Teacher Training Courses
The Dyslexia Association has as one of its main aims the training of teachers in methods of teaching children and adults who have this learning difference.
The Association therefore facilitates specialist training courses, each of which deals with a different aspect of learning. The Association has a cadre of trained professions who facilitate these courses
1. Methods for teaching dyslexics
A three-week multi-sensory structured phonics programme for reading, spelling and handwriting based on Orton-Gillingham principals.
A unique one-week programme which attends to comprehension and expressive language difficulties.
1. The Teaching Programme – “Methods for Teaching Dyslexics”
This Teaching Course is run annually during the last three weeks of July.
The programme is based on the work of Dr. Samuel Orton, Anna Gillingham and Bessie Stillman. According to Dr. Orton, a major hurdle in learning to read is the necessity of establishing a firm and consistent association between a visually presented symbol and it's auditory component. Orton advocated the use of all sensory pathways to reinforce weak memory patterns and to strengthen all pathways.
In the light of research into the importance of phonological awareness and memory the programme has been further evolved to include these necessary skills.
The programme used by the Dyslexia Association proceeds slowly in small steps, provides immediate feedback, and is multi-sensory in its presentation. In each case there is much practice and review until the skills become automatic thus freeing the student to concentrate on understanding. The programme is suitable for teaching children as well as adults.
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The Course Includes teacher based
assessments, multi-sensory teaching of reading, handwriting and spelling, phonemic awareness, perception, sequencing, listening skills, language skills, story writing, comprehension, help in the classroom, lesson planning, and meta-cognition.
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Emphasis is on practical work and there is ample opportunity to practise the techniques learnt as children come in to be taught during the last two weeks.
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The course is limited to 22 participants and is ideal for teachers who can work with small groups in a remedial setting.
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Application forms are sent out in April. Please email or phone the Association to be placed on the list.
2. NOW! (Neuro-development of Words) Foundations
for Speech, Reading and Spelling ®
This programme replaces the LiPS Training
Led by Neuropsychologist T.W. Conway PhD
Dr. Conway has conducted research on brain function using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). He has also done specific research on treatment of language-based reading problems and a preventative study with kindergarteners (ages 5-6). His findings have been published in professional journals such as the Journal of the International Neuro-psychological Society and the Journal of Learning Disabilities.
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Current research has shown that the best predictor of reading success is the ability of young children to “play” with the sounds of language (phonological awareness).
Poor phonological awareness is a core difficulty of dyslexia, and of students who in their early years are not exposed to a rich and varied language environment, or who may have had limited early languages experiences because of unresolved middle ear infections.
Many reading-disabled students are unable to discriminate, separate and blend individual sounds of words despite adequate hearing and intelligence. Recent research in Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) has shown that, for some learners, the area of the brain that governs this function just doesn’t become engaged during these activities. This means that these students need training in the use of alternate modalities to achieve a level of phonological awareness necessary to become fluently literate.
The NOW! Foundations programme teaches these students to access the sounds of their language through the feel of the mouth, lips and tongue. It is a unique programme. The procedures are effective for all ages and furthermore also increase language acquisition and performance.
3. NOW! (Neuro-development of Words) Mental Imagery
for Language, Comprehension, Memory and Reasoning ®
This programme replaces the Visualizing and Verbalizing programme
This programme is led by T.W. Conway PhD.
Dr. Conway combines the experience of a language therapist, researcher, and trainer of professionals. He has 20+ years experience using these programmes with children, adolescents and adults in elementary and secondary school, college, private medical centres, private educational centres and state veterans’ hospital environments. He has over twenty years experience in educational presentations, research publications and training of professionals regarding neuro-development of the foundations needed for easy acquisition of receptive and expressive language skills.
Research (Dr. Alan Pavio 2007) has shown that students labeled as poor listeners, and people who have to read and re-read material several times, and who still do not remember more than a few details, have problems creating a mental picture for language. For these students, words just seem to go “in one ear and out the other”. The usual technique of teaching comprehension by practicing increasingly difficult passages does nothing to improve these students’ comprehension because it does not attend to the core deficit
However, NOW! Mental Imagery applies concept imagery to reading comprehension, oral language comprehension, following directions, and higher order thinking. In addition, NOW! Mental Imagery has a strong component of expressive language so that writing skills are also enhanced. These procedures are effective for all ages.
