Cognitive-Learning Styles for Dyslexic Students with Unique Education Challenges: Applicable to All Students
Source: Pearson Allyn Bacon Prentice Hall
Topics: Dyslexia Interventions and Accommodations, Dyslexia and Gifted
| Cognitive/ Behavioral Characteristics | Strategic Environmental Accommodations |
| Dyslexic Students with Attention Deficits | |
| Distractible | Provide environmental experiences that minimize visual/ auditory distractions; modify classroom setup if need be. |
| Lack of follow through | Break tasks down into small steps; provide written step-by-step directions whenever possible; allow students to self-monitor progress by logging successes/ completed tasks; modify expectations when necessary. |
| Difficulty listening for sustained time frames | Minimize lengthy verbal exchanges; summarize whenever possible; be clear; repeat; rephrase, review to ensure understanding; encourage interactive, positive, and personally relevant exchanges for short time frames; ask the student to move to another part of the classroom, shift gears, or change activities whenever you see attention is waning. |
| Impulsive | Work on self-reflecting and self-monitoring behaviors and have students review the consequences of quick decision making; slow the individual down by using writing activities to summarize what needs to be done. |
| Disorganized in planning for school and study as well as planning activities in personal life | Develop study skills/ organizational skills, use assignment notebooks, calendars, notebooks, folders, chore charts, refrigerator reminders, bulletin board clips; encourage cooperative activities outcomes. |
| Dyslexic Students with Special Gifts and Talents | |
| Intellectually superior in reasoning ability, analytical and holistic thought, metacognitive processing, and divergent thinking | Encourage sharing of learning outcomes and demonstrations to others; develop areas of giftedness and talent by providing enrichment activities that are highly personalized to the student's interests, aptitudes, and social/ emotional/ psychological needs; provide problem-solving situations (e.g., mathematics problems, science experiments, analogies, etc.) that require divergent thinking. |
| Inquisitive to the point of being irritating at times | Encourage positive interactive dialogues with others; develop questioning strategies, work on timing and appropriateness in questioning. |
| Disorganized in planning for school and study as well as planning activities in personal life | Same as above. |
| Prefers to work on independent assignments; likes to be alone; introverted | Balance independent activities with group assignments; encourage cooperative learning activities where the individual can serve as a coach or tutor. |
Excerpted From:
Excerpt from Dyslexia and Reading Difficulties: Research and Resource Guide for Working with All Struggling Readers, by C.A. Spafford & G.S. Grosser, 2005 edition, p. 221-222.
© 2005, Allyn & Bacon, an imprint of Pearson Education Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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