The highly verbal five-year-old who can't master the alphabet.
The bright, creative seven-year-old who has not grasped reading.
The teenager whose mediocre grades are blamed on "lack of motivation".
The college student who scraped by in high school and now finds herself in over her head.

What these otherwise bright, sociable young people have in common is a disability which makes learning in the "usual" way difficult. Dyslexia, characterized by problems with learning to read, remembering what was read, spelling, and organizing thoughts, may be noticed as early as kindergarten or may never be diagnosed. Because it interferes with the ability to learn in school, dyslexia can impose frustrating limitations on those it affects.

For many, dyslexia equates with the image of a person seeing words in reversed order, e.g., reading "was" as "saw." While this type of difficulty is a hallmark symptom, dyslexia cannot be explained as simply seeing letters backwards. Dyslexia is marked by difficulties understanding the basic correspondence between symbols (such as letters) and their sounds. It can be both a visual-perceptual and language-based disorder.

Dyslexia is defined as a disability that is "manifested by a significant discrepancy between intellectual functioning and reading and/or writing skills. The discrepancy is not the result of educational or environmental factors, but is presumed to be inherent." In other words, there is a wide gap between IQ and school achievement. Further, this gap is not the result of poor teaching at school, inadequate stimulation at home, or emotional factors, but instead may be the result of how that person's brain is organized. Frequently, the dyslexic's higher cognitive skills (the ability to abstract either visually or verbally) may be good, but the lower level skills - reading, spelling, and calculating—may be weak.

The cause of dyslexia is not known; however, a learning disability may be caused by subtle miscues in the organization of cognitive systems in the brain. These miscues are thought to be present at birth and influenced to some degree by heredity. Approximately five to ten percent of school-age children have a learning disability.

If undiagnosed or improperly addressed, dyslexia can produce years of frustration for affected children. Dyslexia can make a child feel "stupid" because the child sees contemporaries reading and working with numbers, and he can't keep up. The student encounters failure every day in school and his self-esteem takes a beating. Educators emphasize the importance of identifying a learning disability as soon as possible, so the child can begin to learn in alternative ways and achieve success in school.

Public schools, as well as the Institute, offer testing of children who are falling behind their peers and may be at risk for a learning disability. Candidates for testing include children with at least normal intelligence who are not doing as well in school as predicted by standard intelligence tests. The comprehensive evaluation for a learning disability involves a series of cognitive, linguistic, social/emotional, and academic tests. Once a diagnosis is made, an appropriate treatment plan can be developed.

Fortunately, the majority of dyslexic children, with the help of parents, teachers and tutors, are able to learn various techniques which allow them to stay in the regular classroom. The least restrictive environment is best but sometimes special education placement is necessary for the child to get the appropriate remediation that will help the child work with and around the disability.

LEARNING DISABILITIES

It is believed that learning disabilities are caused by a difficulty with the nervous system that affects receiving, processing or communicating information. Some learning disabled children are also hyperactive and/or distractible with a short attention span.

Child and adolescent psychiatrists point out that learning disabilities are treatable, but if not detected and treated early, they can have a tragic "snowballing" effect. For instance, a child who does not learn addition in elementary school cannot understand algebra in high school. The child, trying very hard to learn, becomes more and more frustrated, and develops emotional problems such as low self-esteem in the face of repeated failure. Some learning disabled children misbehave in school because they would rather be seen as "bad" than "stupid".

Parents should be aware of the most frequent signals of learning disabilities, when a child:

• Has difficulty understanding and following instructions.
• Has trouble remembering what someone just told him or her.
• Fails to master reading, writing, and/or math skills, and thus fails schoolwork.
• Has difficulty distinguishing right from left--for example, confusing 25 with 52, "b" with "d," or "on" with "no."
• Lacks coordination—in walking, sports, or small activities such as holding a pencil or tying a shoelace.
• Easily loses or misplaces homework, schoolbooks or other items.
• Cannot understand the concept of time; is confused by "yesterday," "today," "tomorrow."

As there are seven different types of Dyslexia, many go undiagnosed. Since schools teach the Rote-Memory System, most of these students struggle through school—if they make it at all. Many simply cannot read. Whenever they are given something to read, they put it aside and do their own thing. That brings another problem—lack of concentration or a weakened attention span. This leads to many being misdiagnosed as Attention Deficit Disorder. Some estimates indicate of all ADD labeled students, up to 90% may be Dyslexic.

