...Helping people with dyslexia: a national action agenda Report to the Hon Bill Shorten, Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children’s Services, from the Dyslexia Working Party: Jim Bond Max Coltheart [Chair] Tim Connell Nola Firth Margaret Hardy Mandy Nayton Jenny Shaw Angela Weeks Submitted January 10 2010 2 Introduction During 2008 the Hon Bill Shorten, Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children’s Services, met with representatives from dyslexia interest groups who expressed concern that dyslexia is not recognized as a specific disability under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and that the education and employment systems do not recognize or support people with dyslexia. Following these meetings the Parliamentary Secretary requested the FaHCSIA convene a roundtable Forum to discuss these issues. This Dyslexia Stakeholder Forum was held at Parliament House Canberra on 16 June 2009. The Forum consisted of 24 people who were scientists in the areas of reading or learning disabilities, technologists, people with dyslexia, clinicians and practitioners, or representatives from DEEWR and FaHCSIA. It was decided that a representative Working Party of 8 Forum members should be formed, charged with the task of writing a report proposing a national agenda for action to assist people with dyslexia. The Working Party consulted widely and in particular benefited from comments on a draft report that were received from the following authorities (all...
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...Needs (SEN). It is up to teachers to accommodate such needs and make sure that students with special educational needs will achieve the best possible results and succeed in learning a Foreign Language (FL). Applying specific strategies, techniques and maximising students’ potential is crucial when it come to teaching a foreign language to dyslexics. In the twenty-first-century we do not have to feel limited when it comes to foreign language learning and teaching students with special educational needs. Technology brings the advantage...
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...Current Trends in Nutrition The Role of Omega-3 Nutritional Supplements in Treating Childhood Dyslexia Dyslexia is a literacy disorder whose exact cause remains unknown. It does not affect IQ or other cognitive function, but can profoundly impair reading ability. It is believed that heredity plays a role, and several studies have sought to determine whether degree of deficiency of fatty acids in the diet could also be a contributing factor ( Richardson AJ, 2000). Dyslexia has been linked to clinical signs of fatty acid deficiency in adults, so the question of treating developmental dyslexia in children with fatty acid supplements has been raised as a possible safe and effective treatment (Taylor KE, 2000). There is a growing trend among holistic practitioners and drug manufacturers alike, to develop and market supplements to treat dyslexia, and as the disorder has such far-reaching consequences in academic success, self-esteem, and social interaction for those who suffer from it, the market is quite receptive to new treatment approaches. (Evans R 1999) Given that development of nutritional dyslexia treatment is a relatively new endeavor in the scientific community, review of current and recent research on the matter is appropriate. Evaluating proposed treatments and commercially-prepared nutritional supplements will be more effective with a background understanding of the issue. Research studies have reported that dyslexic children are deficient in body stores of...
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...expectations prior to me going on placement as a student nurse. The use of the SWEC model will enable me to identify what skills or concerns I can improve or build on before I start on my first placement. I will be picking 3 specific areas out of my SWEC table to focus on in this PDP. It is an important skill to be able to identify my strengths and weakness as a student nurse so that I can improve my own skills to give the best patient centred care possible. Code 22.3 of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) code of conduct (2015) refers to the need for midwives and nurses to keep their skills and knowledge up to date,...
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...Language Abilities and Deficiencies Impact On Literacy Development February 12, 2014 Language abilities and deficiencies play a major role on a child’s literacy development, especially through their developmental stages from birth all the way through third grade. As adults of children and educators to children it is our job to provide creative rich literacy environments that will only assist the children as they learn to develop the concepts of language. Language, defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary is, the system of words or signs that people use to express thoughts and feelings to each other, simply the way we communicate. Literacy development is defined by Dictionary.com as, the ability to learn how to read and write. These two concepts work hand in hand with one another. Language is the foundation for literacy development. Without the understanding or knowledge of how to communicate it is hard for a child to advance into the form of reading and writing. This paper will further discuss the abilities and deficiencies language has on literacy development. From the beginning days when a child enters this world, language development is introduced to the child through the exposure of their environments. The use of language as a means of communication affects a child’s learning and social-cultural interactions. It is a key factor in language development including oral language and written language. Once a child has become engaged with a partner during communication...
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...react to it. Hence, reading without the concept of understanding is not reading but vocalizing. Putting it simply, reading should have comprehension. Unfortunately, poor comprehension is the prevalent disease of learners today. Thus, the researcher has initiated this action research to show the importance of encouraging the mastery of reading. Make everyone aware of it as an important tool to be incorporated in all subjects. Through this Reading Remedial Program, development of comprehension will be enhanced with activities focusing on the following five vital reading skills: 1) following directions 2) getting the main idea 3) noting details 4) predicting outcomes and 5) making inferences. These five skills are relevant needs of the students today. According to Aristotle, we are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit. Same goes for reading as long as there is practice, it is not...
