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(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. 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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. 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Inclusion and Pupil Premium

Inclusion in action

20 Jun 2017

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      string(5673) "primaryschool are no longer effective may find it hard to accesshelp, because younger children are typically prioritised byspecialist health services. There is a lack of clear pathwaysfor assessment, diagnosis and support for teenagers withdyspraxia and many professionals, including GPs, whomight facilitate access to such services are unsure howand where to refer for specialist advice. Even when anassessment and diagnosis is made, resource limitationsmay mean that health professionals cannot offer directintervention. It is vital therefore that information is madeavailable to parents, teachers, other professionals andteenagers themselves so that good practice and strategiesare shared to enable teenagers to reach their potential academically, emotionally andsocially.Supporting teenagers with dyspraxiaSecondary school staff have a key role to play in ensuring that a student’s coordinationand organisational difficulties are recognised, assessed and addressed. When reviewinga student who appears to be underperforming, staff should consider whether theirdifficulties might be caused by an underlying motor problem or difficulties associatedwith verbal dyspraxia. If this is the case then onward referrals should be made for furtherassessment by an occupational therapist, physiotherapist, speech and language therapistor psychologist as per local pathways.As with all students with additional needs, a graduated approach for studentswith dyspraxia is recommended. Quality first teaching strategies can and should beimplemented even before the condition is diagnosed or a young person assessed bya specialist professional. These might include reducing the requirement for writtenoutput without reducing cognitive task expectations, reinforcing verbal instructions withhttp://www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/http://www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/downloads/FactSheets/Provision_of_laptops.pdfhttp://www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/downloads/FactSheets/Provision_of_laptops.pdfwww.teachingtimes.com n Vol 4.6Conditions Every Child Journal45additional written cues to help students with poor short term memory, and considering astudent’s position in the classroom to minimise distractions such as shadows falling acrossthe page or being jostled by people passing behind.Many students with dyspraxia will benefit from targeted support to develop thefunctional motor skills required to safely and effectively use equipment for design andtechnology and science lessons. Being shown how to measure accurately, use a saw orhandle a sharp knife will result in a better outcome which will improve both a student’sgrades and their self-esteem. Many students will benefit from alternative equipment anddifferent ways of doing things. However, it is vital that teenagers are involved in discussionsabout which accommodations are acceptable to them as adolescence is a time whenyoung people are very keen to fit in rather than stand out. Enabling teenagers to analyseand monitor the effectiveness of support strategies is a skill that will be of use to them infurther education and the workplace in the future. If alternative equipment or strategieshave been identified, it is important that the student is able to access these without fuss.This requires good communication between the SEN department, other teachers andstudents themselves.Teenagers with dyspraxia often benefit from targeted help for their organisation andplanning skills. A common accommodation is to provide extra time for assessment andexams, but this is of little benefit if students are not taught how to use this time effectively.In some cases, extra time (and the logistical arrangements that come with it) may not berequired if students with dyspraxia are taught essay planning and time-management skills.Some teenagers with dyspraxia complain that the specific support offered by SENdepartments is not appropriately differentiated for their needs as it is more appropriatefor students with autism or dyslexia. Specific support that may be of benefit to studentswith dyspraxia include teaching touch-typing, memory strategies, self-calming techniquesto better manage frustration and anxiety, and being taught how to handle specialistequipment.Teenagers with dyspraxia are at risk of social isolation because their poor coordinationand slow processing speed make it difficult for them to participate in socially-valuedactivities. Some teenagers are vulnerable to bullying and manipulation by peers who enjoyhighlighting and taking advantage of their weaknesses. Teachers can help by encouragingteenagers with dyspraxia to participate in organised activities at lunchtimes and at break,by supporting a buddy friendship scheme and by offering interventions to help developsocial skills.Case Study: JoeJoe is a 15 year old boy. Alongside his motor difficulties, he has huge issues processing language and following conversations.He cannot remember or follow instructions and misses social cues meaning that he often reacts inappropriately. He also hasperceptual difficulties which results in the world being an unstable and confusing environment.Something seemingly simple to most other people like crossing the road poses major problems for him as he cannotestimate the speed or distance of oncoming vehicles. 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Special Needs

