Dyslexia & Dysgraphia

  • WHAT IS DYSLEXIA?

    As defined in Texas Education Code §38.003:

    1. “Dyslexia” means a disorder of constitutional origin manifested by a difficulty in learning to read, write, or spell, despite conventional instruction, adequate intelligence, and sociocultural opportunity.
    2. “Related disorders” includes disorders similar to or related to dyslexia such as developmental auditory imperceptions, dysphasia, specific developmental dyslexia,  developmental dysgraphia, and developmental spelling disability.

    The current definition from the International Dyslexia Association states the following:   Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede the growth of vocabulary and background knowledge. (Adopted by the International Dyslexia Board of Directors, November  12, 2002).

    The primary difficulties of a student identified as having dyslexia occur in phonemic awareness and manipulation, single-word decoding, reading fluency, and spelling. Secondary consequences of dyslexia may include difficulties in reading comprehension and/or written expression. These difficulties are unexpected for the student’s age, educational level, or cognitive abilities. Additionally, there is often a family history of similar difficulties. 

    WHAT IS DYSGRAPHIA?

    The current definition from the International Dyslexia Association states the following: Dysgraphia is related to dyslexia as both are language-based disorders. In dyslexia, the impairment is with word-level skills (decoding, word identification, spelling). Dysgraphia is a  written language disorder in serial production of strokes to form a handwritten letter. This involves not only motor skills but also language skills—finding, retrieving and producing letters,  which is a subword-level language skill. The impaired handwriting may interfere with spelling and/or composing, but individuals with only dysgraphia do not have difficulty with reading.

    DYSLEXIA/DYSGRAPHIA HANDBOOKS

    HISD DYSLEXIA TEACHERS

    PARENT RESOURCES

     

     

     

     

     

Contact

  • Amy Whittle

    Amy Whittle
    DIRECTOR - FEDERAL PROGRAMS
    awhittle@hisd.com
    Phone: 903-668-5990 ext. 5028