Dyslexia: What Reading Literacy Education and Disability

Studies: Reenvisioning Struggling

Teachers Need to Know
❖ Dyslexia is a neurobiological disorder
that affects a person’s phonological
processing and memory (Lyon,
Shaywitz, & Shaywitz, 2003)
❖ Students with dyslexia need more than
just oral and written instruction
❖ Students with dyslexia may have not
been raised in homes with the
necessary tools to help them
❖ Students with dyslexia can be helped
by engaging, multisensory
interventions delivered by teachers
trained in reading instruction to
increase accuracy, reading fluency,
and text comprehension.
Students
❖ Disability studies in education (DSE)
doesn’t just focus on how content is
taught but what is taught so that the
classroom is more diverse and
welcoming to all of its students.
❖ DSE doesn’t focus on fixing students
with disabilities but educating teachers
on how to teach to their needs.
❖ DSE also recasts student struggles
around literacy as an academic
problem rather than a disability
problem
❖ DSE does not push for pulling students
out of class and putting them in rooms
for “special needs”

Similarities

The biggest similarity in these two articles is the suggestions of methods that teachers can use
in their own classrooms. Both articles touch on teaching to multiple intelligences and allowing
students to show mastery in various forms, not just focus on written work.
The articles also both mention the struggle teachers may face with where the child is at
academically. They could be placed in your class with no prior diagnoses or help from teachers
before and now they may be behind academically.

Another big mention in both articles is the importance of helping your students be good
readers as it is the center of every discipline. Not only teaching them to be able to read but
ensuring they understand what they just read.

My Thoughts

As someone who has trouble processing things quickly and often has to re-read information to grasp an
understanding, these articles were extremely helpful in finding ways to help my students that may have
the same problem. I also loved that the second article mentions that the tools you put in place to help
your students with learning disabilities may help your other students!
Collins, K. & Ferri, B. (2016). Literacy education and disability studies: Reenvisioning
struggling students. (Links to an external site.)  Journal of Adolescent and Adult
Literacy, 60(1), p. 7-12.
Johnson, V. (2019). Dyslexia what teachers need to know. (Links to an external
site.) 0(0), p. 1-8. International Literacy Association.