Orthography for Diagnosticians Presenter – Brenda Taylor, M.Ed., RPED, NCED, CALT/LDT TEDA Annual Conference – May 1, 2014 Language and the Brain Reading – Word Recognition: • Reading is a language process • Orthographic and phonological processes are part of a language system • Word recognition does not depend on orthographic or phonological processes; rather it requires coordination of orthographic and phonological processes Berninger 1 Orthographic Processing (Gv): Orthography – refers to how spoken words are represented in ____________________________________ Orthographic awareness – the ability to perceive and recall ______________________________________ Orthographic memory – ability to ________________________ words stored in memory without having to sound them out Characteristics of Difficulty with Orthographic Awareness: Symbol Recognition & Recall Difficulty learning how to form symbols Decoding Trouble with accurate & rapid word recognition Confusion of symbols similar in appearance (e.g, b and d, 2 and 5) Trouble reading irregular words Trouble with copying tasks Trouble remembering how words look Tendency to reverse letters or numbers past the age of 7 Trouble remembering letter sequences Encoding (Spelling) Tendency to reverse & transpose letters (e.g., grils for girls) Tendency to use difference spellings for the same word (e.g., Pual and Paul) Tendency to overrely the phonological rather than the visual features of words Tendency to omit word endings Slow reading speed Overreliance on phonological & contextual strategies as aids in word identification Source: Learning Disabilities and Challenging Behaviors: A Guide to Intervention and Classroom Management by Mather & Goldstein 2 Processes Involved in Single Word Reading: Based on information from Dr. Gail Cheramie Adapted by Region 4 Education Service Center “Although orthographic processing is a visual task, the visual processing tasks on many current cognitive tests are not synonymous with orthographic processing. Most of the visual processing tasks on cognitive tests use shapes, designs, or pictures. Tasks that do not use letters or words do not tap orthographic processing ability.” (Mather & Wendling, 2012) Instruments that assess orthographic processing: • Test of Orthographic Competence (TOC) • Symbol Imagery Test • Process Assessment of the Learner II (PAL-II) • Test of Silent Word Reading Fluency (TOSWRF) • Early Reading Assessment (ERA) • Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities-3 (ITPA-3) • Test of Irregular Word Reading (TIWRE) 3 Case Study: WJ-III Subtest SS Verbal Comprehension 113 Composite SS Sound Blending 128 Conventions 87 Incomplete Words 136 Spelling Speed 83 Spelling 78 Spelling Accuracy 80 Orthographic Ability 81 Test of Orthographic Competence (TOC) Spelling errors: rane (rain) tabol (table) flor (floor) erly (early) Writing Samples: 1. The chick is haching. 2. This anmal is a cow. 3. The boy is ouping the peresent. 4. This littil seal is balnsing the ball on his hed. Observations: 4 Conceptualization of Reading Disabilities – Dr. Louisa Moats (Based on Fletcher et al.l 2007; Aaron, Joshi et al., 2008) Language Comprehension (Phonological) Word Recognition Orthographic Processing/Fluency Interventions: • Effective spelling instruction • Use of multisensory methods o Look at a word, Say the word, Trace the word o Cover-Write Methods • Activities to develop discrimination of visual features, matching, and recalling visual information • Use of language to describe visual information Sources: Wendling, B & Mather, N. (2009). Essentials of Evidence-Based Academic Interventions. Mather, N. & Goldstein, S (2008). Learning Disabilities and Challenging Behaviors: A Guide to Intervention and Classroom Management, 2nd Edition. 5