Reading for all: Making learning more accesible

Reading for all: Making learning more accessible

Imagine…

If you’re reading experience was something like:

   Sing ABCs. Check.

   Sound-to-letter recognition. Check

   Letter knowledge to spelling. Check.

   Spelling to writing. Check.

This is how typical developing children learn to read. The process is multisensory, or ‘crossmodal’ lexical processing. What does that mean anyway?! You might ask. It means that typical children learn by establishing their auditory system which then influences how their orthographic system is established.

These are the facts…

It might be simple to say, “write a summary of what you read.”

It may not be that simple for some of us.

Written language is in fact not something we were born with, the only mechanism that was built in for us from birth is verbal and/or expressive language.

The way we associate how a letter sounds is because we’ve been formally instructed to learn what printed letters or words represents what sounds.

In a primary school setting, children are taught how to read by introducing how to write words with the proper letters, formally known as ‘orthographic input’. Then, they are instructed on how these symbols are broken down into sound concepts, formally known as ‘phoneme analysis’, and then built back to its whole form as letter-sound combinations, formally known ‘phoneme synthesis’. This process is completed vice-versa, as a continuous developing mechanism until it becomes automatic. The entire process is developing phonological awareness, which is the ability to manipulate sound structures of the oral language or spoken words, this is also what we consider listening skills. 

We are also taught the rules of the given dominant language, such as how certain letters that are paired together sound differently as when they are by themselves.

For example, coat and chocolate. If you’re a typical reader, you know the difference between these sound segments (‘c’ vs ‘ch’ – or formally /k/ vs /tò/) simply by reading the word as you combine it all together, this process is called phonemic awareness. Specifically, what this means is that you are picking out how smaller sound segments operate at the individual speech sound based on how they are printed. These individual speech sounds are called phonemes. It is also important to know that phoneme synthesis predicts phoneme analysis, and also predicts overall reading ability for typical children.

The dangers of using the facts from above for all types of learners…

The issue is that children with reading difficulties (RD) have a harder time making these associations when written print is paired by the sound representation simultaneously. Thereby, making it more difficult for letter-sound processing and representation to become automatic connections in the brain (Randazzo, Greenspon, Booth, & McNorgan, 2019).

In the past, investigating what works best to support children with reading difficulties (RD) have been done through implementing interventions to increase phonological awareness skills. The assumption is that children with RD struggle with auditory processing or phonological representation. In other words, written words fail to be represented and processed automatically to spoken words because children with RD under develop phonological awareness or listening skills. This entire assumption is called, a unimodal auditory processing deficit (Randazzo et al., 2019).

Previous research indicated that children whom are typical readers, demonstrate an instinctive integration of sound-letter processing and representation. These are two types of sensory modals which have been reflected in brain imaging. In fancy words, this is called crossmodal lexical processing.

Turns out, that researchers were able to support how children with reading difficulties are processing and representing sounds “differently” in brain images (Randazzo et al., 2019).

For this specific research study, it was predicted that children with RD would be considered to have a crossmodal audiovisual deficit (Randazzo et al., 2019). That is, sound to letter representation is interrupted due to the inactivation of the processing pathways needed to result in harmonious reading ability. This assumption is different from the unimodal auditory processing deficit, which is that children with RD under develop phonological awareness.

The difference lies in that recognizing that typical developing children demonstrate crossmodal processing for phonemic awareness, does not reflect that listening processing skills interfere with letter processing for children with RD. Rather, it suggests that children with RD have a unimodal processing for listening skills, and it is the integration itself with letter processing that is not linking automatically.

What do the most recent investigations say?

From the Chicago metropolitan area, the researchers suggest that children with RD, do best when taught one way, at a time. When they were quizzed in an only “auditory” group, they demonstrated significant stronger connections than when they were quizzed in a “multi” sensory group (i.e., audiovisual) (Randazzo et al., 2019).

Specifically, an area of the brain called the superior temporal gyrus, which relies heavily on auditory representation and has a huge role in visual-letter processing. This area was where children with RD demonstrated the most activity when they were asked to only listen to whether two words rhymed or not.

However, the moment children with RD were asked to first listen to a word, then a printed word was shown, and finally decide whether the words rhymed or not, this specific area (the superior temporal gyrus) was determined unrelated to phonological awareness. In other words, this important area of the brain that is ‘essential’ for visual-letter processing and used to store and retrieve auditory memories, did not reflect any activity including the portion of auditory representation for words as a whole (i.e., phoneme synthesis).

