Dyslexia and Literacy: Understanding Executive Functions, Language, and Reading

Part 1: Focus of the conference and its speakers:

This conference focused on dyslexia and literacy and how executive functioning skills

play a large role in reading and reading comprehension. The conference touched on the scientific

research and neurological science of dyslexia and how students with dyslexia struggle to read

and struggle to comprehend what they are reading. The latest genetic studies were discussed but

they also helped participants understand the current practices for assessment and intervention

that may help students with such struggles.

Part 2

The conference opened up with its first speaker Doctor Laurie Cutting. Doctor Cutting is

Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Special Education, Psychology, Radiology, and Pediatrics

at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee. Doctor Cutting focused on the neurobiological

underpinnings for executive functions. She began by explaining the different parts of our brain

that are activated as we read. She showed the audience an MRI, a magnetic resonance imaging,

that showed detailed pictures of different parts of the brain that were activated as a child reads.

She expressed that good readers hold specific qualities that make them good readers such as,

language comprehension and word recognition. Students who are good readers not only read

fluently but they can decode and understand what they are reading. Children who struggle with

dyslexia have trouble with one or both, language comprehension and word recognition. Further

MRI scans of children with dyslexia showed less activity in the brain than that of a good reader.

When children without dyslexia read while in the MRI certain parts of the brain were activated,

the left brain, occipitotemporal, as well as the frontoparietal part of the brain. The frontal part of

our brain works with executive functioning skills which were activated as students read.
However, students who read and had dyslexia had an under activated left brain,

occipitotemporal, as well as, less activity in the frontoparietal part of the brain. Many studies

were conducted among children to determine the extent of executive functioning skills and the

correlation in reading and reading comprehension. Doctor Cutting discovered that children with

dyslexia showed deficits in several executive function domains. Overall, it was noted that

practicing executive functioning skills in isolation does not transfer to the academic and that

executive functioning skills and reading intervention work best for students with reading deficits.

Part 3

Doctor Erik Willcutt is a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and the Director of

Clinical Training in the clinical psychology program in the Department of Psychology and

Neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder. Doctor Willcutt discussed executive

functions: genetic, behavioral, and assessment considerations. Doctor Willcutt discussed the

shared risks of students with dyslexia and the other risk factors that children with dyslexia might

encounter such as ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Doctor Willcutt gave

participants suggestions to implement in the classroom such as chunking work, providing

planners for organization, and providing students with extra time etc., suggestions to help

students become more successful in the classroom.

Part 4

The third speaker was Doctor Bonnie Singer who is the Founder/CEO of Architects For

Learning, where she trains educators, consults with schools worldwide and directs a staff in the

Boston area that provides academic intervention, assessment, and consultation services. Doctor

Singer discussed working memory, the capacity to hold information in a short time and the

ability to manipulate it for the purpose of information. She discussed the limited capacity that
many children with dyslexia and other reading deficits have with working memory. She

discussed ways in which educators can help students with such struggles, such as, previewing

information before working on a specific topic, having students remember words by providing

images to connect them with, as well as, teaching students to self talk. This allows students to

express themselves and try to organize their thinking and writing. Other suggestions provided by

Dr. Singer were thinking maps and writing bubbles to organize a students thoughts.

Part 5

The last and final speaker was Doctor Kelly Cartwright who is a professor of psychology,

neuroscience, and teacher preparation at Christopher Newport University, Newport News, VA.

Dr. Cartwright discussed classroom strategies that facilitate executive function. Doctor

Cartwright discussed how executive functions are mental skills we use to manage the reading

process in order to move toward decoding and comprehension. In order to help students with

reading comprehension we must also practice executive functioning skills. Working solely on

executive functioning skills is not enough and as educator we must implement the executive

functioning skills with reading strategies in order to help the struggling reader. Dr. Cartwright

therefore suggested to focus on what “good readers” do which she referred to as “good readers

are good thinkers” and focused on this concept of good thinking. She suggested that students

focus on good planning skills, organization, memory skills, ignore the unnecessary, and work on

predicting. In order to do this we must assist students to make a plan before they read, organize

their thoughts and work with a planner or concepts maps, work on fun games that can work on

executive functions and working memory such as UNO or Apples to Apples, play educational

games where students create words with different letters or rearrange words to create new
sentences. Many strategies can be fun and educational and help students to practice executive

functions, working memory, and reading.

Part 6 Conclusion

The core of this conference was to understand the research and science of dyslexia,

working memory, executive functions, and literacy. Understanding the neuroscience behind

dyslexia can help teachers better understand students who struggle with reading and reading

comprehension but more so understand how to better meet their needs in order help students

become better readers.

 References

Cartwright, K., Ph.D (Presenter). (2019, February 15). Executive skills and reading: Classroom

strategies that facilitate executive functions. Lecture presented at Dyslexia and Literacy:

"Understanding executive functions, language, and reading", UCLA, Los Angeles, CA.

Cutting, L., Ph.D (Presenter). (2019, February 15). The neurobiological underpinnings for

executive functions. Lecture presented at Dyslexia and Literacy: "Understanding

executive functions, language, and reading", UCLA, Los Angeles, CA.

Singer, B., Ph.D (Presenter). (2019, February 15). Oral language, working memory, and

executive functions. Lecture presented at Dyslexia and Literacy: "Understanding

executive functions, language, and reading", UCLA, Los Angeles, CA.

Willcutt, E., Ph.D (Presenter). (2019, February 15). Executive functions and dyslexia. Lecture

presented at Dyslexia and Literacy: "Understanding executive functions, language, and

reading", UCLA, Los Angeles, CA.