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Supporting Learners with Dyslexia and All Learning Styles with James Moore and Ross Faulkenberg
52:45 with TreehouseThis presentation will cover the facts and myths about dyslexia as well as how to support all learners through the framework of Universal Design for Learning.
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[MUSIC]
0:00
Well hello everybody.
0:04
I have got the pleasure of introducing
a duo first in the Treehouse history.
0:07
First though, we have Ross.
0:15
Hi Ross.
0:17
So Ross is an Orton-Gillingham
trained instructor and
0:18
a high school teacher with
Edison High School in Southwest Portland.
0:21
Ross teaches philosophy is one rooted
in equity inclusion and accessibility.
0:25
His work as an educator is guided by
principles of culturally responsive
0:31
teaching apart practices and
universal design for learning.
0:35
Sounds like someone I want
to be involved with [LAUGH].
0:38
And then he's partnered up with James.
0:42
James Moore is a sports minded, hey James,
0:44
community driven individual that
thoroughly enjoyed eating tacos.
0:47
We gotta get together for real.
0:52
[LAUGH] James strives to be able to
understand the interesting information
0:54
enough to be able to teach
the information to someone
0:59
else when given the opportunity.
1:02
He has earned his bachelor's of science
from Butler u=University in Indianapolis,
1:04
Indiana.
1:08
He made it in science,
technology and society and
1:08
completed marketing classes to improve
his marketing skills while working for
1:11
Nissan corporation, the largest
multi-activation program in the nation.
1:16
While working in marketing, going to
school and volunteering in his community,
1:21
his love for coding never dissolved and
will continue to grow each day.
1:26
James has expert knowledge and programming
languages that can help individuals or
1:31
businesses thrive utilizing
understandings related to sustainability.
1:36
Please welcome Ross and James.
1:42
>> Rex is a student of mine
at Edison High School and
1:46
is also a youth advocate in the Community
for Dyslexia and Neurodiversity as well.
1:48
So super excited to have him here.
1:53
Thank you all for joining and
1:55
I'm gonna give a bit of presentation about
dyslexia and supporting neurodiversity.
1:57
And then I'll hand it off to James
as well to talk about coding and
2:03
how we can support folks in learning about
and talking about coding with sort of
2:07
these concepts of universal design in
mind and embracing neurodiversity.
2:12
And so Rex will kind of help
us as well as we move through
2:18
the dyslexia portion as well.
2:20
So folks if you need to,
2:23
you can double tap the presentation to
make it bigger on your screen as well.
2:24
And please feel free to type into the chat
if you're having any issues seeing or
2:29
hearing anything.
2:34
I want to make sure that everyone
is able to access the information.
2:35
So if you are seeing
Supporting Learners With Dyslexia &
2:39
All Learning Styles brought to you
by myself, Ross Faulkenberg and
2:43
James Moore with Rex Ronson, then you
are in the right place and so welcome.
2:47
So what I wanted to do to start off,
I think place is so important and
2:52
especially right now during virtual
community still acknowledging place.
2:56
And so what I wanna do real quick
is just a land acknowledgement.
3:01
So I'd like to acknowledge the indigenous
people whose land we are on today.
3:05
It's important to acknowledge
the ancestors of this place
3:09
all of these places, and to recognize that
we are here because of the sacrifices that
3:12
they were forced to make.
3:16
So in speaking of all indigenous
communities, we honor their memory,
3:18
their lives, their descendants and
their continued presence.
3:21
And we also remember that we
are guests on this land and
3:25
must do our best to move
with reverence and respect.
3:27
And so on these slides, there are a couple
different links that if I can share
3:30
the slides with you folks can check
out what a land acknowledgement is and
3:34
it's important and then also to learn
about the land that you live on.
3:38
All right, to make sure I'm not
catching anything in the chat.
3:45
So really what we're gonna
be talking about today and
3:49
dyslexia falls into this
is is neurodiversity.
3:52
And so neurodiversity really
just means brain variety and
3:55
there are endless
variations as we all know.
3:58
So we're all so unique, the way we learn,
the way we receive information,
4:01
the way we express
communication are very unique.
4:04
And so embracing neurodiversity
is what we're all about today.
4:07
Another thing to keep in mind
would be person first language.
4:12
So this is something that can
help us when we're talking
4:16
about individuals who've been
identified with any sort of label.
4:19
So person first language just
refers to the individual first and
4:24
any other labels second.
4:26
However, each individual has the right
to decide how they identify.
4:28
So the ultimate rule is just ask them,
trust them because they know best.
4:33
And so when we talk about neurodiversity,
and often folks will talk about these
4:40
different neurodiverse experiences with
language like disabilities or differences.
4:45
But keeping in mind that these can be
visible and or hidden differences.
4:51
So often I think a lot of times we rely on
those visible differences to give us cues.
4:56
But just keep in mind that some of these
differences can be hidden as well.
5:02
And they're absolutely not the same for
each individual.
5:05
So I always like this phrasing, when
you meet one person with say dyslexia,
5:09
then you've met just one
person with dyslexia.
5:14
And so again if we flip it, if people
prefer nonperson first language, so
5:18
when you meet one person who is dyslexic,
you've met one person who is dyslexic.
5:21
So along those lines,
dyslexia is like a fingerprint.
5:28
So it's entirely unique for each person
and dyslexia also exists across all
5:32
written languages and it also exists
across all races and ethnicities.
5:36
And Rex did you want to add anything about
sort of the uniqueness of each person is
5:41
experience with dyslexia?
5:45
>> Yeah, so dyslexia comes in all
different variants in different ways for
5:47
people to read.
