It is also known that one can re-train them, to some extent, to decode differently ("normally"), and that this does have payoffs in terms of reading fluency (and consequently, comprehension). ... Of course, after a certain point in brain development, it is much more difficult to alter these patterns. It is also difficult to find trial words to "force" the application and practice of decoding skills sufficient to automatize orthographic mapping, when an individual has already memorized an enormous sight vocabulary using what would normally be a highly inefficient memory method, but which works with an exceptional rote memory.
I was re-reading this thread while prepping myself for my next update/ batch of questions back to the forum about dyslexic DD8 (or is she? but that's for the other thread), and couldn't resist adding a footnote, based on our experience with learning how to decode over the last month.
I can't answer the LD/ asynchrony question. Was she not yet ready to decode when she started reading, but now she is? Or was she never going to be able to learn without explicit phonological teaching? Who knows. But what we see now that we've started an O-G based program is nothing short of stunning for us. She is clearly ready *now* to decode.
I swear I can actually SEE the neurons branching out in her brain, connecting the parts she's been using to read, with those previously unused parts needed to decode. Our home-based "All About Reading (AAR)" uses large quantities of word lists without context, and even the sentences are so odd that context is limited help. The only way she can get through is to look really carefully at every single letter, AND also at every single word in the sentence. So for the first time ever, she is forced, absolutely forced, to look at what's actually on the page, letter by letter, word by word. I thought the organic chem text idea was brilliant, but AAR is proving remarkably effective too.
The impact on her reading in one month is just amazing. Many other posters on this forum have also described incredible and fast jumps in learning ability from Lindamood Bell and other programs.
Do we need to force them out of their alternate strategies? DD was reading on grade level up to grade 3, but then hit her wall. She needed a plan B. But others can and do certainly live without this skill. My DH, for example, does not appear to decode; his whole world is sight words. Yikes - how much brain power does that require, even granting that he is the clear source of DS's 99.9th percentile working memory scores?! (We've discovered this lack of decoding through a variety of interesting home experiments, including trying to read DS's math text, upside down, after too many glasses of wine....) (It was the text that was upside down - it wasn't THAT many glasses of wine.) DH reads beautifully and fluently out loud, but when those Greek god and monster names show up in Percy Jackson (yup, he got caught by the Greek gods too, Sue), he says it stops him dead in his tracks for a good minute or two while he tries to figure out the word is. DH is an excellent reader, but not fast. He reads large amounts daily for work purposes, but rarely reads for fun. For him, reading is a useful means, but not particularly pleasurable end in and of itself.
Recognizing that every kid is different, my gut reaction to this highly unscientific study of my family is that if you can manage to drag them back and force them to learn to decode before it's impossible for them to change their habits, it may really make their lives easier in the long run. Perhaps it could provide the difference between reading that's adequate to get by, and reading more commensurate with and supporting their VCI? We're finding AAR remarkably effective at forcing DD to decode rather than use her alternate strategies. But she did address the tedium and return to K-level skills through extensive (and time-consuming) integration of imaginary play and creative approaches (it takes a whole lot of time to go through a word list if for each word she must create a drawing on the white board, usually with some kind of pun built in...). Even so, daily after-school remediation has been tough. And then recent cryptic report card comments sent me into a panic as to whether DS10 - a dude of very different temperament - might be an even stealthier dyslexic. The idea of trying to do a similar repetitive, back to basics approach with him frankly gave me a serious case of of the screaming heebie-jeebies.
YMMV, to say the least. But if you have a kid who seems to have by-passed decoding, my personal and highly inexperienced 2 cents worth is to suggest you try decoding 101 if you possibly think you can get away with it.
P.S. Last night, we finished our first lesson in Level 2 (wahoo, we graduated a level - I am so proud of her for plowing through it; those lists of fluency words are brutal. I was actually going to post this in the brag thread). I asked DD if she was ready to go upstairs so Daddy can read her Percy Jackson to her. "Mommy, would it be OK if we did another reading lesson instead?" Miracle. MIRACLE! She, too, can truly feel those neurons connecting, and see for herself what's already happening to her reading. So many smiles, I'm bursting.
