Research gives hope for overcoming dyslexia

Research gives hope for overcoming dyslexia

Feb. 10, 2001

By Katharhynn Heidelberg
Journal Staff Writer

A vexing problem that afflicts many bright individuals is currently receiving the benefit of undivided attention from researchers.

Dyslexia, a learning disability characterized by difficulty in expressing or understanding oral or written language, will be discussed at a one-day conference, "Literacy 2001," at Fort Lewis College on Saturday, Feb. 24. The conference is sponsored by Durango Mountain Camp, a six-week summer program for dyslexic students, in conjunction with the college, the Durango Department of Education and Adams State College.

The conference will feature dyslexia experts, and Joyce Bilgrave, director of Durango Mountain Camp said she hopes the conference will "serve as a catalyst and an opportunity for administrators, teachers, medical personnel, diagnosticians, higher-education personnel and parents to focus on the needs, research and solutions for successfully educating" the dyslexic population.

And that population is surprisingly large. According to statistics provided by the National Institute of Health, dyslexia, often called "the silent disabler," affects 15 percent of the American population. Many dyslexics are above average in intelligence, and emotionally and sensory "intact," yet cannot read, write, spell or compose in accordance with that intelligence.

Proportionately, this involves 2,500,000 youngsters in the United States, 106,216 youngsters in Colorado, and 3,750 in Southwest Colorado.

"The target that we’re aiming for is the southwest corner (of Colorado), Cortez to Alamosa, and Montrose to Durango," Bilgrave said.

Bilgrave categorized readers into three basic groups. There are "born readers" who seem to have an innate mastery of language skills. Bilgrave said it makes no difference how they learn to read, they will master literacy.

The middle category are not born readers, but learn readily with tools on hand, provided by standard curricula.

But there is an estimated 40 percent of children, who, unless specific approaches and tools are used, will never learn to read. "That’s staggering to me," Bilgrave said.

Although dyslexia has been recognized as a learning disability for some time, only recently have experts come together to devise a uniform approach for dealing with dyslexic students.

"This (dyslexia) has become such a problem that the National Institute of Health has funded top-level research," Bilgrave reported. That research — from Harvard to Sinai Hospital of Boston — has all pointed to the same basic method, and that method reaffirms the approaches many individual educators have devised to combat dyslexia.

"This is very exciting," Bilgrave said. "The thing they’re finding is that, not only with dyslexic children, but with at-risk children, these procedures and methods are all successful." She added that the approaches to be discussed at the conference are often helpful to minority students who have difficulty learning, too.

Bilgrave said she hopes the "extended community of parents and educators" will attend the conference. She especially hopes that parents who think their children may be dyslexic, or who have dyslexic teenagers, will attend, and bring their older children along. An educated parent population, she added, is essential to solving problems like dyslexia.

"What it (the research) actually does is say we can wipe out reading problems. We now have research-based knowledge on how to have every child reading at his or her potential. We know how to do that. That’s terribly exciting to me."

The conference presenters include an "all-star" lineup of dyslexia experts of international repute, according to Bilgrave. Presenters include Joyce Steves of John Hopkins University, who will speak on working with the gifted and talented; Margaret Riddle of the University of Denver; Barbara Wise of CU Boulder, who will discuss phonological awareness; international expert in the education of dyslexics Diana King; Edward Kame’enui of the University of Oregon and Drake Duane, the field’s leading neuropsychologist, and founder/director of the Institute of Developmental Behavioral Neurology in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The conference will take place at the FLC Student Union Building Ballroom, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Everyone — the general public, educators, administrators and especially parents — is welcome. Registration is $65, or $15 for students, and may be completed by calling 385-1778 for a registration form. Registration will also be accepted on the day of the conference, between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m.