5:53
And so it can be for me, I have
severe dyslexia but for someone else,
5:55
it could be a mild term of dyslexia
where they just kind of struggle
6:01
reading versus me, I really,
really struggled to read and
6:06
actually understand what I'm reading or
listening to.
6:11
>> Thanks Rex.
6:16
And so this is a short video that
I'm actually not gonna watch with us
6:20
right now because I feel like the
connection might make it a little laggy.
6:23
So I really want folks, all you have
to do is when you just type in your
6:26
Google search, just type in what is
dyslexia, and it gives you a really
6:32
nice background of information about
what dyslexia is, what it is not.
6:37
And it also talks about how
dyslexia is hereditary.
6:43
So it does run in families.
6:47
So if you have one member of your
family who struggles to decode or
6:49
to read even single syllable words,
some of those struggles can pop up
6:52
later down the line in other
family members as well.
6:56
It's not uncommon.
6:59
But one of the things that's difficult is
because dyslexia is sort of a new kind
7:01
of understanding that people
are still learning about and
7:05
getting out into the community and
talking about.
7:07
It's only something that's been around for
7:10
a short amount of time without
awareness is out there.
7:12
So there are some family members who
might have struggled to read but
7:15
were never identified as having dyslexia.
7:20
So something to keep in mind.
7:23
And one of the other things that the film
really talks about I'm gonna say
7:25
it's about five to eight
minutes is how dyslexia
7:30
is really an issue of manipulating
the sounds in spoken language.
7:33
So it's really where it starts
is with spoken language.
7:38
And lots of folks with dyslexia [COUGH]
have difficulty manipulating and
7:40
chunking out the sounds in language
which then produces a more difficult
7:45
time to match sounds to letters and
then to ultimately to read.
7:50
So again I really encourage folks,
if you just type in what is
7:56
dyslexia into your Google search bar,
look for this TedEd video.
7:59
It's really informative and
8:03
I think he does a good job of being
brief about what dyslexia is and is not.
8:05
So this is the sort of academic or
medical definition of dyslexia.
8:12
This is from
the International Dyslexia Association.
8:18
And I'll just read through it real
quick and kind of explain bits of it.
8:21
So dyslexia is a specific learning
disability that is neurobiological
8:24
in origin.
8:28
Neurobiological in origin just
means that it's brain based.
8:29
It's not a vision issue.
8:32
It's a different pathway and a different
path that the information has to travel
8:34
for someone with dyslexia when they read.
8:38
So it is characterized by
difficulties with accurate and or
8:42
fluent word recognition and
by poor spelling and decoding abilities.
8:45
So decoding is just reading essentially,
so being able to pronounce words,
8:49
being able to receive information
from words written on a page.
8:54
These difficulties typically result from
a deficit in the phonological component of
8:59
language.
9:03
Again, phonological just
is talking about sound.
9:04
So again it really does
start with that sound piece.
9:07
It's often unexpected in relation to other
cognitive abilities in the provision of
9:09
effective classroom instruction.
9:14
So really what that's talking about
is just the dyslexia is not linked to
9:16
intelligence levels.
9:20
So secondary consequences, as you can
imagine will include problems in reading
9:22
comprehension, and
often a reduced reading experience.
9:27
It's harder for
folks with dyslexia to want to read and
9:30
it can also therefore impede the growth of
vocabulary and background knowledge for
9:33
some folks, but again,
it's very unique for each person.
9:37
Some folks struggle with comprehension.
9:41
Some folks struggle with just decoding or
both.
9:43
So again, an important message is dyslexia
is not linked to intelligence levels, and
9:49
also all neurodiversity not
linked to intelligence levels.
9:54
Obviously there's a lot
of conversation about
9:58
How we even measure something like
intelligence and I'm obviously different,
10:00
civilizations in different societies,
I try to do this in different ways.
10:04
But something to really keep in mind
is that all this neurodiversity,
10:08
the ways that we are unique in
the way we receive information or
10:12
express information and communication,
not linked to intelligence levels.
10:16
>> So these are some big takeaways
because there's some common,
10:24
really pervasive myths that are out
in the community about dyslexia.
10:27
So, here are some of the main
ones that you'll hear,
10:31
dyslexia is not seeing letters
backwards or upside down.
10:34
So sometimes people will think that
dyslexia is just flipping letters around,
10:37
flipping words around and
on the page visually, they're letters and
10:42
moving around and kind of melting into
each other and that's not the case.
10:46
So it's not seeing letters backwards or
upside down.
10:51
And again,
dyslexia is not a vision problem.
10:53
So there are definitely folks who benefit
from different colored glasses, different
10:56
things that they can put, colored squares
that they can put over their text.
11:02
And those can be really beneficial for
folks.
11:07
But just keeping in mind that it is
not a problem with someone's vision or
11:10
someone's eyes.
11:13
If their eyes are working well for seeing,
11:14
then those eyes are gonna be working well
for reading, it's actually a pathway in
11:17
their brain where the process of reading
those words is getting caught up.
11:22
Dyslexia cannot be cured by completing
a medical program or with medication.
11:26
It cannot be outgrown.
11:32
However, folks who read with
dyslexia can improve their reading.
11:33
But it cannot be outgrown.
11:39
Lots of folks will struggle lifelong,
11:40
dyslexia does not mean that someone
is lazy, dumb or less intelligent.
11:42
And dyslexia does not mean
that a student cannot read or
11:48
improve their reading skills.
11:50
So, one of the interesting things is it
really all starts with spoken language.
11:56
And so it said that humans are around
200,000 or more years old, and therefore
12:00
one could argue that spoken language
has been around for about that long.
12:05
Yet the oldest written language
that we know of called Sumerian,
12:10
from the Sumerians is only
around 5,000 to 6,000 years old.
12:13
So pointing that out being that spoken
language is something that our brains
12:17
are sort of pre wired to handle.
