Foreword

Dyslexia affects between 15-20% of the population, making it the most commonly diagnosed learning disability. Although dyslexia has a strong impact on many students, it remains one of the least understood disabilities. Not many people know that dyslexia is brain-based. Brain imaging studies1 show clear differences between the brains of people with and without dyslexia. These differences occur in the areas of the brain responsible for key reading skills. In people with dyslexia, the areas of the brain responsible for reading may work differently from people who do not have this difficulty. The key features of dyslexia are that people with this disability have problems with phonological processing, spelling and/or rapid naming. They lack reading fluency, as evidenced by slow, inaccurate or slurred oral reading. Phonological processing difficulty means the inability to effectively decode letters into compound sounds to form words. A fundamental phonological processing problem can block access to other more advanced aspects of reading, such as word identification and comprehension. Difficulties with spelling stem from an inability to write efficiently from memory the letters that make up words. In this case, an increase in the time it takes to spell words, as well as spelling mistakes may be noticeable. Difficulty in rapid naming may be evident when it is increasingly difficult to quickly retrieve speech sounds and the correct letter order patterns needed to read and write efficiently. Facts about dyslexia a) Dyslexia affects the areas of the brain associated with detecting and processing speech sounds and their corresponding letters. These connections between letters and sounds are fundamental to reading. Reading development is impaired when those areas of the brain do not function effectively to make these connections. b) Dyslexia can be inherited. It has environmental and genetic contributions. If a child has a family member with some form of dyslexia, the chances of them being affected by the disorder increase exponentially. c) Dyslexia is invisible. Identification of this disorder requires evaluation and assessment. It is difficult to identify students with dyslexia on the surface. Often, lack of effort and avoidance of the reading task may actually hide fatigue due to difficulties in processing information differently from their peers. d) Dyslexia has varying levels of severity. Difficulties due to dyslexia can range on a scale from mild to very severe. Mildly affected students may compensate for their inability to

1 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20417459/ 3

read accurately, resulting in later or missed identification compared to more severely affected students. e) Dyslexia is often present in combination with other learning difficulties. In addition to reading challenges, attention disorders such as ADD (attention deficit disorder) or ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) can be mentioned. According to the most recent studies, about 25% of dyslexia sufferers are affected by ADHD2 . Myths about dyslexia a) Dyslexia is a visual problem. In fact, dyslexia is associated with phonological deficiencies with a basis in the brain, so it is more of a language problem and not a visual one. Dyslexia is not associated with reversal of letters or numbers. b) People with dyslexia cannot learn to read. In fact, most individuals with dyslexia learn to read. Dyslexics usually require explicit educational support and find reading in particular particularly difficult. c) Dyslexia has an impact on an individual's intellect or imaginative and emotional functioning. The reading disorders associated with dyslexia are unexpected in that dyslexics generally demonstrate both normal intellectual functioning and developmental growth. One in five pupils suffer from dyslexia. In a pupil with dyslexia, we can see some strengths such as creativity and imagination, communication skills, solving problems in a novel way, talent in construction and design, strong 3 D visual skills and never giving up. On the other hand, his weaknesses are reading and making rhymes, writing and taking notes, confusion between left and right, organization and time management, following instructions, memorization (as in math and spelling). As teachers, our task is to provide the necessary support to dyslexic students. How can we do this? Firstly, we can learn about dyslexia and disseminate information to all colleagues, parents and interested students. This is the main motivation behind the ERASMUS + project DYSLEXIA ASSESSMENT PROTOCOL (DAP), as the vast experience of the Dyslexia Association in Ruse, Bulgaria, has shown that both parents and teachers want to know more and have tools to help them in the early detection of signs that may predict the onset of dyslexia. During lessons, we can track indicators - is the pupil acting or being discouraged by some work tasks? We cannot apply the wait-and-see principle, as early intervention is extremely important for improving outcomes.

2 https://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/adhd-dyslexia-tell-apart 4

The project focuses on a very specific problem - the early identification of dyslexia among pupils in the initial acquisition of literacy (grades 1 and 2); and the identification of preschool children (the last year before school) at risk of dyslexia. According to the European Dyslexia Association3, dyslexia affects 25 million people in Europe (figures from the International Dyslexia Association show that 10-12% of the world's population suffer from dyslexia to some degree). Research shows4 that the earlier the problem is identified, the sooner intervention begins and the more likely the positive results. There is a lack of effective assessment methods and tools that teachers could easily use in the classroom to identify symptoms of dyslexia. Teachers lack effective practical skills to recognise the reasons for children's literacy difficulties. All these factors are among the main reasons for many pupils' low academic achievement in later stages of the educational process, as well as for their unsatisfactory long-term social integration and employment. Most of the previous projects deal with raising awareness and understanding of different aspects of education and provide theoretical knowledge about different approaches and techniques, as well as the support that needs to be provided to pupils with reading/writing difficulties. All this knowledge is very important. But what teachers also need is to know how to find out the reason behind pupils' learning problems from the very beginning. This is what the DAP project aims to do. In the partner countries, there is no standardised, quick, and easy assessment tool for dyslexia/dyslexia risk. Different specialists dealing with this problem use different tests, which they select and interpret according to their own understanding. For specific reading and writing skills, no specific tests are used. The specialists are the ones who decide to what extent an individual's literacy skills correspond to their age. The aim of the DAP project is to help primary school educators and teachers who are confronted in the classroom with possible problems in correctly identifying pupils with learning difficulties, especially dyslexia. The subsequent outcomes of pupils depend largely on early identification of risk factors for reading disabilities. If individuals at risk of dyslexia are not identified and supported in an appropriate and timely manner, there is a greater chance that subjects will develop anxiety, depression, and/or behavioural problems. In the early stages of this project, from the first meetings of the participating country teams, a set of questionnaires were developed and applied to both primary school teachers and preschool teachers. The questionnaire items aimed, among other things, to identify and quantify whether tools, programmes or strategies exist to detect children at risk of dyslexia. Following

3 https://dyslexiaida.org/ 4 https://dyslexia.yale.edu/resources/parents/what-parents-can-do/suspect-dyslexia-act-early/ 5

the application of these questionnaires, the following conclusions were reached in relation to these issues: - a very large number of preschool and primary school teachers (over 70%) said that they did not know about or use tools to help them detect future reading problems in children; - very many of the teachers interviewed say they do not feel prepared to recognise, work with or help children who are at risk of dyslexia; - the majority of teachers who responded to the questionnaires do not know whether there are any programmes or tools to help children at risk of dyslexia to be detected; - the problem of children at risk of dyslexia is the exclusive responsibility of the speech and language teachers, who, being very few in number, need to be supported and to work as a team with the class teacher, whether an educator or a teacher. This book is one of the Intellectual Outputs of the project. It is prepared by the project team in collaboration with teachers who will take part in the Piloting (Output 4). The aim is to provide teachers with a practical tool they can use with pupils with dyslexia and other related learning difficulties in order to develop the skills they have deficits in, so they could better perform at school. The Exercise Book is divided into chapters/sections and in each of them exercises address one or more skills. These chapters/sections will be related to the areas assessed by the Dyslexia Assessment Protocol application, developed by the Partnership (Output 2). For example, if the Protocol defines deficits in phonological memory, teachers will be able to find in the book exercises they can use (or suggest parents use it with their children at home) in order to improve the pupil’s phonological memory and to compensate for the deficit.

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