Assessment 2: Case study + Lesson plan

Part 1:

D is a high school student in Year 8, who has been diagnosed with Dyslexia.

Dyslexia not only affects D’s individual reading ability, but also writing,

spelling, memory, motor skills, phonological awareness and the

understanding of sequences (Australian Dyslexia Association, 2018). For D,

the words often look jumbled on the page and because of this she is focused

on the actual process of reading she cannot comprehend what she has read.

D also struggles to comprehend what she has read, especially when she is

asked to annotate a text without any prior vocabulary instruction. Therefore,

she struggles more with English than Mathematics. However, her teachers all

report she is very good at vocalizing her needs in relation to her disability,

providing assistance to the necessary actions teachers can take. Her teachers

also notice she is much more engaged in an English class when there is a

film/video involved or a short poetry text. D is very creative and likes graphic

design and technology. Since writing and articulating thoughts is difficult for D,

she tends to excel and enjoy some aspects of mathematics more. Her

teachers believe she is very capable, but only attempts to complete a task

when she feels she is able to do it.

According to D’s character profile and the additional information that has been

provided by her teachers, there are certain issues that can be addressed. D’s

teacher can consider the needs when planning for an inclusive classroom.

There is a strong theoretical hypothesis that students with dyslexia have

“different brain hemispheric processing patterns” (Exley, 2003, p.213).

Students with dyslexia usually have a learning style preference such as

Assessment 2: Case study + Lesson plan

auditory, visual and kinesthetic. As Exley (2003) believes students with

dyslexia learn more when taught to their strengths. Therefore, knowing your

students and how they learn is crucial when planning for adjustments.

Teaching methods should be directed at D’s strengths and in the way she

learns best. Dyslexia is not an intellectual disability but rather a language

learning disability. Therefore D and other leaners with dyslexia should not be

perceived without expectation. This notion is supported by the Australian

Dyslexia Association (ADA), claiming there is no correlation between dyslexia

and IQ (ADA, 2018). Fostering an inclusive classroom, whereby students with

dyslexia are taught by their strengths will result in successful learning goals

for students