12:22
And written language is different, it's
something that we do have to be taught,
12:24
it's something that we have to learn and
it's difficult.
12:27
So just keep in mind that
learning to read is no easy task.
12:31
Again our brains are pre wired to
handle the spoken language, but
12:34
the written language is different.
12:37
So reading is not a naturally occurring
process that our brains are wired
12:39
to handle.
12:43
Rex, do you wanna share your robot story?
12:44
>> Yeah, so
I've always thought of dyslexia as
12:48
kind of just a different
way of doing [INAUDIBLE].
12:52
The way I always thought of it was
that robot designed specifically for
12:56
this one task.
13:02
And then you go tell that robot to
literally do a task that it's not
13:04
designed to do, and
ask it to try to do it.
13:08
That's kind of what dyslexia is.
13:12
>> That's a great way to describe it Rex.
13:15
So just keeping in mind folks, I think
there's, and even myself, I'm someone who
13:17
does not struggle with reading,
I struggle with reading comprehension, but
13:21
I don't struggle with actually lifting
the words and the symbols off the page and
13:25
making meaning.
13:29
But I think a lot of us take for
granted sort of those reading abilities.
13:30
It's something that we don't talk
a whole lot about how hard reading is
13:34
for many of us.
13:37
And I think a lot of folks think that just
developmentally, a student will, someone
13:38
who's developing will just eventually
get there, they just need more time.
13:42
What we've learned through decades and
decades worth of research about reading,
13:47
is that that's not the case.
13:52
Because we're not pre wired
to handle written language,
13:54
we do need to be taught explicitly
sort of those connections.
13:57
Connecting those sounds that we
use in our language the letters
14:00
that represent the sounds.
14:05
And this is true for all languages.
14:07
So across all languages that you
can think of, there's going to be,
14:09
if it's a written language,
there's going to be this need to be
14:13
taught how to break down the sounds
that you hear in speech.
14:18
And so then once you break
those sounds down auditorily,
14:22
then you can start connecting them
to letters and letter combinations.
14:25
>> So, I always like to think of
written language as sort of the OG or
14:33
the original speech to text, because we
start off with these long co-articulated
14:36
strings of speech like I'm doing
right now, talking really fast.
14:40
And the words are kind of running
together in this one stream of speech.
14:44
And sounds are obviously blended together
into these words, these phrases and
14:48
these sentences.
14:52
So, what we have to do is we have to
break those strings of speech down into
14:54
their smallest parts and
14:58
then match those smallest sound parts
to symbols that represent them.
14:59
So for instance, I take a word like cat.
15:04
We need to be able to, and students who
are learning to read need to be able to
15:07
break down, that there are three
sounds in the word chat app.
15:11
And then they blend those sounds together
to make that word, to produce that word.
15:16
>> So just thinking about again
how difficult that really is to
15:21
take sort of a long co-articulated string
of speech and to start chunking it down.
15:25
And if someone doesn't really point
out to you and make you aware of how
15:30
to break down those sounds and that words
in letters, represent small sounds.
15:34
Then that's gonna be really difficult for
15:39
you to sort of just pick
that up on your own.
15:40
And so again, as we see in our reading
rates, lots of the the data that's
15:42
coming out about our schools and
where students reading levels are,
15:47
we still have a lot of work to do in
terms of getting the awareness about how
15:52
to teach reading out there in a way
that supports every student including
15:57
those with dyslexia, or
folks who struggle to read otherwise.
16:02
So some of the key skill areas for
emerging readers are critical for
16:06
readers with dyslexia.
16:11
So these are the two sound skills,
really important
16:13
sound skills that really all parents,
community members should be aware of, so
16:15
that they can talk to their teachers
about their child's reading development.
16:19
So phonological and phonemic awareness.
16:24
Phonological is sort of the umbrella
term of being able to chunk words
16:27
into syllables, being able to
chunk them into word parts, so
16:32
that you can count them out
of words in a sentence.
16:36
It includes things like rhyming,
hearing the first sound in a word.
16:40
So if I have the word sunset, knowing
that the first sound of that word is, and
16:44
things of that sort and
then phonemic awareness is
16:48
when kinda like the activity that
I just did with the word cat.
16:51
It's where you're breaking down those
sounds into their smallest parts.
16:55
So that's a really tough skill that
is really, really important for
16:59
emerging readers,
especially in grades K through three.
17:03
But for some students,
17:07
they're gonna be needing that phonemic
awareness practice for a long, long time.
17:08
And so
it's never too late to learn those skills.
17:13
But some, a lot of our students
are not receiving that instruction in
17:16
the early grades.
17:19
Which makes it really difficult for
them to read later on.
17:20
So again, when we say that dyslexia is
related to difficulty with manipulating
17:23
language, the root of the problem is just
manipulating the individual sounds and
17:28
language.
17:32
So for example,
I'll just kind of put this out there.
17:33
I know we can't do sort of a back and
forth.
17:37
But here are some activities that students
need to be able to do, and some ways
17:39
teachers can teach, and they're often just
called phonemic awareness activities.
17:43
So a basic syllable level would
be if I said the word bookcase.
17:48
And then I asked you to say the word
bookcase but don't say book.
17:52
You'd be able to say case,
and chunk that out and
17:55
hear that there are two
syllables in that word.
17:58
Same thing,
we move on to the first sound in a word.
18:02
So if I said, say feet, and
you would say feet, and
18:06
now I say say feet, but don't say [SOUND],
you'd be able to produce it.
18:09
So just a couple of examples of the tasks
that we're really needing students to
18:14
be skilled with before they even
start being presented with letters.
18:19
So again, it really does all start
with a lot of these sound skills.
18:24
And again, this is true for all languages.