In reality, Dyslexia may be an asset. For instance, since most Dyslexics have a difficult time reading, they tend to develop their other senses more. They can utilize the brain's ability to change and create perceptions. They are more visual -- thinking in pictures more than words. They are highly intelligent and very creative. As long as the extended development of their other senses continues and is not destroyed by the school system and/or parents, Dyslexia can be a gift beyond the ability to read. Look at all the famous DYSLEXIC GENIUSES!

A semantic compaction system that makes self-expression easier for communicatively disabled individuals.

Just as printing killed the oral tradition, and changed the way we think, the computer will revolutionize the way we look to the future.

The sooner that dyslexia is diagnosed, the more effective the remedial action. Education editor John Clare reports on a computer breakthrough that could alleviate the misery of thousands of children - and their parents.

It has often been argued that various facts about skilled reading aloud cannot be explained by any model unless that model possesses a dual-route architecture (lexical and non-lexical routes from print to speech). This broad claim has been challenged by Seidenberg and McClelland (1989,1990). Their model has but a single route from print to speech, yet, they contend, it can account for major facts about reading that have hitherto been claimed to require a dual-route architecture. The authors identify 6 of these major facts about reading. The 1-route model proposed by Seidenberg and McClelland can account for the first of these but not the remaining 5. BEcause models with dual-route architectures an explain all 6 of these basic facts about reading, the authors suggest that this remains the viable architecture for any tenable model of skilled reading and learning to read. The dual-route cascaded model, a computational version of the dual-route model, is described.

We put forward an approach to deriving and applying human error tolerance requirements. Such requirements are concerned with the response of the system to errors introduced by human operators. The approach provides a means by which operators tasks can be described and analyzed for likely errors and the impact of these errors on system safety can be explored. (...)

Abnormal auditory processing in dyslexics suggests that accompanying anatomical abnormalities might be present in the auditory system. Therefore, we measured cross sectional neuronal areas in the medial geniculate nuclei (MGN's) of five dyslexic and seven control brains. In contrast to controls, which showed no asymmetry, the left-side MGN neurons were significantly smaller than the right in the dyslexic sample. Also, as compared with controls, there were more small neurons and fewer large neurons in the left dyslexic MGN. These findings are consistent with reported behavioral findings of a left hemisphere-based phonological defect in dyslexic individuals.

This paper reviews the impact of connectionism upon our understanding of brain-damaged language performance, and attempts to explain why it is of importance for the neuropsychology of language. Connectionism is an approach to modeling cognitive processes using networks of interconnected, simple, neuron-like units. Behavior emerges as the result of the interaction of these units. It has provided a new way of thinking about cognitive processing, emphasizing its low-level mechanisms. One supposed advantage of connectionism is its biological plausibility. It is possible to 'lesion' these systems by destroying some of the units or the connections between them. It is claimed that lesions to connectionist models of particular cognitive systems result in the appropriate acquired disorders. For example, lessoning a connectionist model of reading and word pronunciation results in surface dyslexia. Connectionist models of surface and deep dyslexia, and of word substitutions in aphasia, are described in detail. Some advantages and disadvantages of connectionism are discussed.

A case study is presented of phonological spelling, an acquired spelling disorder in which the primary symptom is the occurrence of phonologically plausible errors (eg "flood" -> "flud"). Not all of the patient's spelling errors are as phonologically perfect as this example; but it is arguable that the errors primarily derive from a routine which segments the phinological code and assigns orthographic representations to these individual segments. This account of errors in phonological spelling is contrasted with an interpretation of oral reading errors in surface dyslexia. We conclude that errors in the two disorders do not reveal a precise parallel, and that the contrast is partly attributable to the differential role of comprehension in reading and spelling.

