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Talk; Good Practice - Secondary

Wednesday stream 3 Session 16.10 - 17.25 Length 25 minutes

Consulting the customer: The dyslexic reader's viewpoint

Patience Thomson

Former Principal Fairley House School Patience.Thomson@btinternet.com

Abstract

Over the past two years I have been involved in publishing books by popular authors for dyslexics of all ages. Reluctant readers have at all stages been involved in the editing of these books. They have identified textual difficulties and pointed out any obscurities or confusion in the plot. They have also given consistent advice on the layout and presentation of the books. Further information has been obtained through a scheme sponsored by the Scottish Arts Council to obtain post-publication feedback from Schools, Colleges of Further Education and prisons.

The consensus of opinion is remarkable. It affords fascinating new insights into the mind of the reluctant reader, whether child, adolescent or adult. It prompts an urgent reevaluation of the whole concept of readability. The conclusions affect the way in which we present written information to dyslexic readers and suggest clear guidelines for choosing appropriate reading material.

"Consulting the Customer - The Dyslexic Reader's Viewpoint"

Publishing for Dyslexics

When I retired as Principal of Fairley House School, I was given the opportunity to be closely involved in a new publishing company which would publish fiction exclusively for reluctant readers. I wanted to produce really gripping books for older dyslexics who were just fluent enough to read "real" books, but found the easier ones written for younger children too patronising and the age-appropriate ones too challenging.

It was important, I felt, to choose famous authors who were popular with the competent readers too. This was to be literature not just prose. There must be rhythm to the language, the stories must have pace, above all it must be worth the effort to read the books through from start to finish. My task would be to edit the text to make it easily accessible to the under-confident reader without losing the spirit of the original.

The Editing Process

It could hardly be expected that well-known and popular authors would have either the expertise or inclination to change their style, vocabulary and language structure to suit readers with a reading age of 8 plus. But if it were done subtly and sensitively, they were prepared to allow me to modify the text. A considerable incentive was the promise that any changes would be made on the direct advice of the dyslexic children themselves. They would go through the books at manuscript stage. They would determine which words were hard to read, would report anything that confused them in the text and might even make their own suggestions for alternatives. Their comments would then be compiled and rationalised by a Speech and Language Therapist before I did my final edit. My concern was that there would be no consensus of opinion among our reluctant readers.. In fact the children were almost unanimous in identifying the same snags and difficulties in the text. The only controversial area turned out to be the choice of illustrations.

Vocabulary

It appears to be not the length of the word but its familiarity and specific meaning which matter.

• Concrete words are easier than abstract ones.
• Adverbs seem hard, whether long or short. "Utterly" was as problematic as "anxiously".
• The first few pages are crucial and language must be crystal clear. As the readers gain confidence and get into the story they can cope with more challenging vocabulary.
• Surprisingly, puns are appreciated, but many figures of speech are taken literally and not understood.
• Conversation is generally easier to read and should be natural rather than grammatically correct.

Language Structure

This appears to be even more crucial than choice of vocabulary. It is not the length of the sentence, but the simplicity of the language structure that is the crucial element.

• The active tense is much easier than the passive.
• Gerunds and gerundives are confusing.
• Modal verbs such as "should" and "might" are best kept to a minimum.
• Multiple phrases or clauses should be avoided.
• Ellipsis (as in "and so he was") is hard as readers with weak language skills find it difficult to make the necessary linkage to a previous reference.
• Inversion, where the subsidiary clause comes first, should be used sparingly.

Comprehension

• Hesitant readers cannot cope with inference.
• The time sequence of the story must be clear and flashbacks handled with the greatest care.
• Allusions to well-known people, places or events are often lost on the poor reader.
• People must be referred to consistently by the same name, pet names and nicknames only confuse.
• The "taster" on the cover should be snappy and simple. A question is preferred, with the answer to be found in the book, such as "Have you ever told a fib because it was easier than the truth?".

Presentation

We extended the consultants' role to include matters of presentation. The following facts emerged.

• Cream or yellow paper is preferred to white. A surprising number of dyslexics are light-sensitive and modern fluorescent lighting and sunny classrooms can result in black print on white paper being particularly painful to the eye.
• Right-hand justification is unhelpful. It causes uneven spacing between words, which is confusing. Lines of differing length have more character and can prevent hesitant reader from losing their place.
• Spacing between letters, words, sentences and paragraphs should be marginally wider than usual as this aids visual discrimination.
• A font with clearly differentiated letters is important. It helps if such letters as "a" and "g" mirror handwriting.
• Small print is off-putting and hard to decipher. However larger than point 14 can prevent the reader from chunking the text for meaning, as too few words can be scanned in an eyeful.
• The cover of the book should look attractive and normal and not indicate that these are books especially designed for weak readers. There must be no hint of patronage.

Illustrations

These can be controversial. Many dyslexics run a story as a video in their minds and some prefer to invent their own visual images of the characters and settings. This is particularly true of the teenagers. However illustrations have certain advantages.

• They give background information so that the story is not held up.
• They break up the text.
• They help the readers to recap on the story or find their place.
• They can be used to illustrate difficult words.
• They should not wander over the text, as this is confusing.
• They should have a focal point, be easy to scan and have only relevant detail.

Conclusions

Individually a number of these observations are not new. Indeed, consultations with experts from different disciplines (an orthoptist, a speech and language therapist, teachers and language specialists) have been useful in identifying possible areas of difficulty. Since there are so many diverse causes of reading difficulties, a successful approach must address all the issues concurrently to ensure maximum success. Reluctant readers initially need books where all their problems have been recognised and addressed, if they are to gain the confidence which will enable them to graduate to more challenging reading material.