18:26
So for a student, say who's growing
up in a home where Spanish is spoken,
18:28
that student will really benefit
from having some of these phonemic
18:33
awareness and
phonological awareness in Spanish first.
18:38
And that will even help them later as
they start to acquire another language,
18:42
if that's English.
18:45
And they're gonna be able to still use
those sound skills that they have,
18:46
being able to break words down
into their smallest parts, and
18:50
then connect those two symbols.
18:53
So just another reminder,
dyslexia is not a vision issue.
18:57
So again, we'll often hear folks out in
the community often making making light,
19:02
not meaning to, but I think making light
words like that's just my dyslexia.
19:06
And for some folks that might be true,
it may really be their dyslexia.
19:12
But for folks who don't
really struggle to use that,
19:15
I think in some ways can be a little
disempowering for folks who have dyslexia
19:18
and who do really struggle to read,
so just something to keep in mind.
19:22
Again, just that awareness when
you're using the language,
19:26
and out in the community
talking about dyslexia.
19:28
Just keep in mind that there
are some folks who, yeah,
19:31
I think that's a little disempowering for
some.
19:33
Because again, it is not a vision issue.
19:37
When you're looking to learn about
different ways of supporting folks with
19:40
dyslexia or if it's, again, your own
dyslexia that you're looking to support,
19:44
and you're looking for research articles,
don't just read the titles.
19:48
I've often had some folks send me articles
about different things that can be
19:53
beneficial for students with dyslexia.
19:56
And in one of the examples
is different fonts.
19:59
So there are different fonts out there,
one's called open dyslexic.
20:01
And it's a font that is supposedly
specifically designed for
20:05
students with dyslexia.
20:08
And while we all might have font
preferences and that might really help
20:10
some people, keep in mind that folks
with dyslexia, it's not a vision issue.
20:14
So it's not about the font.
20:19
Again, if their eyes work well for seeing,
20:21
their eyes are gonna work well for
reading.
20:22
So make sure to read the abstract and
research articles.
20:24
Make sure to read the conclusion or
the discussion and limitation section.
20:28
And so this is an example of a study that
was called the effect of a specialized
20:32
dyslexia font called open dyslexic
on the reading rate and accuracy.
20:37
So if you look further down in the study,
way down at the bottom,
20:42
when it talks about the limitations and
future research,
20:44
they talk about that this study
failed to find any positive effect of
20:47
the specialized dyslexia font on
the reading accuracy and speed.
20:50
So that they can assume that it will also
have no effect on reading comprehension.
20:53
So again not to say that open dyslexic
font or certain fonts can't be really
20:58
helpful for certain people, but overall,
that is not a way to address dyslexia.
21:03
The way to address dyslexia is
with solid reading instruction,
21:09
and really drawing students'
attention to the subskills
21:12
that they need to eventually
connect sounds to letters.
21:15
So again I think some of these font
preferences, Serif versus San-serif.
21:20
Serif I think of as formal
wear kind of like fancy font,
21:24
whereas San-serif I
think of as casualwear.
21:27
And some folks have different preferences
and even in different contexts.
21:31
So, obviously I think we see Serif a lot
in certain news publications especially
21:34
historically.
21:39
And then San-Serif I think is
something that we see more often in
21:40
the technology that we use,
so different preferences.
21:45
But again self-advocacy, so
if you really benefit from a certain
21:49
style of font even if it's open to
dyslexic, do what works for you.
21:55
So keep using the strategies that work for
you.
22:00
And again, if different fonts or
font sizes help you,
22:03
then that is a great strategy for you.
22:06
So advocate for
what you need in the classroom or
22:08
in your work environment or
in the community.
22:10
If you can ask to have information
presented to you in a different way,
22:13
that's how you prefer and
you feel comfortable asking,
22:17
definitely self-advocate So I'm gonna lean
on Rex again for a little bit of this.
22:20
But these are talking about
some of the accommodations and
22:26
assistive technology that are available
for students to use in the classroom, but
22:29
also folks to use out in the community.
22:33
So access is obviously an issue with some
of these things because they can get
22:36
expensive.
22:40
I hope as time goes on, some of these
things are more widely available, but
22:41
they definitely should
be available in schools.
22:45
Legally school should have to provide some
of these accommodations for their students
22:48
who are trying to learn with dyslexia or
when they're struggling to read.
22:52
So I'll read through a few and then I'll
have Rex talk about a couple of them.
22:56
So there are things called reader pens
where it will scan the text on the page
23:01
and it can read it back to you so
you can listen to the audio of it.
23:05
You can also take notes with it.
23:09
And then also Browsealoud,
which is used on a lot of different
23:10
websites where it will read the text
that is on the website page.
23:15
Extended test taking time is a really
important for some folks with dyslexia and
23:19
other neuro-diverse learners as well.
23:24
Verbal and
audio instructions are super key as well.
23:27
Often in my classroom, I will have
the text but I will always record myself
23:31
reading the text to give that to folks
as well cuz whether or not someone
23:36
is struggling to read, maybe someone
comprehends more through listening.
23:40
And so I always want to
provide multiple means for
23:45
students to interact with the information.
23:48
Oral assessments as well, visual
illustrations and directions are super key
23:51
for lots of different learners especially
for folks who either struggle to read or
23:56
who are acquiring English
as a second language.
24:00
Those visual supports could be really
key to them being able to access
24:03
the instruction or access the whatever
information is being presented.
24:07
Also needing more teachers who know about
the science of reading which I'll go
24:12
into that a little bit.
24:17
But if you are interested,
definitely look at
24:19
the International Dyslexia Association
of Oregon, and they're gonna have
24:22
a lot of information about what good
reading instruction looks like.
24:27
And then also speech to text and
text to speech.
