Tips for Hosting a Dyslexia Simulation Workshop

Presenter Information

Kim Davidson, University of North GeorgiaFollow
Emily Lin, University of North GeorgiaFollow
Paula Tench, University of North GeorgiaFollow
Annmarie Jackson, University of North GeorgiaFollow
Sarah Williams, University of North GeorgiaFollow

Location

Group One Sessions: Room 106

Start Date

23-2-2024 10:00 AM

End Date

23-2-2024 10:50 AM

First Presenter's Brief Biography

Kimberly Davidson, Ph. D., is an Associate Professor of Literacy, Diversity, and Differentiated instruction in the Department of Elementary and Special Education at the University of North Georgia. She is passionate about mentoring and preparing excellent K–12 educators. Her research and teaching interests include developing and implementing high impact, culturally sustaining, integrative, and reflective curricula for a variety of diverse learners.

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Presentation Type

Roundtable Dicussion

Concurrent Session

Abstract

In this session, presenters will recount their experiences organizing and implementing a dyslexia simulation workshop for pre-service elementary and special education teachers. Initial expectations, challenges, and successes will be highlighted. Final reflections, lessons learned, tips, and resources will be shared. Attendees will learn how to organize their own dyslexia simulation.

Conference Strands

Pre-service Teachers

Description

Dyslexia is the most commonly identified specific learning disability, affecting between 4 - 20% of children (Riddick,, Wolfe, & Lumsdon, 2012). At its most basic, dyslexia is defined as a word-level reading impairment in individuals with normal intelligence. However, dyslexia is a complex disorder that can vary in presentation and severity in different individuals (Miles & Miles, 1999). To ensure students with dyslexia are provided with the education necessary to become literate and succeed in school, careers, and life, it is essential that educators are properly trained to identify the signs of the disability in students, how it affects their learning, and how to properly address these learning needs. Lack of a cohesive definition of dyslexia and persistent misconceptions about the nature of the syndrome historically impeded these tasks.

To address these concerns, multiple states, including Georgia, recently passed bills codifying the defining characteristics, methods of identification, scientifically researched methods of instruction and curricula to appropriately educate students with dyslexia. The legislation in Georgia specifies that educator preparation programs such as ours provide specific training in dyslexia to our preservice teachers (PSTs) to combat misinformation and cultivate competence (S.B.48, 2019). To meet this mandate, we incorporated dyslexia modules as part of our professional development for all PSTs in the Department of Elementary and Special Education at our university during their senior year. However, success rates on these modules were not reaching adequate levels, so this year we supplemented the modules with the Experience Dyslexia simulation activity (International Dyslexia Association Northern California (IDANC), 2018).

Experiential learning supports comprehension and retention of information (Kolb, 1984) and simulations can improve confidence and self-efficacy, without harming real students (Samuelsson et al, 2022). We researched activities that claimed to mimic the experience of students who have dyslexia and found several alternatives, including some that were popularized through social and mainstream media outlets (see Widell, 2012; 2021). Unfortunately, the validity of some simulations are unsupported, may not accurately portray the dyslexic experience, and may perpetuate stereotypes and misinformation (Cowen, March 2016). Luckily, colleagues at our university purchased a kit from the IDANC, so it was freely available for us to review and ultimately adopt. Upon evaluation of this kit, we found that the scope, supporting documentation, and materials are comprehensive, it comes from a trusted source (IDANC), and has evidence to support its use with PSTs (Waddlington, Elliot, Kirylo, 2008).

The goal of our presentation is to share what we have learned from our experiences preparing and implementing a dyslexia simulation workshop for PSTs with other education professionals facing similar situations as our own. We will discuss our expectations for PST outcomes, such as increasing awareness, interest, and empathy, developing appropriate accommodations, and decreasing stereotypes. The challenges and successes with organizing the event will also be highlighted. Additionally, we will recount our observations of students’ actions and reactions during the process. Post-simulation reflections, lessons learned, tips, and resources will be available to attendees as guides to successfully organize their own dyslexia simulations.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.