Dyslexia Case Study Essay

I. Identifying Information
This is a case analysis of a student transitioning from elementary school to middle school. The date of the testing was 4/25/17 and was administered by myself with the supervision of CS’s Special Education Case Manager. CS is an 11-year-old Caucasian boy who is currently a 5th grader at MV Elementary School. CS was given the Woodcock Johnson IV Tests of Achievement. CS does not wear glasses and does not have a hearing aid.
II. Background and Referral Information
CS at the time of taking the Woodcock Johnson IV Tests of Achievement, is completing the 5th-grade and is beginning his 6th grade transition to middle school. CS was referred for testing by his parents to determine whether or not he had an underlying learning
The areas that were completed are Letter and Word identification, Applied problems, Spelling, Passage Comprehension, Calculation, Writing Samples, Word Attack, Oral Reading, Sentence Reading Fluency, Math Facts Fluency, and Sentence Writing Fluency. Brief Overview of Findings: The results of the learning evaluation indicate that CS appears to be a moderately dyslexic child. Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability that specifically affects one's ability to break words down into their component sounds, then quickly and accurately combine these sounds with symbols (such as letters and numbers). (Kuder 2013) Because of this deficit, affected children score lower on academic tests requiring phonics (such as reading, spelling, and phonological processing) than what would be predicted based on their educational placement. Children with dyslexia also make unique decoding (reading) and encoding (spelling) errors that reflect their sound/symbol difficulties. Children with dyslexia also make decoding (reading) and encoding (spelling) mistakes unique to their inability to accurately connect symbols (letters) with sounds. (Kuder 2013) CS received scores on most phonics-based academic tests that fell below the range of his current grade placement. He additionally made many decoding and encoding mistakes consistent with dyslexia. The results of the learning evaluation further indicate that CS appears to have
8.1 Grade Equivalent 2.7, Spelling number correct 25 Age Est 8.5 and Grade Equivalent 3.0, Passage Comprehension Number correct 26, Age Est 7.7 and Grade Equivalent 2.1 Writing Samples Age Equivalent 7-6 Grade Estimate 2.0). It is strongly recommended that CS's parents have him evaluated by a private speech/language therapist as soon as possible. This evaluation should include measurements of both receptive and expressive language skills. CS's speech/language therapist can then make recommendations to parents and school staff to help accommodate any underlying language-processing difficulties he might have. Since reading is an underlying weakness for children with dyslexia, they are often less able to answer many of the test items from the Woodcock Johnson IV tests of achievement accurately for this reason. This type of pattern on the Woodcock Johnson IV is also frequently found in the test profiles of children with underlying expressive language disorders because most of the sub tests' items comprising the Woodcock Johnson IV require verbal precision and well organized, elaborated responses to receive credit. Along these lines, CS's scores on the Oral Language section of the Woodcock Johnson IV showed a pattern consistent with his having a possible underlying expressive language disorder (Oral Reading Item 14, Age Equivalent 6-8 Grade Equivalent