24:32
So Rex, do you mind kind of speaking
to some of those assistive technologies
24:35
a little bit?
24:40
>> Not at all.
24:41
So first for
my personal use since I'm dyslexic and
24:42
I also have ADHD, but mostly it's
my dyslexia that gets in the way.
24:46
I have a reader pen like I have one here
right now and what they always do is
24:51
they have like a little light on the front
of them or at the tip of the pen.
24:57
So you can go over a line.
25:02
It can't be on screen
it has to be on paper.
25:05
But if you go over the line slowly,
it will essentially copy
25:08
what is on that line and
then it will put it out on a text and
25:13
then well, I think it's designed just for
25:18
it to read it out loud to you,
but it will just read it to you.
25:21
And so then you can listen to it and
not only that, but
25:26
the best part is that the more lines you
highlight, it puts them into sentences and
25:30
puts them together to paragraphs.
25:34
So at a certain point, you could just
highlight everything on the page and
25:37
then have the pen read it to you
which I find really useful for
25:43
me especially with paper and
it's been very helpful.
25:47
And for online learning,
I've used a ton of text to speech.
25:51
And because of my dyslexia, I remember
whenever I would come up with a sentence,
25:56
I would try to make it as short
as possible so I wouldn't
26:01
have to write as much cuz half the time
I wouldn't know how to spell anything.
26:04
But with text to speech, it allows me
to actually verbally get out what's in
26:09
my head and actually put it somewhere
like on paper or anything like that.
26:14
And Browsealoud I've
never heard of that but
26:20
my mom has always used audiobooks for me.
26:23
So any book from schools that have like
assigned me a book to read, my mom will
26:26
always ask the teacher like is [INAUDIBLE]
on Audible or something like that.
26:31
And to normally she'll just buy it on
Audible for me for me to listen to.
26:37
And I find it very helpful to be able
to listen to it cuz with my reading,
26:41
I'm not that fluent.
26:46
And half the time I just read in my
head which is not the best for me,
26:49
cuz I realized I make more mistakes
reading in my head than reading out loud.
26:53
But with Audible, I can listen to it and
look at the book at the same time and
26:58
understand what's going on cuz kind
of habit into processing ways for
27:05
me to actually understand.
27:11
Visual illustrations can work sometimes.
27:13
If you prefer visual illustrations,
it will be a lot easier for you.
27:17
And if they can put it in a way that
you physically can understand for
27:25
you, is so much better for
you especially dyslexia cuz I've had
27:30
teachers who've always just
written everything on a board.
27:35
And I wouldn't understand
a clue on what was going on.
27:41
But then they would just kind of come out
with something to help explain it to me
27:44
better versus just actually writing it on
the board and me trying to figure out what
27:49
they're trying to say which I thought
was really, really nice for me.
27:53
We need actions based
on scientific reading.
27:59
That's about it
>> [LAUGH] Perfect, thank you Rex.
28:06
So folks that are just some of the things
that I'm glad you were able to hear
28:09
a straight from Rex,
someone who's using a lot of these things.
28:14
And how important it is for teachers and
community members to just sort of think
28:17
about something that I'm gonna talk
about in a second, universal design.
28:21
Where you're giving folks multiple
different ways to engage with
28:24
the information with the communication
that you're putting out there.
28:28
So Universal Design for Learning again,
28:34
really it's talked about
in these three tiers.
28:36
Universal design in general is
something that I think came about for
28:39
accessibility in different types
of buildings or architecture.
28:43
But it's also a framework that can
be applied to teaching and learning.
28:49
So really the the core of it is just to
provide multiple means of engagement.
28:53
So making sure that you are allowing
folks to have individual choice and
28:58
some autonomy about how they're engaging.
29:02
Optimize the relevance and
the value of that information for them,
29:05
make it relatable to their life.
29:08
And then obviously minimize threats or
distractions.
29:10
Also provide multiple
means of representation.
29:14
So offer ways of customizing
the display of information.
29:17
And I think this can be really helpful for
folks when they think about web design.
29:21
Thinking about how you're
designing your your webpages or
29:25
your software in any way but just thinking
about how you can customize it so
29:28
that there are multiple options for
folks to engage with your design.
29:32
Offer alternatives for
auditory information.
29:36
So that's where like on a website,
Browsealoud would be one option where
29:39
folks can use that to access any of the
information that's written in text form.
29:42
And then also offer alternatives for
visual information.
29:47
And lastly provide multiple
means of action and expression.
29:51
So vary the methods for response and
navigation and optimize the access to
29:54
tools and assistive technologies just
like Rex was talking about a second ago.
29:58
So lastly, I'm almost wrapped up here,
and we'll pass it off to James.
30:05
But so when we talk about reading
instruction, and we talk about inclusion,
30:08
talk about accessibility and equity in our
schools, and in reading, particularly.
30:13
There's an approach called
the structured literacy approach which,
30:19
really that's just sort of an umbrella
term for good literacy instruction,
30:22
good reading instruction that talks
about all those different things.
30:26
So understands the progression
from going from sound skills, and
30:29
then connecting them to letters.
30:33
So it's not just reading to your students,
or your children more.
30:35
It's not just exposing them to more texts.
30:39
It's not just making
a language rich environment.
30:41
Those things are great, and
really important as well.
30:44
However, if they don't sort of get that
instruction about the patterns and
30:46
rules, and their attention isn't drawn
to connecting sounds to letters,
30:51
then it's gonna to be very difficult.
30:55
But the nice thing about the structured
literacy approach is that
30:58
they really are universal,
in that they benefit all students.
31:02
So it's critical that students with
dyslexia receive this type of instruction.
31:06
So I'm on an Orton-Gillingham
training structure,
31:10
which is a structured literacy approach.