How cool is that! It says we pick up sound the best! Only when it is sound, not when it is paired with printed input.

I identify with these results. Despite learning to write at an academic level, I still struggle, and some days are better than others. Yet, I came to learn how I best learn, and that is when I am being spoken with.

My favourite types of lectures are when instructors create a seminar filled with interchanging information. I listen to understand, I ask questions to clarify, and I record to replay – of course, with permission. 

Let’s put it into perspective…

Furthermore, these results led me to connect with other references. For example, what does it mean to have the “Right to Read” (Ontario Human Rights Commission, 2019)?

I know this is going to sound ‘cheeky’ or distasteful. And I promise you that I empathize with individuals whom face adversity daily and whom are so resilient. I admire you.

What I want to say is, we once upon a time were non-cognizant of physical and sensory disabilities, so we had forced them to adapt to abled bodies. We now know, this is absolutely not okay. It is hurtful and ignorant. Individuals whom wake up in the morning with ease may be unaware of what kind of experiences an individual with a visible and/or an invisible disability encounters on an everyday-to-day basis.

What I need to say is, we no longer obligate or expect that an individual whom is blind to see in order for them to be understood or to understand, nor an individual whom is deaf to hear in order to be understood or to understand.

Which is why I say, sometimes, we haven’t always been the best humans all together.

Somehow, this world can be kind too, and progress has made its way. When we began learning about and accepting how individuals with physical and/or sensory disabilities are contributors to our social world, we adapted. We collaborated and explored how they represent and process the communication world. Thereby, communication systems were created, such as braille – textured patterns that individuals learn to use to understand the message being conveyed – and sign language! American Sign Language and French Sign Language, only to name the most common.

It’s personal. I struggled with writing, always.

Who almost fails grade 9 English?

I did, English teacher still passed me with a strong 54.

It wasn’t on purpose, I promise.

I did my best, yet I failed to understand the teacher’s methods.

Grade 10 history came around, and that teacher became my role model, also a mentor. She just knew, and she took the time to teach me how to write an essay.

First A in writing for a history paper. It was on the Battle of Vimy Ridge in France, WW1. Goodness was I so freaking proud of myself when I went home.

Then, my first panic attack happened, the day before my grade 10 final math exam. What a trip now.

I began struggling because math became words and words were hard to decipher.

I cried and told no one. I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t know who to talk to.

The first time I talked about it was more recently, and yet, I was encountered by judgement and preconceived ideas.

Despite English being my second language from 5 years old, I learned French as my third language – in which I am nearly fluent in speaking and comprehension. At any rate, grammar, spelling, and writing assignments are the most challenging components in each of the languages I have learned. This is contrary to what prior research has suggested.  

Today is the day we must walk the talk…

Nevertheless, what most recent research is suggesting is that children with reading difficulties are most likely to learn best in audio only, maybe a pencil and paper for them to draw/write their ideas, doubts, or questions, and that’s it (Randazzo et al., 2019).

It seems like multisensory interventions may not be the greatest. Yet, this is the most established method for children with dyslexia.

It’s either audio or visual at the time of intaking information, most definitely not both.

So, the Right to Read also means working with typography and exploring letter forms to support communication.

As children with RD are developing, here’s more bad news: strategies are static, and they must evolve. Why are strategies to learn not evolving as children become adolescents, as adolescents become young adults, and young adults become adults, and adults become elders?

It is not to my surprise that individuals with RD are less likely to continue into the academic world.

Now, what I have to ask: why are we continuing to push a reading method that only fits typical developing individuals and it is clearly unfit for children with reading difficulties – of which can be revealed as a disability?

Thereby, it is more than the Right to Read, it is the Right to Learn.

Signing off,

Nathaly Rodriguez

References

Ontario Human Rights Commission. (2019). Right to read: Ontario human rights commission inquiry into human rights issues that affect students with reading disabilities in Ontario’s public education system: Terms of reference. Retrieved from http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/right-read-terms-reference

Randazzo, M., Greenspon, E.B., Booth, J.R., & McNorgan, C. (2019). Children with reading difficulty rely on unimodal neural processing for phonemic awareness. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 13(390). https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2019.00390