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Find out in this Q&A with the authors of Teaching Students with Dyslexia and Dysgraphia |
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About the authors
 Virginia W. Berninger, Ph.D., is a professor in the Educational Psychology Department at the University of Washington. She has been director and principal investigator of the NICHD-funded Literacy Trek and Multidisciplinary Learning Disabilities Center at the university. A former general and special educator and reading specialist, Dr. Berninger is also a licensed clinical psychologist.
Beverly J. Wolf, M.Ed., is a director of the Slingerland Institute for Literacy in Washington state. She has worked with children and adults with language learning disabilities for more than 30 years in her positions as dean of faculty at the Slingerland Institute, director emeritus of the Hamlin Robinson School for Dyslexics and through contributions to local and national organizations. Questions? Customer Service: |
Q: Your book guides teachers in evidence-based instruction for students with dyslexia, dysgraphia, and "oral and written language learning disability," or OWL LD. Could you explain these terms?
A: Children with dysgraphia have difficulty with handwriting and/or spelling. Their handwriting might be illegible or legible but not automatic (slow and effortful writing). They may struggle in remembering word spellings or applying their spelling knowledge to composing. Children with dyslexia have difficulty with oral reading and spelling. Initially they may be inaccurate but once they become accurate they may have problems in automatic (fast and effortless) and fluent (fast and coordinated) reading. Children with oral and written language learning disability (OWL LD) have difficulty with reading comprehension and word reading, sentence construction, and oral language (word-retrieval, morphological and syntactic awareness, and making inferences during listening and reading texts). The different disorders, which probably exist in every classroom, occur in many different combinations and in different degrees of difficulty. The three specific learning disabilities share a common impairment in the working memory architecture. Each of the disorders is associated with impaired executive functions (ability to focus on relevant, ignore irrelevant; maintain attention and stay on task; switch attention); thus, compared to other children, children with these disorders require more explicit, systematic instruction tailored to their learning profiles that include strategies for self-regulating their independent work. Q: Research indicates these disorders are biologically based; can instruction be effective in helping these students learn? A: Although research has identified biological bases, both genetic and brain, for these learning disorders, children with these disorders can learn. However, they need to work harder to learn written language skills and need more input from adults than do classmates. Even when they appear to be succeeding, they may still be vulnerable as the curriculum requirements increase across the grades. Q: Have most teachers been trained in the type of explicit instruction necessary to help these students? What kind of training do you recommend to help teachers be effective? A: Explicit instruction can draw on multiple learning mechanisms such as those outlined in Teaching Students with Dysgraphia and Dyslexia. Some but not all teachers may have been introduced to these approaches to teaching in their preservice educational program or inservice professional development. The International Dyslexia Association's Comparison Matrix of Multisensory, Structured Language Programs enables one to compare similarities and differences among various approaches that are widely used throughout the United States. They are all structured, sequential (moving from simple to more complex), and multisensory. All include work with phonological awareness, the alphabetic principle, handwriting, language structure, and comprehension. Each of the training programs listed includes a practicum in which teachers work under guidance with the techniques presented. Q: You emphasize the importance of providing "intellectually engaging" instruction and "hope themes." Please explain why these elements are important for student success. A: Unless children are engaged intellectually, they are unlikely to respond to instruction. These children are bright despite their language disorders and can think and be rewarding to teach. However, they become discouraged when they do not succeed as easily as their peers. The hope themes in the lesson sets in the Helping Children with Dyslexia and Dysgraphia Make Connections workbook not only provide a topic domain that links lessons conceptually but also that motivates children through role models that have succeeded despite adversity. Q: Your text highlights instructional methods that are backed not only by scientific studies and clinical findings, but also by experience in real-world classrooms. Can you explain what type of instructional strategy has been shown to be effective? A: Because of the difficulty of orchestrating all the components of working memory architecture in time, children with these language disorders benefit from structured lessons that teach to all levels of language (letters, words, sentences, and text) close in time. We have implemented and evaluated these in real world classrooms. Children who were initially the lowest readers and writers reached average or better levels of achievement for grade. Q: In your own research, brain studies were conducted of students before and after receiving the instruction outlined in Teaching Students with Dyslexia and Dysgraphia and Helping Students with Dyslexia and Dysgraphia. What did those studies tell you, and what is important for teachers to understand about those results? A: Brain structures or functions may make it more difficult (not impossible) to learn, but the brain also responds and often normalizes in response to instruction. That is, nature-nurture interactions are observed in both directions. Teachers need to understand that they can make important differences in a child's learning and success in school. |
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