RESEARCH INTO DYSLEXIA AND TEACHING METHODS

• • • Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz, published by Knopf.
Yale neuroscientist Shaywitz demystifies the roots of dyslexia (a neurologically based reading difficulty affecting one in five children) and offers parents and educators hope that children with reading problems can be helped. Shaywitz delves deeply into how dyslexia occurs, explaining that magnetic resonance imaging has helped scientists trace the disability to a weakness in the language system at the phonological level.

According to Shaywitz, science now has clear evidence that the brain of the dyslexic reader is activated in a different area than that of the nonimpaired reader. Interestingly, the dyslexic reader may be strong in reasoning, problem solving and critical thinking, but invariably lacks phonemic awareness-the ability to break words apart into distinct sounds-which is critical in order to crack the reading code.

The good news, Shaywitz claims, is that with the use of effective training programs, the brain can be rewired and dyslexic children can learn to read. She walks parents through ways to help children develop phonemic awareness, become fluent readers, and exercise the area of the brain essential for reading success. Early diagnosis and effective treatment, the author claims, are of utmost importance, although even older readers can learn to read skillfully with proper intervention. Shaywitz's groundbreaking work builds an important bridge from the laboratory to the home and classroom. 34 line drawings and graphs
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• • • Dyslexia in Context: Research, Policy and Practice - Highlights recent developments in the areas of research, policy, and practice. Provides an overview of the developments in dyslexia and addresses research associated with neurological factors, the cerebellum, genetics, and links between research practice. Covers policy matters in Europe, UK, and United States.
" … essential reading for teachers, policy makers and researchers." (Dyslexia, July 2006)
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• • • Dyslexia: a Practitioners's Handbook by Gavin Reid, published by WileyBlackwell.
The main purpose of this new edition is to incorporate the most recent theoretical and practical research in the field of dyslexia and literacy and present it in a user friendly format for Practitioners. It refers to the most recent government reports on literacy and dyslexia in a number of countries such as, USA, UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Each chapter has a summary at the start and, at the end, key points and ′points to consider′ are looked at.
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• • • Dyslexia, Speech and Language by Snowling and Stackhouse, pub WileyBlackwell - This authoritative handbook presents current ideas on the relationship between spoken and written language difficulties. It provides clinical and educational perspectives on the assessment and management of children's reading and spelling problems. The book begins with a theoretical overview. The second edition continues the theme of linking theory and practice. It is aimed at practitioners in the fields of education, speech and language therapy, and psychology. All original chapters have been updated and new chapters are added to reflect current developments.
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• • • Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia) by Punfrey and Reason, pub Routledge.
Drawing on the work of eleven experienced educational psychologists, this book presents a variety of approaches to prevention, identification and intervention and makes practical recommendations for future progress.
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• • • Proust and the Squid by Maryanne Wolf, published by Icon Books.
'Wolf, a professor of child development at Tufts University, integrates psychology and archaeology, linguistics and education, history and neuroscience in a truly path-breaking look at the development of the reading brain-a complicated phenomenon that Wolf seeks to chronicle from both the early history of humanity and the early stages of an individual's development ("unlike its component parts such as vision and speech... reading has no direct genetic program passing it on to future generations"). Along the way, Wolf introduces concepts like "word poverty," the situation in which children, by age five, have heard 32 million less words than their counterparts (with chilling long-term effects), and makes time for amusing and affecting anecdotes, like the only child she knew to fake a reading disorder (attempting to get back into his beloved literacy training program). Though it could probably command a book of its own, the sizable third section of the book covers the complex topic of dyslexia, explaining clearly and expertly "what happens when the brain can't learn to read." One of those rare books that synthesizes cutting edge, interdisciplinary research with the inviting tone of a curious, erudite friend (think Malcolm Gladwell), Wolf's first book for a general audience is an eye-opening winner, and deserves a wide readership.' (Publishers' Review).
("Overrated work with lengthy account of the process of learning to read, along with lots of sketches of parts of the brain." - John Bradford)
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• • • Dyslexia, Learning and the Brain by Nicolson and Fawcett, published by MIT Press.
Dyslexia research has made dramatic progress since the mid-1980s. Once discounted as a "middle-class myth," dyslexia is now the subject of a complex—and confusing—body of theoretical and empirical research. In Dyslexia, Learning, and the Brain, leading dyslexia researchers Roderick Nicolson and Angela Fawcett provide a uniquely broad and coherent analysis of dyslexia theory. Unlike most dyslexia research, which addresses the question "what is the cause of the reading disability called dyslexia?" the authors' work has addressed the deeper question of "what is the cause of the learning disability that manifests as reading problems?" This perspective allows them to place dyslexia research within the much broader disciplines of cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience and has led to a rich framework, including two established leading theories, the automatization deficit account and the cerebellar deficit hypothesis.
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• • • The Psychological Assessment of Dyslexia Martin Turner, pub Wiley.
Provides a refreshingly rational guide to the many issues involved in psychological assessment, taking dyslexia to be a remedial cognitive deficit. The author reviews the major tests in use for children and adults, while keeping the scientific purpose for their use firmly in view. Written primarily for assessment professionals, the book will appeal to specialist teachers and all those with an interest in fair and objective methods for dealing with dyslexia.
("Recommended" - John Bradford.
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