UK links deprivation and literacy levels

A UK study, commissioned by Booktrust, reveals worrying indications that the UK is divided into two nations - the 'Haves' and the 'Have-nots' of literacy.

The 'page turners,' those who read daily or weekly and reap the benefits that books offer, make up 50 per cent of the population.

Across the cultural divide, the 'button pushers', who prefer more intuitive activities such as watching TV and DVDs, make up 45 per cent.

The study indicates links between deprivation and not reading books, those who never read live in more deprived areas, with a higher proportion of children living in poverty.

Those who read less are also more likely to be male, under 30, and have lower levels of qualifications, happiness, and satisfaction within their lives.

Viv Bird, Chief Executive of Booktrust, said: "This research indicates that frequent readers are more likely to be satisfied with life, happier and more successful in their professional lives. But there is a worrying cultural divide linked to deprivation."

"There will never be a one size fits all solution when it comes to social mobility, but reading plays an important role – more action is needed to support families."

Led by Professor Cathy Nutbrown from the University of Sheffield's School of Education, the research suggests that there are strong indicators of the importance of literacy, reading, and writing, among other factors, in contributing to positive social mobility.

The study also suggests that reading 'rubs off' in the home, with families playing a crucial role in fostering a love of reading.

At the launch of the research findings today (11 March 2014), academics from the Sheffield University attended a conference organised by Booktrust, an organisation which promotes the lifelong benefits of reading and writing, in a bid to kick start a national conversation about improving social mobility by encouraging reading earlier and more often.

Booktrust commissioned the Sheffield University School of Education to investigate the historical relationship between attitudes to reading and writing and social mobility.

The review draws on a range of literature, archive material, family interviews and data gathered using social media to explore this issue.

Researchers explore links between learning disorders in children

New interdisciplinary research from Western University has uncovered fundamental links among three major learning difficulties in some school-age children.

Although many children have specific problems with dyslexia, specific language impairment and dyscalculia, this study is the first to show a significant portion of these children have overlapping deficits.

Importantly, the research team has also devised a 10-minute screening test that could be administered broadly in primary schools to identify children at risk for the different disorders.

The collaborative project includes findings from four researchers at Western's Brain and Mind Institute (BMI) and the Faculty of Health Sciences that independently specialize in the three key developmental disorders.

Dyslexia is a deficit in the development of reading while specific language impairment is a disorder related to poor development of spoken language skills. Dyscalculia is a severe difficulty in making mathematical calculations.

Past research in these disorders has focused on each of these as single impairments, despite the widespread recognition that they commonly overlap.

For a study published in the journal PLOS ONE, Lisa Archibald and Janis Oram Cardy from the Faculty of Health Sciences' School of Communication Sciences and Disorders and Marc Joanisse and Daniel Ansari from BMI collaborated across disciplines and examined – for the first time ever – the co-occurrence of difficulties in reading, spoken language, and mathematical calculations in a large sample of school-age children.

In the study, researchers tested learning profiles of a large sample of school children aged 4 to 10-years old in the region of London, Ontario.

The research team found that although some of the children showed specific deficits in reading, spoken language, or math, a significant number of children exhibited a mixed profile of a reading plus a math deficit, or an even wider-ranging weakness spanning math, reading, and spoken language.

"This is the first time researchers have looked at possible learning difficulties in different areas in a large sample of the same kids," says Archibald, the PLOS One paper's lead author.

"It's an important first step in trying to understand the large variability that is commonly reported for groups with learning disabilities."

The study has also uncovered some essential hints as to why different learning patterns might occur in different children.

For instance, children who showed weaknesses on all three types of abilities also scored very low on a working memory assessment.

NB: Working memory is the ability to hold multiple pieces of information in mind and perform simple operations on them, such as repeating a sequence of digits in the reverse order in which they were presented. 

According to the findings, such children may require a more targeted approach to remediation, due to the complex nature of their difficulties.

Children who have more specific deficits did not show the same difficulty with working memory and would require quite different interventions.

"Educators face significant challenges in identifying learning problems in children. With additional testing, we hope that a new tool that we have developed will someday provide educators with a quick and effective method for identifying which children need extra help, but also a way to develop more individualized remediation programs," says Joanisse.

More information: Original Article: Archibald LMD, Oram Cardy J, Joanisse MF, Ansari D (2013) Language, Reading, and Math Learning Profiles in an Epidemiological Sample of School Age Children. PLoS ONE 8(10): e77463. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0077463

Study links Synaesthesia to Autism

A condition where people experience a mixing of the senses, such as tasting words, has been linked with autism.

