What is Orthographic Mapping?

Orthographic mapping is the process of forming letter-sound connections in order to combine and recall the spelling, pronunciation, and the meaning of words. It involves the critical process by which children are able to learn to read words at a glance, spell a word aloud (and from memory), and develop vocabulary words. When a child develops orthographic knowledge, they begin to learn to identify letter patterns that are similar between different words and this process is aided by understanding the various prefixes, suffixes, root words, syllables, and the rules of spelling (e.g., i before e except after c). Written words are stored in memory so that when the child sees the word again (or a similar string of letters) they can use previous knowledge to identify the word instead of having to go through the decoding process, where they sound out the letters to make the word. Orthographic mapping enables the ability to identify words by sight (i.e., sight words) allowing instant recognition and fluent and quick reading abilities.

Orthographic mapping occurs via a developmental process and a sequence of several phases, where the child connects the spelling of words to the pronunciation of words in memory. As the child learns and develops, the connections of the spelling of words improve in the following stages: Visual Nonalphabetic, Partial Alphabetic, Full Grapho-Phonemic, Consolidated Grapho-Syllabic, and lastly Graphomorphemic.Orthographic mapping is a skill that develops from phonemic awareness and grapheme-phoneme knowledge.

In order for a child to read fluently, they must have developed orthographic recognition or the ability to quickly recognize letter patterns that make up a word that they know or a series of letter strings that is familiar, such as the suffix ‘ing’ or the prefix ‘pre.’ Orthographic recall is required in order for the child to demonstrate spelling abilities, as a specific memory of letter combinations and sequence of letters is necessary for fluent reading.

The Pathways team of professionals has helped thousands of people with Dyslexia. We are Dedicated to effective and compassionate care for individuals with neurological challenges.

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Phonemic Awareness and Its Importance for Academic Skills

Phonemic awareness is the ability to be aware of and use individual sounds, also known as phonemes, in spoken words. Phonemic awareness is crucial for developing fluent reading. Phonological awareness refers to the broader skill of recognizing and utilizing units or oral language. When a child attempts to learn to separate the word “cat” into three different sounds, phonemic awareness is required in order to say or speak the word. Phonemic awareness is an important ability that helps children with reading, reading comprehension, and spelling skills and abilities.

Among individuals with dyslexia, phonemic awareness is an area of much difficulty. In fact, phonemic awareness is a significant factor that indicates a child’s level of reading proficiency, as children who are better able to differentiate sounds and combine words have greater reading abilities and are better able to understand what they are reading (i.e., reading comprehension). These abilities directly influence overall academic achievement, as children with phonemic awareness are also better able to understand information in other subjects as well since the majority of academic tasks require reading and reading comprehension, especially as children get older.

Phonemic awareness contributes to another skill known as phonics, which is the manner in which letters and sounds are related. When a child can verbalize words they can use this skill to sound out and read printed words.

Problems with phonemic awareness in individuals with dyslexia can be explained at the neurological level, as the areas of the brain that represent speech sounds and higher level processing of speech sounds show areas of weakness among these individuals.

Research has shown that specific training of phonemic awareness to the advanced level is a necessary and important component for any effective treatment  program for dyslexia.

The Pathways team of professionals has helped thousands of people with Dyslexia. We are Dedicated to effective and compassionate care for individuals with neurological challenges.

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• Dyslexia Solutions

Best Accommodations for Dyslexia

In addition to engaging in our signature training system (The Power Learning Tower), an effective treatment for dyslexia is accommodations and learning strategies that are individually tailored to the person’s needs. Although there are similarities in the signs and symptoms of dyslexia, each person will have their own unique issues, therefore treatment and accommodations must differ. There is no known cure for dyslexia, but accommodations and learning strategies can contribute to the disorder no longer affecting the person’s ability to read, learn, and even enjoy academic tasks.

Avoid Timed Tasks

Individuals with dyslexia should not be given time constraints for tasks involving reading. As a result of their difficulty, anything that involves reading (e.g., math word problems, multiple choice exams) will take the individual longer periods of time to complete. This is why individuals with dyslexia are permitted ample time (often double the time, or more, that is typically allotted for a task) to complete assignments or exams.

Visual Accommodations

Oftentimes, the individual with dyslexia is permitted to use colored overlays or “reading rulers” while completing exams or assignments in order to prevent distraction on a page when reading and to assist with visually tracking of written information.

Writing

A common accommodation is allowing a student to use a laptop computer to type responses to assignments or during exams. This prevents fatigue while writing and allows the student to use a spell checker. The purpose is to assess the individual’s true knowledge and prevent issues with writing from disrupting the individual’s ability to express what they know.

Using a Scribe

Individuals with dyslexia are provided a scribe, which is a person who writes down answers for the individual during exams while the individual with dyslexia verbally dictates information. This allows the individual to focus on their knowledge of material without being burdened by handwriting, spelling, grammar, etc.

