The Hickey Multisensory Language Course

This course has become a classic in the UK, widely used by teachers working with dyslexic learners and a core text for university courses. It has also influenced approaches to teaching literacy skills. The materials are self-corrective: pupils take responsiblity for own progress. Modified Hickey Lesson Plan, games, activities.

This book is a handy, practical guide to the educational difficulties encountered by children experiencing specific learning difficulties (dyslexia). It is aimed at parents of dyslexic children and non-specialist teachers who have these children in their classes. It is written by two experienced and qualified practitioners. The authors have aimed to write the book in plain English, with a minimum of jargon and technical language.

A unique overview of research on dyslexia and an account of the underlying causes at cognitive, brain, and neural system levels that provides a framework for significant progress in the understanding of dyslexia and other related learning disabilities. Dyslexia research has made dramatic progress since the mid-1980s. Once discounted as a “middle-class myth,” dyslexia is now the subject of a complex—and confusing—body of theoretical and empirical research. In Dyslexia, Learning, and the Brain, leading dyslexia researchers Roderick Nicolson and Angela Fawcett provide a uniquely broad and coherent analysis of dyslexia theory. Unlike most dyslexia research, which addresses the question “what is the cause of the reading disability called dyslexia?” the authors' work has addressed the deeper question of “what is the cause of the learning disability that manifests as reading problems?” This perspective allows them to place dyslexia research within the much broader disciplines of cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience and has led to a rich framework, including two established leading theories, the automatization deficit account (1990) and the cerebellar deficit hypothesis (2001). Nicolson and Fawcett show that extensive evidence has accumulated to support these two theories and that they may be seen as subsuming the established phonological deficit account and sensory processing accounts. Moving to the explanatory level of neural systems, they argue that all these disorders reflect problems in some component of the procedural learning system, a multiregion system including major components of cortical and subcortical regions. The authors' answer to the fundamental question “what is dyslexia?” offers a challenge and motivation for research throughout the learning disabilities, laying the foundations for future progress.

Annotation Many quick fixes to cure dyslexia have been developed and used. These miracle cures' have offered hope to many parents left disillusioned by the school system and health services. Written by a parent of two dyslexic sons, this practical guide explores these various cures and suggests that early identification of this condition may be the key.

Newly updated, Gavin Reid’s best-selling handbook remains an essential resource for those helping dyslexic individuals of all ages, from preschoolers to adults in the workplace. Combines theoretical explanations, the latest research, and practical solutions with a focus on inclusion and meeting the individual’s needs New and expanded coverage includes: multilingualism; the use of technology; co-existing conditions such as dyspraxia, dyscalculia, and ADHD; and positive dyslexia Assembles the latest policies and best practices for dyslexia from around the world, and makes current debates regarding education and literacy accessible to trainees and practitioners

The Hickey Multisensory Language Course has become a classic. It is widely used throughout the UK by teachers working with dyslexic learners of all ages, and is a core text for university courses directed at specialist teachers. Moreover, it has exerted a powerful influence on approaches to teaching literacy skills, including the National Literacy Strategy Framework for teaching. Children now have an entitlement to access to the National Curriculum. Special educational needs, including dyslexia, must be identified, assessed, and addressed, mostly within an inclusive mainstream classroom. Special programmes such as the Hickey are implemented as part of an Individual Education Plan, and need to be linked to the Literacy Hour. The Third edition makes explicit links with current classroom organisation and gives examples of appropriate IEPs, and suggestions for use of ICT. To address the need for specific training in phonological awareness, the Hickey Lesson Plan has been modified, and a chapter added which includes specific games and activities to develop phonological awareness, and to develop the use of strategies in reading a range of whole texts.