The Self in Self-Regulated Writing of Fourth to Ninth Graders with Dysgraphia.

Dysgraphia, a specific learning disability, impairs legible and automatic letter production by hand, which can interfere with written composing. The goal of the current study was not to investigate effective methods for teaching self-regulated writing to students with dysgraphia, but rather to investigate their self that is involved in their self-regulated writing. Students with dysgraphia in grades 4 to 9 (17 males; 3 females, =139.

Derivational Morphology Bridges Phonology and Orthography: Insights Into the Development of Word-Specific Spellings by Superior, Average, and Poor Spellers.

Purpose Morphology, which is a bridge between phonology and orthography, plays an important role in the development of word-specific spellings. This study, which employed longitudinal sampling of typically developing students in Grades 3, 4, and 5, explored how the misspellings of words with derivational suffixes shed light on the interplay of phonological, orthographic, and morphological (POM) linguistic features as students learn to integrate POM features appropriately to generate correct spellings. Method Sixty typically developing Grade 3 students were tested using the Spelling subtest from the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-Second Edition (Wechsler, 2001) and were divided into superior, average, and poor spellers.

Online Writing Processes in Translating Cognition into Language and Transcribing Written Language by Stylus and Keyboard in Upper Elementary and Middle School Students With Persisting Dysgraphia or Dyslexia.

Participants in this study completed an on-line experiment in which they wrote essays by stylus or keyboard. Three translation measures (length of language burst, length of pauses, and rate of pausing) and four transcription measures (total words, total time, words/minute, and percent spelling errors) for composition were analyzed for two research aims. Research Aim 1 addressed whether upper elementary and middle school students with carefully diagnosed transcription disabilities (dysgraphia with impaired handwriting, =18, or dyslexia with impaired spelling, =20) showed significant differences from pretest to posttest, across modes of transcription (stylus or keyboard), and between diagnostic groups.

Behavioral and brain evidence for language by ear, mouth, eye, and hand and motor skills in literacy learning.

Two studies were conducted of students with and without persisting Specific Learning Disabilities (SLDs-WL) in Grades 4 to 9 (M = 11 years, 11 months) that supported the hypotheses that CELF 4 parent ratings for listening (language by ear), speaking (language by mouth), reading (language by eye), and writing (language by hand) were correlated with both (a) normed, standardized behavioral measures of listening, speaking, reading, and writing achievement (Study 1, 94 boys and 61 girls); and (b) fMRI connectivity or DTI white matter integrity involving brain regions for primary motor functions or motor planning and control, or motor timing in a subsample of right handers who did not wear metal (Study 2, 28 boys and 16 girls). Results of these assessment studies, which have implications for planning instruction for three SLDs-WL (dysgraphia, dyslexia, and oral and written language learning disability [OWL LD]), show that more than multisensory instruction is relevant. Language by ear, by mouth, by eye, and by hand, as well as motor planning, control, and output skills and motor timing should also be considered.

Emotional and Behavioral Correlates of Persisting Specific Learning Disabilities in Written Language during Middle Childhood and Early Adolescence.

Parents completed the while their children (94 boys, 61 girls; =11 years-11 months) were given tests. Evidence-based profiles of multiple test scores and history (emergence and persistence) were used to assign to groups without specific learning disabilities in written language (SLDs-WL) (= 42 control) or with SLDs-WL: (=29 dysgraphia, =65 dyslexia, or =19 oral and written language learning disability [OWL LD]). Parent ratings fell in the clinical or at risk ranges for some individuals in all groups, but mean ratings showed nine significant main effects for group (n=4): Behavioral Symptoms Index, Internalizing Problems Composite, Adaptive Skills Composite, two Clinical Scales (Atypicality and Attention Problems), and four Adaptive Scales (Adaptability, Activities of Daily Living, Leadership, and Functional Communication).

Understanding Interest and Self-Efficacy in the Reading and Writing of Students with Persisting Specific Learning Disabilities during Middle Childhood and Early Adolescence.

Three methodological approaches were applied to understand the role of interest and self-efficacy in reading and/or writing in students without and with persisting specific learning disabilities (SLDs] in literacy. For each approach students in grades 4 to 9 completed a survey in which they rated 10 reading items and 10 writing items on a Scale 1 to 5; all items were the same but domain varied. The first approach applied Principal Component Analysis with Varimax Rotation to a sample that varied in specific kinds of literacy achievement.

Relationships between Home Literacy Practices and School Achievement: Implications for Consultation and Home-School Collaboration.

