Connor’s learning journey with Jan is testament to the fact that hard work and explicit, sequential, Structured Literacy teaching can overcome dyslexia.
Defining moments in a ‘not uncommon’ learning journey!
Connor’s Story as told by Jan Bibby
When Connor, my grandson, was seven he struggled to read and write. I knew he was smart but he could not read. I am an educator. I knew what this journey looked like. Often it didn’t end well. Joint diagnoses of dyslexia and dysgraphia confirmed my instincts and set us on a ‘not uncommon’ learning journey.
By the start of Year 4, aged 8.5, Connor was scoring 3 on the National Star Reading Stanine. That was in the 11-22% range for his age group. Interestingly, Connor’s Star listening comprehension Stanine score was 9. This gave him a listening age of 12-13 years and placed him in the 90+%. In October of the previous year, Connor had scored 12.6 on a Stanford Binet Listening for Meaning test with an educational psychologist. Clearly Connor was an intelligent child, so why was it so hard for him to read and write?
Initially the journey Connor and I embarked on together covered a range of phonologically-based activities to ensure he understood sound/symbol and blend/letter relationships. He needed multiple opportunities to go over this foundational learning at his speed, to accommodate processing issues. All phonological work was contextualised so that Connor continued to develop his knowledge levels and expand his interest in the world around him.
A Structured Literacy approach successfully established critical neural pathways enabling Connor to understand and apply spelling patterns for reading (decoding) and writing (encoding). This work was an essential foundation to eventually allow Connor to write a full sentence. The cognitive overload was huge when Connor wanted to write a sentence as he not only had to overcome the spelling issues but also extreme dysgraphia. Working at his speed he eventually made progress in these areas.
As part of our learning I took Connor through a Kids Language Kit I had written when I was teaching ESOL. The tactile and rote learning components of this resource were perfect for him. He is a tactile, visual and oral learner. The tactile elements provided focus and engagement while the rote component added fluency to his reading skills. He particularly enjoyed the last section of each unit where key words are exploded with associated vocabulary to enhance comprehension and link neural pathways.
Regular revision of all learnt spelling patterns and irregular words is crucial to ongoing success. This was an important component of every lesson and formed the basis of work sent home for ongoing support and review. The ultimate goal is to have (for decoding) automatic recognition and recall of spelling patterns and irregular words (for encoding).
Often dyslexics appear to be going well with their reading until they start using ‘readers’ with fewer pictures. When the visual cues disappear they are completely lost because they have relied heavily on memory to get to this point. Without automaticity around spelling patterns and irregular words these students will ‘lose the plot’ with their reading. Dyslexics need to be able to write down all words automatically to allow their thought processes to flow when writing.
We worked on sequential activities, oral recounts (I did the writing), and as many developmentally appropriate activities as possible to increase his intellectual capacity and to help him keep pace with his year group. I did the writing for him as his dysgraphia had the potential to cripple him intellectually (2% writing speed). We focused on the mental processes of the learning, not on whether he could express it in writing. Of course, he was still very disadvantaged when he had to read and write in the classroom setting. In Years 3 and 4 it was a nightmare for Connor to try to keep a sentence in his head, while he figured out how to write it down a word at a time. But he persevered.
By Years 5 and 6 National Progressive Attainment Testing (PAT) results put Connor’s reading comprehension at Stanine 6 (77%) and his reading vocabulary at Stanine 5 (60%).
In spite of never having been offered any assistive technology (we did apply for funding) Connor conscientiously applied himself to written tasks and gradually increased his proficiency and speed.
Some 13 years later Connor is in his third year studying for a double degree in Business and Communication at AUT University.
This journey is testament to the fact that hard work and explicit, sequential, Structured Literacy teaching can overcome dyslexia. Connor is defined by what he can do - not by what he can’t do. After 4 years of getting together he became a ‘bookworm’ and read voraciously - 500-page novels every 2 weeks! At High School he was not only competitive in water polo, cross country and triathlon events but he also frequently won academic awards across a range of subjects. From his junior years Connor displayed an enduring creative interest in drama and the movies. Today he is more than competent in a range of IT skills and tertiary subjects - but the biggest surprise and delight to us is his ambition to perform on the stage as a stand-up comedian! Now that takes confidence and self-belief!
Connor was The Literacy Clinic’s first success story. He is the reason we are on this journey. There have been many other ‘Connors’ since.
Talk to us if you have a ‘Connor’ in your family.
(Stock imagery has been used in place of actual students for privacy reasons).