Library News
Year 12 After School Study
Year 12 after school study will begin next Wednesday, 11 June. The study will be open from 3:30 - 5:00 pm in the Library. All are welcome to have this additional time in the lead-up to the HSC Trials and HSC Exams.
Dyslexia and Reading: What is dyslexia?
Dyslexia is not a disease! The word dyslexia comes from Greek and means difficulty with reading. Individuals with dyslexia have trouble with aspects of reading, spelling and writing. The condition occurs on a continuum from mild to severe and no two experiences of it are alike. Unfortunately, there is no cure for dyslexia since it is neurobiological.
The impact that dyslexia has is different for each person and depends on the severity of the condition and the effectiveness of instruction or remediation. The core difficulty is with word recognition and reading fluency, spelling, and writing.
Children and adults with dyslexia have to put more energy and effort into reading and are more easily distracted than the average reader. Such language problems are often difficult to recognise, but they can lead to major problems in school, in the workplace, and in relating to other people. The effects of dyslexia reach well beyond the classroom.
Dyslexia can also affect a person’s self-image. Students with dyslexia often end up feeling “dumb” and less capable than they actually are. After experiencing a great deal of stress due to academic problems, a student may become discouraged about continuing in school. However, research suggests that the prevalence of dyslexia is independent of a person’s intelligence. In fact, many brilliant people (for example Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell) are said to have had dyslexia.
For more information go to https://www.dyslexicbooks.com/what-is-dyslexia
The Mercy Library and dyslexia
The Mercy Library has been buying several dyslexic books to help our students with dyslexia improve their literacy skills. These books have been printed with larger font and on buff or black paper; additionally, they are accessible to all readers. Please visit the library website if you would like to see our current selection of dyslexic- friendly books at https://tinyurl.com/285cd5u6.
This week, the library has purchased a new range of books printed using the Open Dyslexic font on buff pages. Most of the books are English texts, but there is also a selection of books available for the library. The books should be available in a couple of weeks.
The shelf copies are in addition to the thousands of e-books available in open dyslexic font on Sora. If your child has dyslexia, encourage them to use the font size, type and colour background functions to improve each book’s readability. Sora can be found at this site https://soraapp.com/home, and the school sign-in is ACEN.
How does the Open Dyslexic font work?
The Open Dyslexic font changes letters so that they are no longer so similar, and so that they are not mirror images of other letters. It does this in a number of ways:
- Bolds capitals
- Bolds the bottom of letters
- Slants similar looking letters
- Gives letters larger openings
- Improves spacing better letters
These features address letter confusion, rotation and crowding.
If you are interested in reading more about dyslexic fonts, please visit this site: https://www.forbrain.com/dyslexia-children/reading-difficulties/best-fonts/
The following pictures show:
- A comparison of Open Dyslexic to Arial font.
- Accessibility options in Sora (just press the A in the top right hand corner)
- What an Open Dyslexic font looks like in the Tree House books on Sora.