A recurrent connectionist network was trained to output semantic feature vectors when presented with letter strings. When damaged, the network exhibited characteristics that resembled several of the phenomena found in deep dyslexia and semantic-access dyslexia. Damaged networks sometimes settled to the semantic vectors for semantically similar but visually dissimilar words. With severe damage, a forced-choice decision between categories was possible even when the choice of the particular semantic vector within the category was not possible. The damaged networks typically exhibited many mixed visual and semantic errors in which the output corresponded to a word that was both visually and semantically similar. Surprisingly, damage near the output sometimes caused pure visual errors. Indeed, the characteristic error pattern of deep dyslexia occurred with damage to virtually any part of the network.

In this correspondence, we study the principles governing the power and efficiency of the default hierarchy, a system of knowledge acquisition and representation. The default hierarchy consists of clear and accessible rules, like an expert-made system, but trains automatically when exposed to data, like a neural network. The hierarchy has both general (default) and specific rules. In training, specific rules are learned only if they are exceptions to general rules; in using the hierarchy, default rules are used when no relevant specific rules are found. Our application of the default hierarchy to the task of pronouncing written English reveals interesting properties of the default hierarchy architecture. We find that the hierarchy performs best when there is free access to general rules, and that it is less than 1/4 the size of a comparable nonhierarchical rule set while no less accurate in pronunciation. Evaluating the hierarchy as a pronouncer of English, we find that its rules capture several key features of English spelling. Moreover, the default hierarchy pronounces English better than the neural network NETtalk, and almost as well as expert-devised systems (DECtalk and the Naval Research Laboratory's pronunciation system).

We applied the Boder and Jarrico criteria to the WRAT spelling list and examined the phonetically inaccurate spelling error patterns of learning-disabled (LD), head-injured (HI) and non-disabled young adults. Phonetically inaccurate (PI) errors were reliably rated and were correlated significantly more strongly with dysphasic errors than with dyscopia. ANOVA showed that LD and HI, which did not differ, made significantly more PI errors than both noindisabled and HI. These results indicate that PI errors reflect an underlying language disorder. THe results also suggest that PI errors are more frequent in brain-related disorders. Finally, when group differences in cognitive ability are statistically controlled, PI errors are more common only among LD persons.

A probabilistic procedure is suggested for the automatic correction of spelling and typing errors in printed English texts. The herat of the procedure is a probabilistic model for the generation of the garbled word from the correct word. The garbler can delete or insert symbols in the word or substitute one or more symbols by other symbols. An expression is derived for P(Y|X), the probability of generating a garbled word Y from a correct word X. The model is probabilistically consistent. using the expression for P(Y|X), we can derive an estimate of the correct word from the garbled word Y so as to minimize the average probability of error in the decision. One of the important features of the expression P(Y|X) is that it can be computed recursively. Experiments conducted using the dictionary of 1024 most common English word s indicate that the accuracy of correction by this scheme is substantially greater than that which can be obtained by other algorithms especially while dealing with garbled words derived from relatively short words of length less than 6.

Some investigators have suggested that recognizing orally spelled words is depended on the same procedures ordinarily used in spelling, whereas others have viewed it either as dependent on reading procedures or as an independent ability. In the present study, a single subject with dyslexia and dystrophies was examined on parallel tests of recognizing orally spelled words, reading, and spelling (writing), and a comparison was made of his performance on the three tasks. On both words and non-words, the patient's errors in recognizing orally spelled words and in reading were alike, whereas his spelling errors were of then different. The distinction between recognizing orally spelled words and spelling was further shown by his inability to recognize a set of orally spelled words that he could write correctly to dictation or ion the basis of word meaning. These findings suggest that the procedures normally used for reading can accept sequences of letter identities as input when orally spelled words must be recognized.

Research aimed at correcting words in text has focused on three progressively more difficult problems: 1. non-word error detection, 2. isolated-word error detection and 3. co-text-dependent word correction. In response to the first problem, efficient pattern-matching and n-gram analysis techniques have been developed for detecting strings that do not appear in a given word-list. Some of them were based on detailed studies of spelling error patterns. In response to the second problem, a variety of general and application-specific spelling correction techniques have been developed. Some of them were based on detailed studies of spelling error patterns. In response to the third problem, a few experiments using natural-language-processing tools or statistical language models have been carried out. This article surveys documented findings on spelling error patterns, provides descriptions of various non-word detection and isolated-word error correction techniques, reviews the state of the art of context-dependent word correction techniques, and discusses research issues related to all three areas of automatic error correction in text.