31:12
So the students that I work with,
I'm really breaking it down for them, and
31:14
teaching them the patterns and often, in
a multi-sensory way, where they're maybe
31:18
tapping out the sounds like [SOUND], and
then blending it, and things of that sort.
31:23
But this is a nice graphic that shows
you that although it's critical for
31:27
those with dyslexia, it also advantages
and benefits all readers as well.
31:31
So this is called the Ladder of
Reading if you wanna check that out.
31:37
So lastly, surprisingly, most teachers
are not adequately prepared to teach
31:40
reading to all learners,
by no fault of their own.
31:45
So the reading research has not quite
made it into the university level teacher
31:48
training programs on a wide enough scale.
31:52
So even in local university
where I learned about reading,
31:54
I really only had one class in my master's
program that taught me about reading.
31:58
So I had to go off on my own and do lots
of supplemental training to be able to
32:02
understand the science behind reading.
32:06
So just to speak more about why literacy
and reading is an equity issue,
32:10
is a 2000 study of individuals in
the Texas prison system showed that 80%,
32:14
approximately 80% were reported
to be functionally illiterate.
32:18
Meaning they couldn't use their reading
and writing skills to thrive in life,
32:22
like getting a job, accessing certain
information that's written in text form.
32:28
So that's an alarming statistic.
32:33
Also, 50% of American children aren't
meeting their third grade reading
32:36
benchmarks.
32:39
And that's something that could be
addressed, and could be changed if
32:40
structured literacy approaches were
started out from even pre-K or K onward.
32:43
And also, when we talk about race and
ethnicity,
32:47
70% of students of color in Oregon
alone are not reading at grade level.
32:50
So this really is an equity issue.
32:55
So teachers, families and students
should all know about different literacy
32:57
milestones, and how they can
support their learners at home.
33:00
If you'd like to learn more about
dyslexia and reading instruction,
33:05
here are three local
organizations in Oregon.
33:09
Again, I'm a part of Decoding Dyslexia,
33:11
which is a nonprofit that seeks to
raise awareness in the community, and
33:13
educate all community members about
dyslexia and reading instruction.
33:17
We also partner a lot with
these other two organizations,
33:21
the Oregon branch of the International
Dyslexia Association, and
33:24
also a wonderful organization
called Books, Not Bars, Oregon.
33:27
Their mission is to disrupt
the school to prison pipeline.
33:31
So really focusing on communities of
color, and African American communities.
33:36
Raising awareness with parents about
how to support literacy at home, and
33:40
trying to reduce barriers to education.
33:43
So thank you so much for that.
33:47
I'm gonna pass it off to James.
33:48
So James, I'll mute myself.
33:52
[SOUND]
33:53
>> Hi everyone, can you hear me?
34:03
Okay, sorry, I can't see the chat, because
I have to zoom in my actual screen.
34:07
Awesome, I can see you, you can hear me.
34:13
All right, my name is James Moore,
and I'm from Indianapolis,
34:16
Indiana, home of the Indy 500,
and home of the Indiana Hoosiers.
34:21
So it's safe to say I'm a sports fanatic,
as Dr mentioned earlier.
34:27
When I'm not watching sports, typically
you can catch me reading, coding, or
34:32
researching useful information
related to science and computing.
34:36
Today I'm gonna share a little bit of
information related to learning code,
34:41
based off my personal experience.
34:45
Ross did a great job of bringing
in some scientific information.
34:47
My presentation is not gonna bring
in very much scientific information.
34:52
It's gonna be more of a testimony,
similar to Rex's testimony.
34:57
Sorry about that.
35:03
Growing up basically, sorry,
can we get the next slide, please?
35:06
So growing up, my parents and
35:15
schooling did everything they could
to make me a receptive learner.
35:18
They made me do tutoring.
35:24
They made me stay after school.
35:26
My dad bought me math books.
35:27
My mom focused on my diction,
and all sorts of things.
35:30
But sports was just overtaking everything.
35:35
So it's what's the easiest way for
me to get outside and go play basketball?
35:38
It was terrible that I wasn't
really big in learning.
35:42
But over time, you can see that change.
35:46
And I can pinpoint you the things
that helped me change.
35:49
And that's what I'm gonna be
talking about in this presentation,
35:52
just gonna be going over basically
a little bit about concepts, and
35:57
then a little bit about morphology,
and also keywords.
36:02
And we're gonna figure out
how those all intersect to
36:06
help me become a better learner.
36:11
So as I said, my parents did a great job.
36:15
There was nothing that they could do
differently to make me become a receptive
36:18
learner.
36:22
Unlike Rex, I learned differently.
36:24
But it wasn't something that
I could pinpoint what made me
36:27
not interested in school,
not interested in learning,
36:32
not interested in a lot of
things at a younger age.
36:36
I couldn't really pinpoint what
the exact thing that was keeping me from
36:41
becoming a good learner.
36:46
So as I got older,
I started working in marketing.
36:48
I started doing client facing management,
where I had to talk to people.
36:52
And before that,
I wasn't able to talk to people.
36:56
I was able to, like Rex said,
I was more of a robot.
36:58
I could get you your message.
37:03
I could say hey,
this is the Coca Cola activation site,
37:05
we have these three sodas
that I would like you to try.
37:09
But I didn't really elaborate that much.
37:14
Because I basically couldn't.
37:16
I couldn't think of words that
I couldn't spell previously.
37:20
So that limited my vocabulary, and
it limited my personal experiences.
37:25
All right, so then I went on to become
a better learner and then I joined school,
37:31
and then I graduated with Science,
Technology, and Society.
37:35
And then after that, all of that
information I learned there helped
37:39
me polish my computing skills even more
and become a frontend user experience,
37:43
or user interface developer.