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...school students with special needs. Participation, motivation, and interest in independent reading are low. Reading is an important part of everyday life and is imperative to students’ success in school. Many high school students that struggle in reading do not enjoy it and even have negative associations with reading. Cultivating an interest in reading among grade school students is valuable. Providing students with a variety of options is one way to encourage independent reading. The ability to use technology as a means of reading is one way to provide a different option to students. Technology is an integral part of our lives and can contribute greatly to education. Many schools are beginning to use iPads/Tablets as a way to integrate technology into the curriculum. These devices can be used for a variety of purposes in educational settings. There are several tools that make reading on an iPad easier for struggling readers. Students can change the size of the text by zooming to show larger text which reduces the amount of text on the screen. This can be valuable for students that are intimidated by the length of what they are being asked to read. Students can also easily access the definition of a word they don’t know through the interactive dictionary. This is extremely convenient for students that would not normally make the effort to look up an unfamiliar word in the dictionary. Another helpful feature is the ability to highlight and take notes on the iPad. Students can be...
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...2011 Introduction As a future teacher it is important to be able to understand the physical, cognitive, and emotional changes that students are going through. Teachers must be versed in the basis of all areas of development. Teachers have a huge responsibility to give their students a positive, enlightening classroom in which they can blossom physically, cognitively, and emotionally. A teacher that understands their students’ physical development may find it easier to identify a possible cause to a problem a child is having in school. Understanding the stages of cognitive development is of the utmost importance. Knowing a child’s starting point is essential for a teacher so they can plan the right way to help move the child through their zone of proximal development. It is a teacher’s job to promote thinking abilities in their students. By asking higher order questions a teacher will help in their cognitive development. A child’s development of personality and self-esteem is important to not only their schooling, but in their whole life. A teacher can help their students establish this personality and give them multiple ways to develop their sense of self. My purpose in this child study is to be able to analyze an individual child’s physical, emotional, and cognitive development and determine how the changes she is going through will affect her learning and behavior. Making my decision on which child to study was not an easy one. I sat with Kimberly Mach, a sixth grade language...
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...attempt to discuss the areas of special concern and other channels of education delivery outlined in the 1996 educating our future policy document and with relevant examples, showing how they have improved education provision in Zambia. Despite these efforts, dyslexia seems a major problem in Zambia which results in poor perfomances in schools especially at primary level. Definition of Dyslexia Reports in the medical literature of „word blindness‟ go back to the time when books first became relatively widely available to the population in Europe and reading became popular (Morgan, 1896 cited in O‟Brien et al, 2005). The broad concepts of developmental dyslexia1 and specific learning difficulties (SLD) are connected to particular problems with reading. There are two key developments that have underpinned a huge leap in general knowledge and understanding about dyslexia. Recent policy encouraging inclusion of pupils with additional needs in mainstream schooling in the UK and elsewhere has been linked with legislation designed to support the educational needs of all children and people with disabilities, including dyslexics (Pirrie et al, 2006). The other key development relating to dyslexia concerns recent findings in the field of biological research. These relate to the underlying mechanisms of dyslexia and...
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...learners his age. He, however, underachieves. He is unable to keep up with his peers and generally cannot cope with the demands of the school (pp16). Margari (2013) defines SLD’s as that which are characterizations of academic functioning that are below the level that would be expected given their age, Intelligent Quotient and grade level in school, and interfere significantly with academic performances or daily life activities that require reading, writing or calculation skills. The gist of it, is that specific learning disorders are neurodevelopmental/cognitive disorders that Hulme and Snowling (2009,pp22) define as “typically characterized by slow rates of development, either in specific domain (specific learning disabilities such as dyslexia or mathematics disorder) or more generally across many domains (general learning difficulties or mental retardation). Finally, Rorich (2008, pp16) explains that the South African contexts defines these, as barriers to learning or learning disabilities in which then a "Specific learning...
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...Bringing together creativity and literacy POSTED IN CREATIVE LITERACY We all know that literacy is the ability to read and write but the definition of creative is a little harder to define: it can be the ability to solve problems or being able to use your imagination. Bringing creativity and literacy together can be a powerful tool in teaching, writes Tonya Meers Creativity is characterised by originality and expressiveness, so it can mean making something or it can be something new and innovative. Sir Ken Robinson has said that “Creativity is about working in a highly focused way on ideas and projects, crafting them into their best forms and making critical judgements along the way.” Bringing creativity and literacy together can be a powerful tool in teaching. It allows children to be active in literacy, from acting out plays through characters that they’ve made themselves or through making props. It allows children to explore their imaginations. Getting involved in a story re-enforces the learning and can also teach practical skills, for example, working with templates or basic sewing. Children are naturally creative, if you stop and listen to them they often are natural storytellers. They love to make things up and will very often have imaginary worlds they will refer to. They also love to get involved in making things, giving them a sense of achievement. If they are engaged they will learn more, so it’s about harnessing their ability to soak up information...
