| Many strategies for dealing effectively with | | | | One example illustrates how sculpture can be |
| learning disabilities include multi-sensory | | | | used to teach students about geometric |
| approaches. The thinking behind this is | | | | principles, while another shows how acting |
| simple: the more ways you give a person to | | | | can enhance students' vocabularies. Clear, |
| remember something, the more chances they | | | | detailed instructions allow readers to put |
| have of actually doing so. One approach that | | | | these techniques to use in their own homes or |
| works-particularly for the artistically | | | | classrooms. Smith makes the important |
| inclined-is the use of creative techniques to | | | | argument that art is not only a fun way for |
| relay and interpret academic information. | | | | students to express themselves, but also |
| | | | culturally and scholastically enriching. |
| These techniques may include the integration | | | | |
| of visual art (such as painting, drawing, or | | | | 2. Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete |
| photography), literary art (such as poems, | | | | Science-Based Program for Reading Problems at |
| short stories, or plays), music, or drama. | | | | Any Level, written by Sally Shaywitz |
| Not only are these approaches entertaining | | | | |
| for students, they also make use of different | | | | This critically-acclaimed book uses science |
| areas of the brain, which promotes valuable | | | | to give evidence that artistic techniques are |
| cross-region connections. | | | | an effective way to teach dyslexic students |
| | | | how to read. Shaywitz-a Yale |
| There are two excellent sources on the | | | | neuroscientist-looks at the structure of the |
| subject, which are profiled below. | | | | dyslexic brain and how it functions. |
| | | | Neurotechnology has proven that those with |
| 1. The Power of the Arts: Creative Strategies | | | | dyslexia use a different part of the brain to |
| for Teaching Exceptional Learners, written by | | | | read than those without dyslexia. |
| Sally L. Smith | | | | |
| | | | Art can be used as a means to create |
| The author of this revolutionary book is one | | | | connections between the two areas of the |
| of the country's foremost experts on working | | | | brain, thus enabling the ability to make |
| with learning disabled students. She's the | | | | sense of written language. Shaywitz makes |
| founder and director of Washington D.C.'s Lab | | | | the compelling argument that dyslexia should |
| School, an institution she created | | | | be looked at not just as a weakness, but also |
| specifically for students with learning | | | | as a strength. She points to the large |
| differences. Smith is also a professor of | | | | number of highly successful artists who have |
| education at American University and the | | | | struggled with and benefited from their |
| mother of a child with scholastic | | | | dyslexia, including Pulitzer Prize winning |
| difficulties. | | | | playwright Wendy Wasserstein and bestselling |
| | | | author John Irving. |
| All of these qualifications make her | | | | |
| well-suited to providing parents, teachers, | | | | Shaywitz provides in-depth case studies of |
| and other learning disability specialists | | | | these artists to illustrate how dyslexia |
| with information on the best techniques for | | | | allows for increased creativity and |
| working with special needs students. This | | | | comprehension, while at the same time |
| book consists of interviews with faculty | | | | inhibiting the ability to decode letters and |
| members of the Lab School, who have found | | | | punctuation marks. She indicates that art |
| that incorporating art into their curriculum | | | | can help to bridge the gap between these two |
| has made their lessons come alive for their | | | | types of skills, which can lead to great |
| students. | | | | personal and professional achievement. |
| | | | |