Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1977-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 7, 1983)
Learning problem unknown to majority of College staff By Shelley Ball Of The Print Clackamas Community College has provided services for dyslexic students with its ABE/GED / (Adult Basic Education/Grade Equivalency Diploma) programs since 1973. Despite this fact, and the fact that dyslexia affects ap proximately 25 million Americans^ Developmental Education Instructor Bernice Peachy estimates only a third of the College’s staff are aware of the learning disabili ty. Peachy supported her statement by explaining that at a campus workshop featuring College dyslexic students, less than 10 faculty members showed up,'even though all staff were invited to attend. The workshop was part of the College’s Awareness Week and Peachy said she was sur prised at the amount of misin formation given out, as well as the reaction of one staff member after reading an arti cle about the workshop covered by The Oregonian. Peachy said the staff member was heard to say, “Oh, they (dyslexic students) don’t want to learn to read.” Recent research on dyslexia has shown that in an autopsied brain of a dyslexic, STUDENT TOM BRAY looks through dyslexia book. Photo by Joel Miller ri COUPON RON & DAN'S AUTO REPAIR Corner of 7th & Washington 8 c ■o o z Flush and winterize cooling system:.. $13.95 Reg. $16.90 4 cylinder tune-up includes plugs and rotor...$34.95 Reg. $49.94 J ___ ’ 603 7th Ave. Oregon City, OR 97045 Expires March 1,1984 8 CHRISTMAS r LAYAWAY Small Deposit Holds Any Bicycle^ Till Christmas 300 TO CHOOSE FROM ft) All accessories a -J for Moto Cross STUDENT LILLIAN SHELLEY describes her reaction to hav ing dyslexia as “ ... kind of surprised, but I felt kind of bad—it sounds like you have a disease.” Photo by Joel Miller students with the disorder are thought to be either lazy or mentally retarded and are therefore unteachable, when in actuality they are as in telligent as normal students and have the desire to be able to read and spell just like everyone else. “These people can learn if they’re taught properly and you (the teacher) adapt the curriculum you have. These people are of normal to above average intelligence and they can learn if taught by a multisensory program,” she said. This multisensory pro gram is the kind Peachy uses to teach dyslexic students. The program is based on seven key elements. The elements are multisensory, alphabetic- phonetic, synthetic-analytic, structural, sequential, cum ulative and cognitive. Peachy said these seven elements can best be described by Margaret Rawson, past president of the National Or ton Dyslexia Society. Rawson said: “Dyslexic students need a different approach to learning language from that employed in most classrooms. They need to be taught, slowly and thoroughly, the basic elements of their language—the sounds and the letters which represent them—and how to put these together and take them apart. They have to have lots of prac tice in having their writing hands, eyes, ears and voices working together for the con scious organization and reten tion of their learning.” Two College students who are learning effectively with the multisensory program are Lillian Shelley and Tom Bray, both of-which are taking (continued on page eight) GET YOUR CAREER OFF TO A FIXING START fl ............. - - - . > Every repair part available for all bicycles. evidence of alterations in the normal brain functions in an area important to language have been found. This evidence has been confirmed and it is believed the altera tions result from a malforma tion of the brain cells during fetal development. Because dyslexia affects the language center of the brain, common characteristics of the disorder are an inability to read well and spell correct ly. Dyslexies often reverse let ters, such as confusing the let ter b for d, p for q, and may confuse words like bog for dog and was for saw. Dyslexies can also have problems in hand writing and math, as well as thinking patterns. Dyslexies also have a hard time remembering facts, and they cannot follow more than one instruction at a time. Dyslexia is inherited, and four times as many males than females develop the learning disability. There is also a rela tionship between dyslexia and left-handedness, stutterers and clumsiness. Although few faculty members showed up at the workshop, Peachy said that “more teachers are becoming aware, and it’s (dyslexia) not a catch-all label.” However, Peachy said the most common misunderstan ding about dyslexia today is °JO Bicycles Priced From ?1499B> •fil» W899B S assembled & r serviced FREE 90 days after Christmas. If you’ve ever wanted to be at the controls of a piece of machinery that can hover over a dime, rise straight up, do fantastic things with power and air and pitch and aero dynamics, you belong at the controls ‘of an Army helicopter. The Army has openings now in its Warrant Officer Flight Training program. To qualify, you must have a high school diploma, and we prefer at least 2 years of college. Prior to entering helicopter flight training, you must successfully complete basic training and pre flight training. When you’ve completed the course successfully, you’ll be wearing the wings of an Army Warrant Officer. For more information, call the Army Recruiter near you. STAFF SERGEANT GARY GREWELLE 636-3600 ALAN'S BICYCLES, INC^ 1007 - Seventh St. OREGON CITY, OREGON PHONE 655-4112 Wednesday, December 7,1983 ARMY. BE ALL YOU CAH BE Page 3