We present a case study of a patient, NC< who demonstrates the defining characteristics of deep dysphasia including semantic errors in repetition and an inability to repeat non-words. In addition, NC's single word repetition and lexical decision performances are influenced by the manageability of the word input. NC also demonstrates a severely restricted phonoloogical short-term memory (one digit, one word). Although his phonological discrimination is good in a minimal pairs judgment task, it becomes impaired when a delay is imposed or rehearsal is prevented between presentation of each member of a pair. NC's output is fluent but contains many formal paraphrases and neologisms. NC's total language profile is evaluated within the framework of Dell's (1986) interactive spreading activation model of language production. Adapting this output model to input processes, we account for all of NC's deep dysphasic symptoms as well as his patter of production in a way that is more parsimonious than other attempts to model this disorder. In particular, we suggest that the semantic and formal paraphasias in naming and repetition result from a pathological increase in the rate of decay of primed nodes in the semantic-lexical-phonological network. This rapid decay increases the probability that phnologically and/or semantically related lexical nodes primed by top-down and bottom-up feedback during the operation of lexical activation and retrieval will be activated and selected instead of the lexical target. The advantages of using this model to account for aphasic symptoms and the implications for other lexical theories are discussed.

This article examines the possibility that the components of an information-processing system all operate continuously, passing information from one to the next as it becomes available. A model called the Cascade Model is presented, and it is shown to be compatible with the general form of the relation between time and accuracy in speed-accuracy trade-off experiments. In the model, experimental manipulations may have either or both of two effects on a processing level: They may alter the rate of response or the asymptotic quality of the output. (...)

A compact program produces synthetic speech from English text via a inexpensive commercial synthesizer. The speech is not inflected, but within that constraint is deemed adequate (that is, about as intelligible as can be obtained using the device) on at least 97% of running text. The program works almost entirely by rule, most of which have a stereotyped form. Since no large dictionary is needed, secondary storage is not used. The entire body of synthesis rules is given, together with examples of their behavior. Neither the program nor the output device pretext to produce natural speech, but it is intelligible to everybody who has heard much of it. Besides its modest cost and size, the prime virtues of the program are its accessibility and its readiness to speak anything, albeit far-fetchedly on occasion. The scheme should also prove useful as a method of last resort in concert with more sophisticated synthesis procedures.

Discusses principles for designing communication aids in relation to listener characteristics, input and output mechanisms, speed of communication, and individual differences among users. Problems in applying computer programs are identified, and it is emphasized that the design of communication aids needs to be an interdisciplinary process involving clients, therapists and psychologists, engineers, and manufacturers.

Nine case studies were conducted to evaluate the usefulness of a predictive text entry program within a classroom environment. The program, PAL, was found to be very successful in eight of the cases. For children with poor motor control, the key-saving aspects speeded up text creation. Of even greater significance was the extent to which children with severe spelling problems were helped. They were able to produce much higher quality written work with a substantial reduction in the number of spelling errors. This provided great motivation for the children, and teaching staff commented on their improved confidence and attention span as well as stimulation of language and vocabulary development. One of the children was on the verge of being classified as a non-reader and, although progress was slow, a significant improvement in the child's work was observed.

The Predictive Adaptive Lexicon, a predictive text input system, was introduced into a school environment with a group of 17 children (aged 8-19 yrs) representing a wide range of special educational needs. The group included non-speakers and children with severe spelling and language problems. In all but one of the cases, this system was successful in improving the quantity and quality of the written work that the pupils produced. Predictive systems can be used as an acceleration technique for physically disabled people. They can also be used as a prosthesis and training aid for children with a wide range of spelling and language dysfunction.

Long-term case studies of over 50 adults and children (aged 7-68 yrs) show that a predictive word processing system (Predictive Adaptive Lexicon (PAL)) made valuable improvements to the quantity and quality of the written work of users with both physical impairments and spelling problems. In addition, some evidence has been found of the potential of orthographic predictive systems for assisting those with moderate to severe language dysfunction. It is argued that, in many clinical and educational situations, these effects can be more important than those indicated by simple measurements of rate enhancement and key-saving for such systems.