In a five-year longitudinal study of typical literacy development (grades 1 to 5 or 3 to 7) relationships were examined between (a) parental responses to questionnaires about home literacy activities and ratings of children's self-regulation at home, both completed annually by the same parent, and (b) children's reading and writing achievement assessed annually at the university. Higher reading and writing achievement correlated with engaging in more home literacy activities. Parental help or monitoring of home literacy activities was greater for low achieving than high achieving readers or writers.

Effective Instruction for Persisting Dyslexia in Upper Grades: Adding Hope Stories and Computer Coding to Explicit Literacy Instruction.

Children in grades 4 to 6 (=14) who despite early intervention had persisting dyslexia (impaired word reading and spelling) were assessed before and after computerized reading and writing instruction aimed at subword, word, and syntax skills shown in four prior studies to be effective for treating dyslexia. During the 12 two-hour sessions once a week after school they first completed HAWK Letters in Motion© for manuscript and cursive handwriting, HAWK Words in Motion© for phonological, orthographic, and morphological coding for word reading and spelling, and HAWK Minds in Motion© for sentence reading comprehension and written sentence composing. A reading comprehension activity in which sentences were presented one word at a time or one added word at a time was introduced.

Brain's functional network clustering coefficient changes in response to instruction (RTI) in students with and without reading disabilities: Multi-leveled reading brain's RTI.

In students in grades 4 to 9 (22 males, 20 females), two reading disability groups-dyslexia ( = 20) or oral and written language learning disability (OWL LD) ( = 6)-were compared to each other and two kinds of control groups-typical readers ( = 6) or dysgraphia ( = 10) on word reading/spelling skills and fMRI imaging before and after completing 18 computerized reading lessons. Mixed ANOVAs showed significant time effects on repeated measures within participants and between groups effects on three behavioral markers of reading disabilities-word reading/spelling: All groups improved on the three behavioral measures, but those without disabilities remained higher than those with reading disabilities. On fMRI reading tasks, analyzed for graph theory derived clustering coefficients within a neural network involved in cognitive control functions, on a task the time × group interaction was significant in right medial cingulate; on a task the time × group interaction was significant in left superior frontal and left inferior frontal gyri; and on a task the time × group interaction was significant in right middle frontal gyrus.

Movement Issues Identified in Movement ABC2 Checklist Parent Ratings for Students with Persisting Dysgraphia, Dyslexia, and OWL LD and Typical Literacy Learners.

Movement, which draws on motor skills and executive functions for managing them, plays an important role in literacy learning (e.g., movement of mouth during oral reading and movement of hand and fingers during writing); but relatively little research has focused on movement skills in students with specific learning disabilities as the current study did.

Relationships between Translation and Transcription Processes during fMRI Connectivity Scanning and Coded Translation and Transcription in Writing Products after Scanning in Children with and without Transcription Disabilities.

Students with transcription disabilities (dysgraphia/impaired handwriting, = 13 or dyslexia/impaired word spelling, = 16) or without transcription disabilities (controls) completed transcription and translation (idea generating, planning, and creating) writing tasks during fMRI connectivity scanning and compositions after scanning, which were coded for transcription and translation variables. Compositions in both groups showed diversity in genre beyond usual narrative-expository distinction; groups differed in coded transcription but not translation variables. For the control group specific transcription or translation tasks during scanning correlated with corresponding coded transcription or translation skills in composition, but connectivity during scanning was not correlated with coded handwriting during composing in dysgraphia group and connectivity during translating was not correlated with any coded variable during composing in dyslexia group.

Patterns of biomarkers for three phenotype profiles of persisting specific learning disabilities during middle childhood and early adolescence: A preliminary study.

Students without specific learning disabilities [SLDs] [=18] and with one of three persisting SLDs in written language despite early and current specialized instruction-Dysgraphia [=21], Dyslexia [=40], or oral and written language learning disability OWL LD [=14]- in grades 4 to 9 [=56 boys, 38 girls] completed behavioral phenotyping assessment and gave a small blood or saliva sample. Molecular analyses informed by current cross-site research on gene candidates for learning disabilities identified associations between molecular genetic markers and the two defining behavioral phenotypes for each SLDs-WL; dysgraphia [impaired writing alphabet from memory for rs3743204 and sentence copying in best handwriting for rs79382 both in DYX1C1], dyslexia [impaired silent word reading/decoding rate for rs4535189 in DCDC2 and impaired spelling/encoding for rs374205 in DYX1C1], and OWL LD [impaired aural syntax comprehension for rs807701 and oral syntax construction for rs807701 both in DYX1C1]. Implications of these identified associations between molecular markers for alleles for different sites within two gene candidates [and mostly one] and hallmark phenotypes are discussed for translation science [application to practice] and neuroimaging that has identified contrasting brain bases for each of the three SLDs.