37:48
Next slide, please.
37:52
So first I'm gonna kick
it off with morphology.
37:54
So morphology was huge for
me in Science, Technology and
37:56
Society for
breaking down words that I didn't know.
38:00
There was vocab that I had to
learn from other countries.
38:05
There was vocab that I had to
learn dealing with certain
38:09
things that had never even crossed
my news station, or even my brain.
38:12
And now I'm being tested on these things.
38:17
So I had to use morphology to break down
words quickly, so that I can understand
38:20
what the word is actually saying,
or what the word actually means.
38:25
Cuz before I was able to
utilize this morphology
38:29
as a tool,
I was just looking at the words.
38:34
I wasn't adding any meaning to them.
38:39
I was just looking at the words.
38:41
So you can see how that can
become problematic during a test.
38:43
Even if you know all the words and
the characters in your mind,
38:47
when it's time to take that test, it's
gonna be a lot harder to take the test,
38:50
because you're not gonna have
that information organized.
38:55
I think Ross kinda touched on that,
38:58
possibly extending test times for
some people may be very helpful.
39:01
I think that would have been helpful in
engaging me more as an earlier student,
39:06
if I would have had longer
time to take my test.
39:12
Because essentially,
I was just looking for
39:16
the fill in the blanks where I could
fill in the words that I knew.
39:18
I didn't have any
understanding of concepts.
39:22
I was just looking at words, okay?
39:32
So here is just a quick little diagram
to show you prefix, root, suffix.
39:37
So in science, there's so many words that
have a starting prefix, and a root word.
39:46
So without you even knowing
what the word means,
39:53
you can break it down
using your own knowledge.
39:56
And that's what's cool about morphology,
is you're using your own knowledge.
39:59
To make words understandable to yourself.
40:04
So morphology is about
breaking down the words.
40:12
Concatenate is creating meaning out
of words that you already know.
40:15
So here I use an example of the word cat.
40:22
Everyone knows fuzzy cats.
40:26
Everyone loves like a picture of a kitten.
40:27
So we all know what cats are.
40:30
So I use the word cat because I feel like
that's the most common word that I could
40:33
use for this presentation.
40:37
So as we can see here,
the word cat is spelled out,
40:39
but I added meaning to each character.
40:44
So, C is computer,
A is are, T is technology.
40:48
Now that makes that phrase a lot
easier to memorize now that I'm
40:53
using something that I already know.
40:58
So these two things are huge
in science technology.
41:01
They're huge for any realm of information
that you plan on experimenting in but
41:08
you don't really know all the words are,
all the meanings are.
41:16
You can use morphology and you can also
use this concatenate to create your own
41:22
words to give them meaning.
41:27
So here we're gonna use morphology and
text structure.
41:32
Because, I mean,
we know that if we're looking at a recipe,
41:38
we know it's a recipe
based on its structure.
41:44
We also know that the sports stats or
sports statistics based on the structure
41:49
even though the statistics may vary,
we still can look at some information and
41:55
tell the difference from sports stats
from like anything like school related.
42:01
Like grades,
you wouldn't mistake sports stats for
42:07
like who got the best presentation grades.
42:10
And then coupons as well coupons.
42:13
We look at a coupon we know it's a coupon,
like we don't have to guess.
42:17
So like these tools are very,
very useful in breaking down information.
42:20
I know this information is much more
simplified like in layman terms, just
42:27
because I wanna be able to get the message
across instead of bringing big words in or
42:31
bringing big crosses in and
then trying to break them down.
42:36
So the end result of us reading the sports
section is you'll be able to jump in
42:44
on an easy going friendly conversation
about sports, or possibly catch
42:49
up on a popular sports rivalry outside of
your region that's not aired on your TV.
42:53
So that is our end goal of
reading sports section.
42:58
The coupon section will allow
us to save some extra money so
43:02
that we can buy tools to help
better our skills in coding, or
43:07
cooking, or whatever it is that
we enjoy doing in our free time.
43:11
Each of those sections
are from the newspaper but
43:17
they both have two different purposes.
43:20
So it's similar with coding.
43:23
So if I'm looking at an mp3 player
in a shopping cart in hard code,
43:25
then I'm gonna know based on a few
things that hey, this is an mp3 player.
43:30
And this is a shopping cart,
just based on a few things.
43:37
And that's what this next slide is gonna
kinda touch on a little bit better.
43:41
So, I'm sorry, the following slide,
will touch on that.
43:49
So we're gonna go back to that.
43:52
So, to go back one.
43:53
Okay so initially when I began coding,
like I said,
43:58
I was not able to pick up
concepts to known for,
44:01
it was just the way that I thought learn
best was not a correct way of learning.
44:04
After attending Butler, then I was able
to pick up on this concepts much better.
44:10
It was truly helpful and everything that
I do not just reading, not just writing.
44:14
So all those soft skills
translate over into coding,
44:22
which is great because it makes coding so
much more easier.
44:26
I think during Ross and
44:31
I's initial conversation I told him
about like when you're coding, and
44:33
he also shared with me that this is just
not for coding, it's for writing as well.
44:38
So when you've been writing for
about three or four hours and
44:43
you just see letters on your screen and
you just see like the white background.
44:47
So you may try to go back and do
a little bit of grammar spelling checks,
44:52
and you don't see any problems.
44:57
So you walk away, and then you go do
something else and you come back.
45:00
And when you come back, you look at
your paper and you're like, my God,
45:03
did I write this?
45:07
So that's basically what the concepts
in morphology and all that.
45:08
They help you just keep
everything organized,
45:16
so that you can better learn and
better serve and
45:20
all those good things that help
out everyone else around you.
45:23
And create a better environment for
people around you.