Hearing Instructions

Individuals with dyslexia are often permitted to have exams and class assignments read to them rather than having to read instructions themselves. This prevents confusion of directions, which can greatly affect the child’s performance on the task and failure to truly assess the individual’s knowledge of material.

The Pathways team of professionals has helped thousands of people with Dyslexia. We are Dedicated to effective and compassionate care for individuals with neurological challenges.

• Dyslexia Symptoms
• Dyslexia Treatments
• Dyslexia Solutions

Dyslexia: The Assessment & Diagnostic Process

When an individual is suspected of having dyslexia, they are referred for a Psychoeducational Evaluation (this evaluation is also known as a Psychological, Learning Disability, or a Neuropsychological Evaluation), typically by a teacher or sometimes by the child’s parent who notices that the child is struggling with reading or that the child’s grades are suffering as a result of reading difficulties. Dyslexia must be evaluated by examining the individual’s skills and abilities in language, phonological awareness, reading, writing, and spelling.

The first and crucial step is gathering a comprehensive history

At PNS, Dr. Gordon first meets with the child and the child’s parents (if the examinee is a child) or the adult individual suspected of having dyslexia and ask many questions related to background history, such as ages that the individual reached developmental milestones (e.g., crawling, first words), academic functioning, as well as social, emotional, and behavioral functioning, and family history of learning or mental health problems. Information regarding the individual’s academic history, reading history and history of symptoms is also gathered.

The skills & abilities that are tested

We then conduct a neuropsychological testing evaluations for dyslexia utilizing assessments that are administered to the individual. The person suspected of having dyslexia meets with a qualified professional individually and is administered the assessments that consist of the following tasks:

-Intellectual Functioning
-Word Reading & Word identification
-Reading Fluency
-Reading Comprehension
-Letter sound knowledge + phonological blending=phonic decoding
-Phonological Skills (Manipulations tasks: deletion, substitution, reversal)
-Rapid Naming
-Spelling
-Listening Comprehension
-Auditory Processing & Language Processing
-Vocabulary
-Working Memory
-Sustained Attention
-Mental Processing Speed

There are numerous tests used to diagnose dyslexia and there is no single assessment that can diagnose the disorder on its own.

Combining test results with background information

After all information is gathered, the qualified professional scores the assessments and a psychoeducational report is created that integrates all assessment results and the individual’s background history. The psychoeducational report will have a diagnosis of Specific Learning Disorder With impairment in reading (i.e., dyslexia) if the individual meets criteria.

What is the purpose of giving a diagnosis of dyslexia?

A critical section of the psychoeducational report is the recommendations section. This section includes specific recommendations from the qualified professionals that are individually tailored to the person with dyslexia and are meant to assist the individual in academic settings, as well as the individual’s home life. This is the ultimate purpose of diagnosing dyslexia in the first place: So that the individual can receive assistance and the proper intervention for the disorder so he/she can succeed academically or in any setting where the individual is affected by dyslexia.

The Pathways team of professionals has helped thousands of people with Dyslexia. We are Dedicated to effective and compassionate care for individuals with neurological challenges.

• Dyslexia Symptoms
• Dyslexia Treatments
• Dyslexia Solutions

Dyslexia Facts

Fact #1: Dyslexia can be successfully treated!

• Research suggests that the most severely reading-disabled students can make an average of a standard deviation of improvement on nationally normed reading tests!  The key to a successful intervention, research has shown us, includes:

-Directly teaching phonemic awareness to the advanced level

-Teaching and reinforcing phonic skills and phonic decoding

-Opportunities for reading connected text

See our Dyslexia Treatments

Fact #2: Dyslexia affects as much as 10% of children.

• This means that in a given school classroom, there is a good chance that at least one or more children have dyslexia.
• States are passing laws related to dyslexia, mandating that children in Kindergarten and 1^st grade receive free dyslexia screenings.
• This is an efficient practice so that we don’t have to wait for the child to begin demonstrating academic issues in order to start the evaluation process, thus preventing the child from falling behind academically and preventing any emotional consequences of the child feeling frustrated due to inability to understand reading education.

Fact #3: Dyslexia can run in families.

• It is common for children with dyslexia to have a parent, grandparent, and/or sibling(s) who also had reading difficulties or were formally diagnosed with dyslexia.
• Knowledge of family history helps so that parents can consider having their child screened at a young age.

Fact #4: Dyslexia is no longer considered something that children must “deal with” on their own and attempt to “blend in” so as not to stand out or interrupt the class.

• Dyslexia is considered a learning disability, and parents of children (as well as the child him/herself), have rights. The child with dyslexia can receive accommodations in the classroom in order to facilitate a successful learning process for the child both inside and outside of the classroom.

The Pathways team of professionals has helped thousands of people with Dyslexia. We are Dedicated to effective and compassionate care for individuals with neurological challenges.

• Dyslexia Symptoms
• Dyslexia Treatments
• Dyslexia Solutions