Brain and Behavioral Assessment of Executive Functions for Self-Regulating Levels of Language in Reading Brain.

This brief research report examines brain-behavioral relationships specific to levels of language in the complex reading brain. The first specific aim was to examine prior findings for significant fMRI connectivity from four seeds (left precuneus, left occipital temporal, left supramarginal, left inferior frontal) for each of four levels of language-subword, word (word-specific spelling or affixed words), syntax (with and without homonym foils or affix foils), and multi-sentence text to identify significant fMRI connectivity (a) unique to the lower level of language when compared to the immediately higher adjacent level of language across subword-word, word-syntax, and syntax-text comparisons; and (b) involving a brain region associated with executive functions. The second specific aim was to correlate the magnitude of that connectivity with standard scores on tests of Focused Attention (D-K EFS Color Word Form Inhibition) and Switching Attention (Wolf & Denckla Rapid Automatic Switching).

Relationships between Eye Movements during Sentence Reading Comprehension, Word Spelling and Reading, and DTI and fmri Connectivity In Students with and without Dysgraphia or Dyslexia.

While eye movements were recorded and brains scanned, 29 children with and without specific learning disabilities (SLDs) decided if sentences they read (half with only correctly spelled words and half with homonym foils) were meaningful. Significant main effects were found for diagnostic groups (non-SLD control, dysgraphia control, and dyslexia) in total fixation (dwell) time, total number of fixations, and total regressions in during saccades; the dyslexia group had longer and more fixations and made more regressions in during saccades than either control group. The dyslexia group also differed from both control groups in (a) fractional anisotropy in left optic radiation and (b) silent word reading fluency on a task in which surrounding letters can be distracting, consistent with Rayner's selective attention dyslexia model.

Common Brain Structure Findings Across Children with Varied Reading Disability Profiles.

Dyslexia is a developmental disorder in reading that exhibits varied patterns of expression across children. Here we examined the degree to which different kinds of reading disabilities (defined as profiles or patterns of reading problems) contribute to brain morphology results in Jacobian determinant images that represent local brain shape and volume. A matched-pair brain morphometry approach was used to control for confounding from brain size and research site effects in this retrospective multi-site study of 134 children from eight different research sites.

Changes in DTI Diffusivity and fMRI Connectivity Cluster Coefficients for Students with and without Specific Learning Disabilities In Written Language: Brain's Response to Writing Instruction.

Before and after computerized writing instruction, participants completed assessment with normed measures and DTI and fMRI connectivity scanning. Evidence-based differential diagnosis was used at time 1 to assign them to diagnostic groups: typical oral and written language (n=6), dysgraphia (impaired handwriting, n=10), dyslexia (impaired word spelling and reading, n=20), and OWL LD (impaired syntax construction, n=6). The instruction was aimed at subword letter writing, word spelling, and syntax composing.

ERPs While Judging Meaningfulness of Sentences With and Without Homonym or Morpheme Spelling Foils: Comparing 4th to 9th Graders With and Without Spelling Disabilities.

Thirteen students with and twelve students without spelling disabilities judged whether sentences (1/3 all correct spellings, 1/3 with homonym foil, 1/3 with morpheme foil) were meaningful while event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured with EGI Geodesic EEG System 300 (128-channel hydro-cell nets). For N400, Rapid Automatic Switching (RAS) correlated with comprehending sentences with homonym foils in control group but with morpheme foils in SLD group. For P600, dictated spelling correlated with comprehending sentences with morpheme foils in the control group but solving anagrams with homonym foils in the SLD group.

Translating Interdisciplinary Research on Language Learning into Identifying Specific Learning Disabilities in Verbally Gifted and Average Children and Youth.

The current research was grounded in prior interdisciplinary research that showed cognitive ability (verbal ability for translating cognitions into oral language) and multiple-working memory endophenotypes (behavioral markers of genetic or brain bases of language learning) predict reading and writing achievement in students with and without specific learning disabilities in written language (SLDs-WL). Results largely replicated prior findings that verbally gifted with dyslexia score higher on reading and writing achievement than those with average verbal ability but not on endophenotypes. The current study extended that research by comparing those with and without SLDs-WL with assessed verbal ability held constant.