Dyspraxia in adolescence

11 Dec 2014

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      string(5761) "logic/maths problems); Visual/Spatial (visualmemory and spatial awareness); Kinaesthetic(dexterity); Musical (response to music); andNaturalist (understanding nature), together with aninth ‘intelligence’ that has been suggested recently:Spiritual Intelligence.The significance of this theory to education is thatif students have not developed their mathematical/logical, and their linguistic, intelligences thentraditional schooling in this country may well befailing them, since it is these intelligences that aretested regularly. Very few school exams test, say, one’sinterpersonal intelligence! Yet, it is the interpersonalintelligence that many feel is one of the keys to ahappy life.35Teaching Thinking  Autumn 2001www.teachthinking.com Thinking skills in NorthumberlandThinking skills in NorthumberlandThinking skills in NorthumberlandThinking skills in NorthumberlandThinking skills in NorthumberlandLearning through visual, auditory andkinaesthetic methodsSome of us learn best visually – that is by seeingsomething written down, seeing a picture, orvisualising in our mind whatever it is that we aretrying to learn (Visual learners). Others learn best byhearing the information (Auditory learners); yetothers learn best by doing something – whetherthat’s trying the new skill, writing down the new fact,or doodling as they learn (Kinaesthetic learners).Most of us use any of the three methods at differenttimes depending on the context, but generallyspeaking we all have a preferred way of learning. Thesignificance of this for education is that, though thesplit of visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learnersacross the population as a whole is fairly even,traditional schooling tends to teach auditory learnersmore effectively (it’s easier for the teacher to talkthrough the new learning than it is to get all 30children to ‘do’ the learning through drama, dance,physical manipulation of objects, or other dextrousactivities). Bearing this in mind, then, it comes as notraining a record number of teachers and teaching assistantsin the use of philosophy in the classroom; strengtheningthe links between the four middle schools and the one highschool in the area so that the transition for pupils is moreeffective and less nerve-racking for all concerned; anddeveloping three new initiatives known respectively as RAISLearning Days, RAIS Confident Kids, and Developing ThinkingSkills in the Classroom Level 1.RAIS Learning DaysMany of the younger children in the Berwick PartnershipSchools had their first contact with the Berwick RAIS Projectin the form of a RAIS Learning Day. Though an importantoutcome was an exciting, stimulating and hard-working dayfor the children, the key focus of these days was, andcontinues to be, to introduce the class teacher to many ofthe thinking skills ideas in their own classroom so that theycan be sure that the RAIS initiative isn’t just a good theorybut that it actually works in practice.Each RAIS Learning Day involves both consultants workingwith a class developing maps from memory, Philosophy forChildren, spelling techniques using the three forms oflearning – visual, audio and kinaesthetic – and memorygames, together with work based upon Howard Gardner’sidea of Multiple Intelligences. At the end of the day thechildren and their teacher each receive a ThinkingCertificate, which they very often display proudly at theparents’ evening that follows each RAIS Day. The parents’surprise that the large majority of children on specialneeds registers learn best kinaesthetically (which iswhy many of the so-called SEN children can’t wait forthe next PE, art or drama lesson).The challenge for everyone in education is toredress the balance and attempt to create lessonsthat cater for all three learning styles as equally aspossible.During a RAIS Learning Day with first schoolchildren, this theory is applied to learning a newspelling: by first listening to the pronunciation of theword and spelling it out a number of times to get the‘sound’ of the word (Auditory learners); then writingdown the word and splitting it into smaller chunks,highlighting the most difficult part(s) in a brightcolour (Visual learners); then ‘writing’ the word in theair, chunk by chunk, using the child’s arm stretchedout in front of him/her self (Kinaesthetic learners).Finally, using all three methods: with closed eyes andusing an imaginary wand, ‘burning’ the word onto animaginary board about 12 inches above and to theleft of the eyes whilst calling out each letter.evenings are seen as an important way of involving andinforming parents by giving advice on ways to build uponthe children’s new skills.RAIS Confident KidsSubstantial research across the world suggests that, incomparison to the influence of parents and carers, schoolshave very little impact upon a child’s self-esteem.Recognising this, the RAIS Project has begun to deliverparent workshops at each school aimed at helping parents/carers to better understand the impact upon their child of36 Teaching Thinking  Autumn 2001www.teachthinking.comThinking skills in NorthumberlandThinking skills in NorthumberlandThinking skills in NorthumberlandThinking skills in NorthumberlandThinking skills in Northumberlandself-talk, and the raising of confidence, self-esteem andexpectations. In all cases the reaction from workshopattendees has been very positive, though the commonproblem of attracting the parents of children withparticularly low self-esteem has yet to be overcome, despitesome progress being made.Developing thinking skills in the classroom"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

Raising Aspirations by teaching thinking?

