I believe the best support for struggling students with dyslexia symptoms is the full spectrum of Structure of Intellect interventions. Most of the students at Positive Learning Solutions have some degree of dyslexic symptoms, and have made much reading progress with their program and are progressing in school.
First, identifying visual and auditory perceptual processing problems and remediating them is necessary for success in overcoming any learning problem, and dyslexia is no exception. SOI-IPP and specific SOI computer and paper modules provide that underlying support for visual, auditory, and spatial abilities.
Any referrals to Meeker Paradigm Area 3 health professionals are appropriate as well. Some visual symptoms – such as letters/numbers/words moving or distorting, or losing place frequently – that are found in dyslexia checklists from any source, are in recent years found to actually be Irlen Syndrome symptoms co-existing with dyslexia. Free questionnaires can help determine if an Irlen screening and specific colors can eliminate part of the barrier to reading and learning.
Particularly if starting a phonemic awareness/phonics-based dyslexia reading program, a student is at a clear disadvantage if the auditory processing/memory are not strengthened beforehand. The SOI Auditory Kit strengthens auditory discrimination, semantic sequences, and memory of units. The Auditory Kit and Memory Matrix (particularly the 3 auditory exercises) are used with most, if not all of my students with much success. Every area of a student’s memory ability needs to be strengthened before any dyslexia reading program is begun.
The SOI Assessments of Learning Abilities define the strengths and best learning styles, in addition to any weaknesses that need to be strengthened. Sometimes the student’s best learning style is not immediately clear when remediation is needed. For example, how many times does a dyslexic student score average in symbolic (and does better in math than in language arts) but low in figural and semantic? Yet after thoroughly doing the recommended modules remediation, if a post-test is given, many emerge as having a higher figural learning style. This has happened in a few cases when I have post-tested.
This SOI learning readiness process brings the dyslexic student to his or her ideal potential to learn. The next step is to proceed with a best-learning-style reading program tailored to this student. I believe the SOI philosophy of using an individual’s strengths to help bring up weaker areas could never be more valuable than with the dyslexic learner.
Many have thrived starting with LOCAN and/or other figural, multi-sensory hands-on approaches, then adding phonics as they are ready. I think of one of my students, diagnosed with both diseidesia (visual dyslexia) and dysphonesia (auditory dyslexia), and many vision processing problems at age 9, (and later Irlen Syndrome). She had the full SOI program – plus vision therapy because it was before I could do IPP – then figural approaches to reading, then a little phonics. She is now in her 20s and reported that she read 23 novels last year!!!
SOI works!
written by: Marcia Davis, SOI Associate and IPP Practitioner and owner of Positive Learning Solutions, LLC
