withspecific literacy needs utilised keywords lists, ensuring correct spelling.Lists were produced by the studentsas a homework task, and containedvisual aids alongside descriptions.This supported a variety of learningstyles and increased independence inlessons.‘Chunking’ and clear lessonstructureTo facilitate an inclusive learningenvironment for students with dyslexiaand literacy difficulties, the Departmentfor Education2 suggests that lessonsshould be highly structured. This allowsthe students to clearly identify whatthey should be doing, and allows themto see what they need to do to reachthe objectives.Using a variety of tasks tosupport learning in small ‘chunks’has also been suggested, as this canreduce the chances of studentsbecoming disengaged when theyare not working in their preferredlearning style. It was felt that this alsosupported the learning of others asit kept the pace of the lesson movingand catered for a variety of preferredlearning styles. This also ensured thatthe students had an understanding ofthe structure of the lesson from thestart, so they knew what to expect.Key words and rote learningReading words repeatedly strengthensthe connection students have withthe words, according to"
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Special Needs

Supporting literacy difficulties in the mainstream classroom

9 May 2013

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      string(5653) "staff. We have school staff trained in speech and language screening and interventions, vision screening, dyslexia and dyscalculia screening, and talk and draw therapies, as well as the more usual academic interventions. There have also been whole-school training sessions around improving working memory and attachment disorders. Members of staff have recently been trained in the Thrive approach, which helps adults understand children’s behaviour as communication. This approach is now being used across the school. Staff are encouraged to undertake further research in an area that interests them and to cascade that knowledge to other members of the team.As we have an Enhanced Resource Provision for children with a statement or EHC plan for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), many of our staff are highly skilled in this area. The strategies used within the ERP are used throughout the whole school to support children where needed. This may be the use of visual timetables, the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), or a care plan if there is a medical need. Supporting every child Every half term, following our usual assessment cycle, we hold pupil progress meetings. During these meetings, every child in the school is discussed and their next steps planned. The meetings are attended by the child’s class teachers, phase leader, phase learning mentor, as well as the pastoral manager, the SENDCo, the deputy head who leads on assessment, and myself. Each member has an input into the provision for each child and, by including different leaders, a holistic view is gained.Children who are not making the expected progress have an intervention identified for them to close the gap. Minutes of the meeting record who will deliver the intervention and the impact expected. This will be reviewed in the following pupil progress meeting. Referrals to outside agencies are logged too, so we can see how long it is taking for the assessments to take place and take action if necessary. We identified, for example, that there was an 18-month waiting list to see an occupational therapist, so our sports coach started to develop a programme which could be delivered to small groups or on an individual basis based on previous Occupational Health targets. This does not alleviate the necessity to see the expert, but it does mean that we can be delivering some extra support while we await further guidance.This plan, deliver and review cycle fits with the graduated approach mentioned in the Code of Practice. It allows us to determine which are the most effective interventions and which provide the greatest impact. As all the interventions are logged and measured, we have to hand all the evidence required if it becomes necessary to apply for an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. All decisions made in the pupil progress meeting are shared with the parents and the child by the class teacher, and parents are given advice as to how they can support their child at home, usually by the sharing and playing of a game. The conversations with parents follow the format of the structured conversations as used in Achievement for All. Since introducing this way of sharing information with parents, we now have 96 per cent attendance at parents’ meetings, as contrasted with the 42 per cent before we started the programme.Bringing the children on boardThe curriculum here at Aldermoor Farm is personalised so that all children can access it. This has, on occasion, meant that children have worked in year groups not linked to their chronological age to help fill the gaps in knowledge and skills. This has always happened with the approval of parents and is part of the usual half termly review. Children are encouraged to work with children from other year groups through an established buddy system. We have reading buddies, number buddies and play buddies. This has resulted in some of lower achieving Key Stage 2 children having increased self-esteem, because they are helping younger children. A definite win-win programme.Within lessons, there is an expectation that children be independent and use the scaffold that is right for them, whether that is a writing frame, visuals or even technology, to allow them to achieve the outcome of the lesson. There are regular discussions with children, through the school council, as to what they think is needed to help them achieve. Suggestions have included having more ‘quiet time’ in lessons to help them to concentrate, and vocabulary lists before the start of a new topic. Many of our children also need to learn a variety of life skills, so there are many opportunities to teach these incorporated into the curriculum—for example, using a knife and fork, crossing the road, setting a table or making a sandwich. One of our most popular rewards is a lunch date with myself or another teacher where a child can display their table manners! Our next step is to invite parents and younger siblings in for lunch so that these basic skills can be taught at home.Some of our children find playtime and lunchtimes difficult, with an unstructured playground proving the most troublesome. As a result of this, we changed our provision. The playground is now divided into zones, so if a child wants to play football, they will not stop someone using a skipping rope or sitting reading. Staff are assigned to zones and are trained to play traditional games with the children—keeping them busy helps to avoid disputes! Our young sports leaders have been trained to act as referees and to encourage children"
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Inclusion and Pupil Premium

Inclusion in action

13 Mar 2017