30 Dec 2010

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      string(5770) "maybe all but a few learners in our ever more inclusive classrooms—to show and communicate patterns of thinking. These tools leverage learning well beyond the common linear presentations of information that is found in text—now often for online learning. Ideas in linear text and now regularly around the world in bulleted Powerpoint presentations (while great achievements of human kind) under-represent the holism of human thinking that may be conveyed in visual-spatial-verbal modes. Importantly, for the longer term of a lifetime of the continuous learning through multiple jobs, when learners become fluent visual tools users, they are improving their awareness of how to transfer and adapt fundamental cognitive processes of mind and brain to new challenges. Learners’ need to be able to improve and transfer their common and unique thinking processes to different learning environments, virtually, in person, and through dynamic interactions with new AR, VR and AI applications.This means that in schools and the workplace, this generation of learners needs to be able to do the higher resolution, granular thinking of problem solving, decision making and moral reasoning borne of human intelligence and our evolutionary social-emotional place in the world. Metacognition is the key: we humans are uniquely evolved to think about how we are thinking, improving on our skills and abilities, and collectively taking action using tools of all kinds. But visual tools for thinking are quickly replacing the agrarian and industrial tools of past ages. Once fluent with a range of visual-spatial-verbal patterning tools, learners are much more able to be engaged in the kind of complex thinking and visual networking required of our age. We can explicitly facilitate and provide tools to all learners at any age for thinking in patterns and systems.There is urgency here: unfortunately, educational innovation almost always lags behind governing, political systems that direct school systems. Often education is a conserving activity, not a progressive one. Right now this new generation of learners around the globe is facing the daunting, transformative challenges of our day:seeking sustainable solutions within ecosystems from backyard decisions to climate change and global warming issues;within our own physical mind-body-brain systems as we create artificial intelligencemachines and use algorithm driven “search” engines;how to make daily decisions and take action as citizens within and across political systems.Making Thinking Visible and Thinking About the BoxBefore moving on to a brief view of types of visual tools and different uses, a key distinction needs to be made between “visual tools” and the popular term “visible thinking.” Visible thinking, as offered by educational leaders in the field, is used less to describe how to actually help students visually show their thinking, and more as a broad approach for making all students’ thinking the center of classroom practice. Visible thinking, oddly, is not much about explicit visual representations of thinking and learning processes as it is about using routines, strategies, and verbal communication that are explicit and metacognitive. Facilitating inner dialogue and having students verbalize their thinking, keeping records and journals of their thinking over time, engaging others in dialogue, and using technologies and projects to show what they know all fall under this broad concept of making visible thinking. So ‘making visible thinking’ may be recognized as an umbrella term for supporting teachers in creating a classroom environment grounded in routines that keep the processes of thinking as central to classroom engagement, rather than invisible, hidden away in a rigid content-dominant curriculum and assessment framework. There is a positive overlap in the Venn diagram of the two fields: visual tools and making thinking visible that is worthy of further discovery.Within this century, visual tools have become a main driver of the broad concept of making thinking visible, as this wide variety of tools are drawn from a wide range thinking processes and represented as visual thinking patterns. My first effort to define three types of visual tools (Hyerle, D. 1996) remains useful today in detailing how a range of tools is so important: brainstorming webs, graphic organizers, and thinking process maps.Brainstorming webs, commonly known as “Mindmaps” (Buzan, T.), are used for thinking creatively outside the box of the daily classroom and workplace mental routines. These open webbing approaches have been around for over forty years, and are still used to facilitate ‘blue sky thinking’ in schools and the workplace. Based on associative logic, brainstorming webs help us to break mental and emotional barriers, reflecting the millions of rapid firing of associations occurring in your brain … as you read these words and develop a schema for the content you are processing.A second type of visual design is driven by tools such as isolated flow charts, diagrams, and visual templates. These typical graphic organizers help students think inside the box as they are often highly structured by teachers or in curriculum guides. Graphic organizers have the most well researched and documented use over the past thirty years as they are easily integrated into teacher lesson plans. While teacher driven, these organizers help students see a big picture by analytically organizing information and are often assigned to students in order to guide a task or project. While"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

How To Use Visual Tools For Thinking, Learning And Feeling

28 Mar 2021

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