The Scientific American Web site describes a conference paper reporting that the angular gyrus may be linked to people’s abitlity to understand metaphors. Vilayanur S. Ramachandran and collegues (University of California at San Diego) have assessed four individuals who have damage to the left angular gyrus but have normal intelligence and can carry on conversation fluently. When Ramachandran tested “them with common proverbs and metaphors such as ‘the grass is always greener on the other side’ and ‘reaching for the stars,’ the subjects interpreted the sayings literally almost all of the time.”
The angular gyrus is a section of the brain that is involved in cross-modal connections—to oversimplify, mapping between visual and verbal stimuli. As Hallahan and Mercer reported, since the late 1800s there has been suspicion about a connection between problems in the left angular gyrus and Learning Disabilities in reading. With the advent of powerful technology for examining brain function (especially fMRIs), the connection between LD in reading and the angular gyrus grew stronger (see S. Shaywitz’s book Overcoming Dyslexia for more).
I found Ramachandran’s report intriguing because the connection between LD in reading and problems in understanding metaphors has been reported previously in LD (see sources). Problems in understanding metaphors may not be diagnostic, but the overlap strengthens the idea that LD in reading is a language problem.
- Links for Hallahan & Mercer: HTML (see first two pages) or download PDF
- Link for Scientific American: Brain Region Linked to Metaphor Comprehension
- Seidenberg, P. L., & Bernstein, D. K. (1988). Metaphor comprehension and performance on metaphor-related language tasks: A comparison of good and poor readers. Remedial and Special Education, 9(2), 39-45.
- Wiig, E. H., Semel, E. M., & Aberle, E. (1981). Perception of ambiguous sentences by learning disabled twelve-year-olds. Learning Disability Quarterly, 4, 3-12.
Reid Lyon, who has served as chief of the branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development that has funded research on Learning Disabilities for nearly 15 years, will resign at the end of June. Lyon is known for his extensive efforts to promote effective instruction in reading, having helped steer studies of phonological awareness, phonics, and other aspects of decoding as well as related studies about the neuropsychological aspects of reading and working vigorously to promote the application of the results of those studies.
- Link to Education Week’s story by Kathleen Kennedy Manzo.
- Link to NICHD page on human learning and behavior program.
In “Big barriers in young minds - Learning disability is a way of life for many,” Savvy Soumya of the Telegraph (billed as haivng the most widely circulated, English daily in Eastern India) provides a feature story about Learning Disabilities in India. the story includes generic suggestions by an educator and a psychiatrist.
Link.
Gary Thomas posted a reflection on being the father of a girl with Learning Disabilities in “New Man,” a Christian magazine. It begins with a story about the daughter’s increasing frustration with her difficulties learning. Here’s a clipping:
As her friends began reading, however, Allison grew more and more uncomfortable with her own level of learning. Sometimes she would shout in frustration, “Why is it hard for me to learn and so easy for everybody else?”
He describes his own frustration and sadness about his daughter’s difficulties. Given the publication, of course, Thomas ultimately turns the story to his relationship with his God.
Link for the story.
According to Daniel De Vise of the Washington Post, parents and students picketed a Maryland (US) private school for students with Learning Disabilities, protesting decisions made by the school’s administration. De Vise reported that the parents and students are concerned because “school leaders have asked all teachers to reapply for their jobs and miffed that they cannot hold graduation exercises outdoors.” The administration sees it differently, of course:
The administration sees it differently, of course:
School leaders, speaking through their attorney, said the shakeup is necessary to raise the caliber of teaching at Chelsea, citing the demands of the federal No Child Left Behind law. Many Chelsea students come from Washington area public school systems, which are required by law to pay for private schooling for some students who don’t thrive in a public school.
Link
Perpetuating misinformation
So many of the myths are really hard to overcome.
To its credit, the Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County has launched a public information campaign seeking to improve employment opportunities and outcomes for individuals with Learning Disabilities. Addressing the important problem of un- an underemployment among adults with LD, SEAKINGWDC developed print and multimedia resources providing rationale, techniques, technical assistance, and legal resources about employment for this segment of the workforce.
That’s the proverbial good news. The bad news is that the materials perpetuate misinformation about LD. Here’s one example (emphasis as shown in original):
There’s plenty of evidence that the popular notion of reversals indicating LD is false. Still, a quick search (using Google) on “reversals ‘learning disabilities’” returned 9000 links; I’d have to bet that most of them perpetuate the myth.
How can we distribute the accurate information?