Literacy Skills

The development of Jo’s literacy skills was not only evident based on the outcomes of his learning program. The different tests given to analyze his progress also showed remarkable results. In particular, his reading and visual tests showed significant differences from his previous test results. His writing speed and auditory skills however still need more improvement. The WRAT 3 Spelling Test results showed that Jo was unable to progress significantly. The test was structured similar to the exercise given to Jo in lesson 8. During the lesson, Jo found it difficult to discern b and d words as they are combined in one worksheet. This is probably the cause of his test score.

According to Beve Hornsby (1984), the problem with dyslexics, particularly in interchanging the letters b and d, can be addressed by first teaching the child about the alphabet and how the letters look like. Rather than instruct the child to write letters using the ball and stick technique, the child must be taught how to write in cursive form. This is because cursive writing will be used by the child more frequently as he grows older. Moreover, teaching the child how to write in cursive can be mastered more easily and can result to better handwriting. In Jo’s case, where this technique was used, discerning the letter b from d, was also resolve more efficiently with this technique. One of the reasons for this is that letters b and d look more different in cursive as they are in the ball and stick technique. This makes it easier for the child to discern one letter from another.