Explores the future of computer-based technology to assist disabled and disadvantaged persons. Discussion focuses on the development of an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) box that provides real and meaningful change (RaMC) and AAC users' communication and social interaction. Issues addressed include individual differences, conversational differences between sexes, and cultural differences in conversational patterns. To make the dream of the RaMC box become a reality, it is necessary to (1) study the functional use of current systems and (2) use the methodology of TV, film, and social sciences vs the more traditional data-driven methods of the "hard" sciences.

This chapter presents an overview of the SelfSpell hypermedia environment for spelling support, which represents a new and promising approach to this previously intractable problem [that alphabetic spelling is a bottleneck preventing smooth transition to the orthographic stage of reading and writing].

The past twenty years have marked a breakthrough in reading research. The authors carefully integrate the major findings from eye-movement research and those based on other new techniques with results from more traditional methods to offer you a comprehensive and in-depth examination of the processes involved in skilled reading.

The aim of this paper is to clarify the nature of the psychological deficits which underlie the learning disorders known as dyslexia. The presentation will be divided into three parts: The first clinical descriptions of disorders of reading; A review of the history of writing; An examination of possible linguistic deficits in dyslexia

An information processing model of reading was used to identify the locus of a reading and spelling disorder. The patient was found to exhibit the symptoms of surface dyslexia with syrface dysgraphia, with a reliance on phonologica decoding of the printed word to achieve comprehension. As a result, many errors were made in comprehending homophones. A remediation program presented on a microcomputer was implemented to retrain the recognition and comprehension of a set of written homophones. The patient improved in her ability to both recognize and comprehend homophones, but not generalization of the improvement to spelling and homophones took place.

This paper describes NETtalk, a class of massively-parallel network systems that learn to convert English text to speech. The memory representations for pronunciations are learned by practice and are shared among many processing units. (1) The performance of the learning follows a power law. (2) The more words the network learns, the better it is at generalizing and correctly pronouncing new words, (3) The performance of the network degrades very slowly as connections in the network are damaged: no single link for processing unit is essential. (4) Relearning after damage is much faster than learning during the original training. (5) Distributed or spaced practice is more effective for long-term retention than massed practice. Network models can be constructed that have the same performance and learning characteristics on a particular task, but differ completely at the levels of synaptic strengths and single-unit responses. However, hierarchical clustering techniques applied to NETtalk reveal that these different networks have similar internal representations of letter-to-sound correspondences within groups of processing units. This suggests that invariant internal representations may be found in assemblies of neurons intermediate in size between highly localized and completely distributed representations.

Dyslexia is a hidden handicap which can cause great frustration. Computer use is powerful way of helping dyslexic learners of all ages to fulfil their potential through success and improved self-esteem. Computers and Dyslexia provides an overview of the best in current technology and educational practice, and previews the most promising new developments in computer applications for dyslexia and special needs.

A group of 10 dyslexic boys and 10 control boys matched for age and nonverbal IQ were asked to draw a person and to write about their favorite television program. The two groups did not differ on mean raw scores or time taken on the drawing but differed in the number of spelling errors and writing time. The ratios of spelling/number of words written and grammatical errors/number of words written differed for the groups. The former measure was reliable at 8-month retest for dyslexics and the latter was reliable at 8 months for controls. Correlations between measures showed a different pattern for the dyslexics and controls.

Mirror writing and similar problems are usually blamed on defects in visual perception, but in truth dyslexia seems to be a complex linguistic deficiency The remedy is proper instruction in reading.

Proposes that visually oriented dyslexics may be in an increasingly favorable position in future years because of the recent revival of visual approaches to scientific, mathematical, and technological developments. The same set of traits that has caused them so much difficulty in traditional verbally oriented educational systems may provide special advantages in emerging new fields that rely on visual methods of analysis: fields that use graphic workstations and supercomputers to visualize complex scientific data. Recent trends have led technical professionals to become aware that their own special talents seem to be associated with dyslexic traits. Similar mixed talents have been major factors in the accomplishments of a number of historical figures (i.e., Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci).

About the introduction of PAL, the people who still had very poor spelling, and the decision to write Speller.

We show how an understanding of a dynamic system from the point of view of the tasks that it supports and an understanding of human error can guide a process of deriving human error tolerance requirements. (...)

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