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...1. Based on the evidence from age 6 and 8 years, how well is your child adapting to the school social environment and to the peer group? To what extent does this adaptation seem to depend on personality characteristics that are fairly stable in your child, and to what extent does your child seem to be developing novel behavior to cope with these new situations? Refer to the textbook for particular points about the responses of children in this age group to the peer group and the school environment. (2 points) Many changes occur between the ages of 6-8 years old. Children are leaving the comfort of their preschool environment and entering the school environment. This new environment exposes children to multiple new experiences. How a child responds to these changes can impact how successful they are in the school environment. One of the bigger changes is the amount of other children in the classroom. Typically pre-school classes are smaller in number and children become comfortable playing with only a small social group. Kindergarten and first grade could potentially have 30 children and can cause a child to feel shy and unable to cope with the new social situation. Another factor that influences a child’s ability to adapt to the school environment is the teacher controlled environment and then the more child controlled environment on the playground. Most children are used to being monitored closely throughout the whole day. However, the playground environment and the independence...
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...The power of music: its impact on the intellectual, social and personal development of children and young people Susan Hallam, Institute of Education, University of London Executive Summary Recent advances in the study of the brain have enhanced our understanding of the way that active engagement with music may influence other activities. The cerebral cortex selforganises as we engage with different musical activities, skills in these areas may then transfer to other activities if the processes involved are similar. Some skills transfer automatically without our conscious awareness, others require reflection on how they might be utilised in a new situation. Perceptual, language and literacy skills Speech and music have a number of shared processing systems. Musical experiences which enhance processing can therefore impact on the perception of language which in turn impacts on learning to read. Active engagement with music sharpens the brain’s early encoding of linguistic sound. Eight year old children with just 8 weeks of musical training showed improvement in perceptual cognition compared with controls. Speech makes extensive use of structural auditory patterns based on timbre differences between phonemes. Musical training develops skills which enhance perception of these patterns. This is critical in developing phonological awareness which in turn contributes to learning to read successfully. Speech processing requires similar processing to melodic contour. Eight year old...
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...CHAPTER 3 SELECTING AND USING ASSESSMENTS Introduction This chapter will address three issues: (a) the institutional assessment needs of workforce development organizations, (b) the assessment needs of individual youth to help make informed choices about their careers, and (c) the practical needs of practitioners for information about how to select and use different assessment tools. At the end of this chapter, Exhibit 3.1 contains information that can be used to help with the selection and use of assessments, including a directory of commonly used published tests. Meeting Institutional Assessment Needs Agencies and organizations in the workforce system use assessments to meet institutional needs in two ways-to determine a youth's eligibility for services and to document achievement of program goals by assessing the progress of program participants. The number of participants served and achievement of program goals can impact the amount of funding an organization receives. Funding for the youth programs considered in this guide may come from the Department of Education, the Department of Labor, other federal agencies, states, local governmental agencies, or a combination of these. Table 1.2 in Chapter 1 summarizes the eligibility and assessment requirements of IDEA, WIA Title I, and the Rehabilitation Act. More specific information on assessments mandated or permitted by several federal funding sources may be found in Appendix A. (Mandated assessments are...
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...------------------------------------------------- Nursery rhyme From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia See also: Children's music and Children's song Illustration of "Hey Diddle Diddle", a popular nursery rhyme A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for young children in Britain and many other countries, but usage only dates from the late 18th/early 19th century and in North America the term Mother Goose Rhymes, introduced in the mid-18th century, is still often used.[1] Contents [hide] * 1 History * 1.1 Lullabies * 1.2 Early nursery rhymes * 1.3 19th century * 2 Meanings of nursery rhymes * 3 Nursery rhyme revisionism * 4 Nursery rhymes and education * 5 See also * 6 Notes ------------------------------------------------- History[edit] Lullabies[edit] Main article: Lullaby The oldest children's songs of which we have records are lullabies, intended to help a child sleep. Lullabies can be found in every human culture.[2] The English term lullaby is thought to come from "lu, lu" or "la la" sound made by mothers or nurses to calm children, and "by by" or "bye bye", either another lulling sound, or a term for good night.[3] Until the modern era lullabies were usually only recorded incidentally in written sources. The Roman nurses' lullaby, "Lalla, Lalla, Lalla, aut dormi, aut lacta", is recorded in a scholiumon Persius and may be the oldest to survive.[4] Many medieval English verses associated with the birth of Jesus take...
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