and writing by speaking option will become ubiquitous. Today, we have all done writing by speaking when we pop out our phones and dictate a text message instead of typing it. We’ve done reading by listening when we read an audible book instead of reading the print book, or listen to an email instead of reading it visually. Yet students in the classroom are struggling to keep their heads above water sounding out and spelling words instead of using this technology. Must we wait for the wave to sweep past us before we recognize that our students with dyslexia could be on top of that wave instead of under it? Using this technology shouldn’t be viewed as a good idea it should be viewed as imperative. WHERE WE GO FROM HERE We can’t save our students from dyslexia, but we can save them from letting it limit who they are and who they can become. We can do this by telling them the truth, showing them what dyslexia is and what dyslexia is not, and showing them how it primarily only affects two of their abilities: pronouncing words and spelling words. Like glasses fix the reading and writing problems for students with farsightedness, when those two effects of dyslexia are immediately accommodated for by using reading by listening and writing by speaking, our students with dyslexia will not experience the typical secondary consequences of dyslexia: writing problems, reading problems, lost learning opportunities, and squandered potential. They will not need extra time because they will complete reading and writing activities in the same length of time as their peers and stay caught up minute by minute with class lessons. They will develop their inherent talents for reading and writing along with their classmates and have the life-changing opportunity to achieve academic excellence.
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February / March, 2023 | www.closingthegap.com/membership Closing The Gap © 2023 Closing The Gap, Inc. All rights reserved.
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