45:28
So, all right, here's the part that I was
talking about right before the overview.
45:35
So each section of code has this
unique structure formed by keywords.
45:44
So if you look over here to the right,
it says HTML.
45:49
This is a very small section of HTML code.
45:53
Basically, it's HTML.
45:58
And then we have your title,
and then your body.
46:00
So the HTML is open tag.
46:02
And then we see the close tag at the
bottom, the title right there is a tag and
46:05
then we see the close title tag,
and then we see body and
46:08
then we see the body close tag.
46:11
So those are all, Those are all
important keywords in your HTML tools.
46:13
So, with that being said,
46:22
those properties define how the tags
will be included into your properties or
46:24
how they will be displayed to
the person checking out your site,
46:30
or your application, or your project,
or whatever it is you have.
46:34
After practicing and creating projects
outside of what's required it's
46:39
inevitable that a coder will visibly
see the block of code as a tool.
46:44
Not just a chunk of characters, because
they're gonna see that like I said,
46:48
those key words, those concepts.
46:53
And then they'll be able to see the bigger
picture of what's actually going on,
46:55
versus like before concept morphology and
key words,
47:00
it was always just words for me.
47:03
And that's really,
really hard to decipher.
47:06
And it's really hard to be
efficient to help others out if
47:08
you're spending like an extra
hour trying to figure out
47:13
exactly what one word means or
how it fits to this concept.
47:18
So that's why I just say like, all in all,
47:23
this presentation just breaks down
how you can write down words first.
47:26
You can create your own
words that have meaning.
47:31
And then also you can utilize
key words as much as possible.
47:35
So going back to the key words,
if we look at this chunk of
47:45
information right here characters
is a recipe on your left.
47:50
Because marinate, stir,
big, stew, simmer, sear,
47:57
those are words that pertain to
cooking to my understanding.
48:01
So, similar to the recipe, we can
recognize the keywords on the right side,
48:06
and we can see, methods, strings, arrays,
48:12
interpolation, for loops,
while loops, CRUD.
48:15
All of those are CSS keywords.
48:20
So, they're not the same as HTML keywords.
48:23
You notice, HTML,
we had HTML, body, title,
48:28
like we will still have that stuff in CSS,
but just like I said,
48:32
it's a clear difference between
those two programming languages.
48:37
And that's something that you're able to
pick up by using concepts morphology and
48:43
key words.
48:49
If I were to just read this and
then and just utilize the words,
48:50
then it would be very,
very hard to decipher.
48:54
And thank you all.
48:59
Thank you all for listening to us and,
[LAUGH] and Ross, thank you for
49:00
putting together a great presentation.
49:03
>> Thank you James.
49:07
Thanks everybody for hanging around.
49:07
I'm not sure if Kayleen or
Liz are available.
49:10
But there were a couple questions,
and I just wanna make sure if folks
49:14
are still around, I'd be happy to try to
answer those or James or Rex or myself.
49:17
Thank you, Olga.
49:26
>> Thank you [LAUGH].
49:27
>> So real quick,
just in case folks are still around.
49:29
James, there was a question
that came through.
49:32
That was how did you fight imposter
syndrome as you were learning?
49:35
>> Well, imposter syndrome came
quite naturally with me with
49:42
marketing like I said.
49:47
I mentioned if I had a Coca Cola, then
I would have to market that to people.
49:49
So with my marketing understanding,
it's kind of bad,
49:56
but you just kind of see like
how things actually are.
50:02
So, that gave me the ability to be able
to fight the imposter syndrome because
50:08
I know that like the greater good is gonna
come out of me putting in hard work.
50:15
First is,
me just kinda putting on that face.
50:22
>> All right, thanks James.
50:31
And then, there was one question too.
50:32
Again, I apologize,
I know we're over a little bit here.
50:35
Does dyscalculia fall under the umbrella
of dyslexia or is it separate?
50:39
So dyscalculia is definitely
a separate sort of there.
50:43
There may be students with dyslexia
who also have dyscalculia.
50:47
And some of the teaching techniques,
such as like using multi-sensory so
50:50
trying to bring in music, trying to
bring in movement, trying to get that
50:54
information into the motor memory,
which is one of our strongest memories.
50:59
That's gonna be really beneficial for
someone who has dyslexia and dyscalculia,
51:04
or someone who has just a dyscalculia,
or just dyslexia.
51:09
So in a sense they're related loosely,
but they definitely are separate.
51:13
So dyscalculia going to be dealing
with numbers, and sort of there's some
51:18
different pathways but that information
is going to need to travel as well.
51:22
Whereas with dyslexia,
it's about that spoken language and
51:27
then a different pathway, that
the information when you're reading has to
51:30
travel to get to, for you to retain and
understand that information.
51:35
And Rex,
is there anything else you wanna add?
51:42
Thanks so much for being here, man.
51:44
>> Yeah, Thanks, Rex.
51:46
>> [LAUGH]
>> No,
51:47
I don't see anything that I need to add.
51:51
But I did actually, I did see a question.
51:54
Well, I think it was for teachers.
51:59
Where does it say that?
52:02
>> The one about future design?
52:04
>> Yeah.
52:07
So how can future design in
tech help people with dyslexia?
52:10
>> Sorry, is that Jeez,
that is a bright glare.
52:17
Give me a sec.
52:19
I'm gonna go close my blind.
52:20
>> Well, Rex I actually think I
think we're gonna have to sign off
52:24
because I think folks gonna
move on to other presentations.
52:26
Thank you all so much for
your time and thank you, Dr.
52:29
Zaku and Elizabeth Domingos as well for
having us.
52:33
James, thanks for being here,
Rex, thanks for being here too.
52:37
>> Thanks for having me.
52:41
>> Bye, everybody.
52:43
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