Knowledge…learning…education, fueled by literacy, are keys to success.
Traditionally, literacy is defined as the ability to read and write.
A more complete definition, however, encompasses listening, speaking, reading and writing and today, using electronic media.
The major goal of every educator and parent should be to instill in children a solid foundation of transferable skills and a life-long love of reading and learning. To stay relevant, our children must constantly update their knowledge base. Hence, the prioritizing of literacy.
Dr.Carol Flexer, professor of audiology at the University of Akron, explains the importance of literacy this way,
“Literacy is inextricably entwined with sound. Immature listening abilities and underdeveloped auditory feedback loops have a substantial impact on how children learn to read.”
Literacy is all about sound. All its components incorporate sound in some way. Children learn to speak from listening. They learn to read from speaking and to write from reading.
Although our ears are the conduits for sound, we hear with our brains. Human development studies tell us that the human auditory brain structure does not fully mature until around age 15.
When brains do not receive intact sound, it is usually due to any one or a combination of factors, which include a noisy environment, ear infection, lack of auditory experience or immature brain development. Dyslexics have trouble connecting the sounds that make up words with the letters that represent those sounds. For them, the problem is often immature brain development.
Brain development studies show that sensory stimulation can influence growth and organization of auditory brain pathways.
That is why a number of currently available programs are helping dyslexic children develop their language and literacy skills. They are able to stimulate the auditory centers of the brain with precise sound. Music listening therapy helped my daughter tremendously.
This is good news for the dyslexic community.
Does this mean that every dyslexic person who receives this type of stimulation will learn to read at the same level as his non-dyslexic peers?
No.
Just as there is a continuum in the severity of characteristics in dyslexics, there is variety in their response to various sound development programs.
As technology takes over more and more, the skills that dyslexics find challenging are on the decline, while the thinking skills needed in today’s workplace are an integral component of their strengths.
Does interpretation of sound still matter? Yes.
But let us keep things in perspective. The goal is to learn concepts and generate ideas that will serve humanity and improve society.
There’s eye-reading – print books; ear-reading – audiobooks; and finger reading – braille. Whichever method one uses to accomplish this goal, is what’s best for him.
Which method of reading do you and your children prefer?
This is very interesting – I can see how sound can help. TOo many times, traditional education is only looking at the curriculum for the masses and does not take those on thr fringes into consideration. This reminds me of the cartoon:
“For a fair selection everybody has to take the same exam: Please climb that tree” – a man said to a monkey, penguin, elephant, fish and other animals.
It just does not work for everyone. Thanks for sharing.
You are right, Paul. Traditional educations seems to push a cookie-cutter model of education, although recently, a very small number of school districts have been making an effort to provide educational opportunities for those students who learn differently.
That cartoon you mentioned may have stemmed from the quote that’s often attributed to Albert Einstein although there’s no definitive proof that he actually said those words. “Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
I love it when people read to me, especially if they are reading something that they wrote. There is something magical about hearing a story told in the voice of the teller of the tale. And, if not the author, then a storyteller who can become that narrator is a great choice. The voice is definitely part of the story.
So true, Alice. There is definitely something magical about an author reading his/her book. Although I like print book so I can highlight and underline important concepts, I am also a fan of audiobooks. I listen to them during my daily walks, so there is no lapse in my learning.☺️
hello Florence,
My local library provides me with both paper and digital reading material and since I read every word, audio books are winning my preference because on some reading apps I can speed them up so that they are faster than when my eyes are doing the work.
I have not learned to read with my fingers. They are able to do many things but when I tcomes to typing on a keyboard, I think there may be some dyslexic effects occurring that put a space before the last letter of a word or mix up the letters in a word. Maybe it is just a race between the thumb and the fingers to see who can get their key pressed first.
AS I age, I am finding it more difficult to focus on a speaker’s voice when there is a lot of other ambient noise. ( Did you notice the “s” finger was faster than the releasing of the shift key finger?)
A couple of months ago I was talking with a man who has been collecting vinyl records and playing them in nursing homes. He believes that “analog” music is the best. I began to wonder if there was something different about digital music so I asked why analog was better. He explained that the lyrics are sometimes taken literally and confuse the mind with what is right and what is not. For example if the lyrics say “the room is on fire” and repeat it frequently with excitement, it will likely create anxiety for some who cannot resolve the conflict in their own mind.
There must be some audio material that is more beneficial for each form of learning ability.
I volunteer as an audio technician for events at our church. There is a lot that goes into capturing good sound and tuning it to be more intelligable in the presence of noise.
Dr. Sharry Edwards has built her career on connecting the frequencies in ones voice with the health of the body. And like the voice changes when someone is agitated or stressed, it also changes when someone is having an alergic reaction or is deficient in some chemicals or enzimes for their optimum health. In addition to building a database of frequency correlations, she has had some success in helping people through the treatment with specific audio frequencies.
Hey Doug,
Like you, I read every word so that slows me down. Because of that, I like speeding up audiobooks also. They help me complete more books in less time. In addition, I can read while I walk.😁 Although I’m glad it was invented, I have no interest in reading with my fingers.
The man with the vinyl records may have a point. Not too long ago, I did some research for a presentation on music. Repetition of a single phrase or measure more that three times, shuts down the frontal lobe and hypnotizes the person… especially if the music is heavily rhythmic. Music can be healing as well as destructive, to the human body.
Learning Ally used to called “Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic.” They changed their name, some years ago, and describe themselves as “a leading nonprofit education solutions organization that transforms the lives of struggling learners by delivering proven solutions that help students reach their potential.” They have helped students with a variety of different learning abilities.