Effects of transcription ability and transcription mode on translation:: Evidence from written compositions, language bursts and pauses when students in grades 4 to 9, with and without persisting dyslexia or dysgraphia, compose by pen or by keyboard.

This study explored the effects of transcription on translation products and processes of adolescent students in grades 4 to 9 with and without persisting specific language disabilities in written language (SLDs-WL). To operationalize transcription ability (handwriting and spelling) and transcription mode (by pen on digital tablet or by standard US keyboard), diagnostic groups contrasting in patterns of transcription ability were compared while composing autobiographical (personal) narratives by handwriting or by keyboarding: Typically developing students (n=15), students with dyslexia (impaired word reading and spelling, n=20), and students with dysgraphia (impaired handwriting, n=19). They were compared on seven outcomes: total words composed, total composing time, words per minute, percent of spelling errors, average length of pauses, average number of pauses per minute, and average length of language bursts.

Thinking aloud during idea generating and planning before written translation: Developmental changes from ages 10 to 12 in expressing and defending opinions.

This interdisciplinary research, drawing on cognitive psychology and linguistics, extended to middle childhood past research during early childhood or adulthood on thinking aloud prior to written composing. In year 5 of a longitudinal study of typical writing, when cohort 1 was in grade 5 ( = 110 ten year-olds) and cohort 2 in grade 7 ( = 97 twelve year-olds), a cross-sectional study was conducted. Children were first asked to think aloud while they generated ideas and second while they planned their essays to express and defend their opinions on a controversial topic in the region of the United States where they lived.

Sequential Prediction of Literacy Achievement for Specific Learning Disabilities Contrasting in Impaired Levels of Language in Grades 4 to 9.

Sequential regression was used to evaluate whether language-related working memory components uniquely predict reading and writing achievement beyond cognitive-linguistic translation for students in Grades 4 through 9 ( N = 103) with specific learning disabilities (SLDs) in subword handwriting (dysgraphia, n = 25), word reading and spelling (dyslexia, n = 60), or oral and written language (oral and written language learning disabilities, n = 18). That is, SLDs are defined on the basis of cascading level of language impairment (subword, word, and syntax/text). A five-block regression model sequentially predicted literacy achievement from cognitive-linguistic translation (Block 1); working memory components for word-form coding (Block 2), phonological and orthographic loops (Block 3), and supervisory focused or switching attention (Block 4); and SLD groups (Block 5).

Effective Beginning Handwriting Instruction: Multi-modal, Consistent Format for 2 Years, and Linked to Spelling and Composing.

In Study 1, the treatment group ( = 33 first graders, = 6 years 10 months, 16 girls) received Slingerland multi-modal (auditory, visual, tactile, motor through hand, and motor through mouth) manuscript (unjoined) handwriting instruction embedded in systematic spelling, reading, and composing lessons; and the control group ( =16 first graders, = 7 years 1 month, 7 girls) received manuscript handwriting instruction not systematically related to the other literacy activities. ANOVA showed both groups improved on automatic alphabet writing from memory; but ANCOVA with the automatic alphabet writing task as covariate showed that the treatment group improved significantly more than control group from the second to ninth month of first grade on dictated spelling and recognition of word-specific spellings among phonological foils. In Study 2 new groups received either a second year of manuscript ( = 29, = 7 years 8 months, 16 girls) or introduction to cursive (joined) instruction in second grade ( = 24, = 8 years 0 months, 11 girls) embedded in the Slingerland literacy program.

Neuroanatomy of Handwriting and Related Reading and Writing Skills in Adults and Children with and without Learning Disabilities: French-American Connections.

In this article, we present recent neuroimaging studies performed to identify the neural network involved in handwriting. These studies, carried out in adults and in children, suggest that the mastery of handwriting is based on the involvement of a network of brain structures whose involvement and inter-connection are specific to writing alphabet characters. This network is built upon the joint learning of writing and reading and depends on the level of expertise of the writer.

Idea units in notes and summaries for read texts by keyboard and pencil in middle childhood students with specific learning disabilities: Cognitive and brain findings.

Seven children with dyslexia and/or dysgraphia (2 girls, 5 boys, =11 years) completed fMRI connectivity scans before and after twelve weekly computerized lessons in strategies for reading source material, taking notes, and writing summaries by touch typing or groovy pencils. During brain scanning they completed two reading comprehension tasks-one involving single sentences and one involving multiple sentences. From before to after intervention, fMRI connectivity magnitude changed significantly during sentence level reading comprehension (from right angular gyrus→right Broca's) and during text level reading comprehension (from right angular gyrus→cingulate).