Research suggests synaesthesia is nearly three times as common in adults with autism spectrum disorder than in the general population.

The two conditions may share common features such as unusual wiring of the brain, say UK scientists.

The study helps understanding of how people with autism experience life, says the National Autistic Society.

Synaesthesia is a condition where one sense automatically triggers another. Some people experience tastes when they read or hear words, some perceive numbers as shapes, others see colours when they hear music.

People with synaesthesia might say: "The letter q is dark brown," or: "The word 'hello' tastes like coffee," for example. People with the condition [autism] can find everyday life confusing or even frightening so research like this, which helps us to understand more about how they experience the world, is valuable” 

Carol Povey, National Autistic Society

Following anecdotal evidence of links between synaesthesia and Asperger's syndrome, researchers at the Autism Research Centre at Cambridge University set out to test the idea.

More than 200 study participants - 164 adults diagnosed with high-functioning autism or Asperger's syndrome, and 97 adults without autism - were asked to fill in questionnaires to measure synaesthesia and autism traits.

The study found one in five adults with autism spectrum conditions - a range of related developmental disorders, including autism and Asperger's syndrome - had synaesthesia compared with about 7% of people with no signs of the disorders.

Prof Simon Baron-Cohen, who led the research, told reporters: "Synaesthesia involves a mixing of the senses and it's a very subjective private experience, so the only way we know it's happening is if you ask people to report on their experiences.

"And what this new study has done is ask people whether they experience synaesthesia, for example where a sound triggers the experience of colour or a taste triggers the experience of colour, and finding that these unusual experiences are actually much more common in autism than we previously knew."

The research, to be published in the journal Molecular Autism, suggests that while the two conditions might appear distinct, there could actually be some underlying similarities in brain connectivity.

More information: Is synaesthesia more common in autism? Authors: Simon Baron-Cohen, Donielle Johnson, Julian Asher, Sally Wheelwright, Simon E Fisher, Peter K Gregersen, Carrie Allison. In Molecular Autism (November 1st, 2013). www.molecularautism.com/content/4/1/40

Links to Understanding Special Needs and Technology

Here are four links to understanding special needs and technology:

• Here’s an article on iPads and visually-impaired students
• Here’s another on Special Ed iPads apps for reading and writing
• Here’s Internet4Classroom’s list of resources for Exceptional Children
• Here’s Jeannette Van Houten’s iEvaluate Apps for Special Needs–a checklist for evaluating apps for special needs students

If your school budget allows for only a limited number of apps and programs this year, choose the ones that will fill out your special needs collections. 

Here are some wonderful apps/websites to use with your special needs students:

• Babakus–a math app for students with dyscalculia or math disability
• One-handed keyboard--a standard desktop keyboard that allows those with limited or no use of one hand to continue typing
• Five-finger typist–self-paced typing exercises for the one-handed
• iPads for autism–the phenomenal impact of the iPad on communication abilities of the autistic.
• Speech and language apps from Mobile Education Store–apps to assist children with higher function autism
• How to make your own assistive technology devices
• iPads and Special Education–a very detailed list of a variety of apps from all different subjects.

Dyslexia: Links to Support Videos and Information

Here is a collection of additional dyslexia resources for parents AND the teachers who wish to genuinely help their struggling learners with dyslexia.

If just one teacher takes a look at what is offered here, it could translate into at least one step forward for one child.

Let’s hope that more teachers and their schools become both interested and motivated to do something to support these children.

Genius Within - Innovative online training for adults that will transform your dyslexia and bring out your inner genius. FREE informative videos & an online Dyslexia Profile Test are included here.
 
Dyslexia: Types of Dyslexia - Video by expert Dr. Diane Sawyer who provides basic information about dyslexia, including the 4 different types of the condition

Teaching Children with Dyslexia - What Accommodations Should My Child Have at School? A GOOD list of classroom accommodations specifically for dyslexia

‘I AM DYSLEXIC’: A Short Documentary - Video with various individuals (of different ages) who have dyslexia.

Decoding dyslexia (short animation clips) - Several segments from a 3-D animation of a TVNZ documentary entitled “Decoding Dyslexia

Spelling Technique for Dyslexic - Video (parent) presentation of special technique based on the phonics of “i-g-h” to help those with dyslexia to spell with success

For more information:
www.FocusandRead.com Tools for struggling readers of all ages!

Dyslexic Brian: Links to Free Workshops

We do not promote groups and institutions that we do not know but this website contains a lot of very interesting material and information for Dyslexia sufferers, their parents, familes and friends.

It is for the reader to decide on the relevance and significance of the material. I would very much like to hear your comments.