Kinesthetic learning in dyslexia

Dyslexia And Kinesthetic Learning: Does It Help?

by

A story can be inferred by reading a book. Nonetheless, watching a movie based on that narrative or role-playing the characters of that tale can be further intriguing due to physical involvement in the learning process. These styles account for kinesthetic learning. Stipulating to the implementation of various senses, this learning style has a set of edges. Being aware of the same, many individuals have opted for it to ensure efficiency.  That being the case, some individuals may be bewildered to know if this learning style can be equally befitting for those with learning compromises. While little was known earlier, here we look into relevant insights to evaluate if the kinesthetic learning style is beneficial to Dyslexics or not. 

How is kinesthetic learning distinct?

Information for learning can be retained by students in multiple ways. While some feel it is comfortable to read from books, some may prefer to look at demonstration videos, stimulations and use manipulations. Kinesthetic learning is where the pupil gets indulged in physical activities to grasp something. 

kinesthetic learning

Rajshree S. Vaishnav[1]  studied various learning styles that a student in school can have and their effects on a student’s well-being and academic achievement. As a part of which the kinesthetic learning style is also traversed through. In this research, it is found that there is a  high correlation between kinesthetic learning style and academic achievement.  

What does kinesthetic preference include?

 Such learning styles are characterized by:

  • Using the senses like touch, feel to find facts: Kinesthetic learners often prefer to feel and touch the entities and simulations to learn about it. The little one may count the muffins on the table as practice numbers, or shape dough into alphabet as a part of their practice. 
  • Hand-eye coordination: Since the learners employ their hands to learn apart from just visual cues, these learners often have  exceptional cooperation between their hands and eyes. They often work together in inferring notions. 

Kinesthetic learning in dyslexics- Does it work?

Being creative and visual learners, Dyslexics can often prefer kinesthetic learning for applicable subjects. Galeet Benzion, in his book The Neurocognition of Dance, dedicated a chapter stating tips to overcome the dyslexia barrier: The role of kinesthetic stimuli in the teaching of spelling. 

kinesthetic learning

Orton Gillingham approach, as we all know, is the tailor-made preaching style for compromised children. It comes up with extra attention to nourish kids to start from word level. This approach is kinesthetic learning-based as it uses manipulatives along with visual cues in its sequential approaching chapters, which further implicitly shows how Kinesthetic learning can assist. 

Individuals, even if their learning skills are compromised, can get some handy benefits by opting for Kinesthetic learning:

  • Pupils get an added edge to observe, operate and then understand the notion directly. This way, logic can be ensured.
  •  AJ Richards[2] outlines that Kinesthetic Learning Activities can assist in cognitive tasks. Implying that kinesthetic learning can be a great strategy to ameliorate cognitive abilities of the individuals. 
  • Since hands-on activity is involved in Kinesthetic learning, it has more than enough room for practice.

Preaching dyslexics kinesthetically- Evaluating how traits work?

While we culminate that kinesthetic learning can assist learning compromises, let’s evaluate how various traits of such style can aid individuals:

1. Multisensory learning -Touch and feel works!

Multisensory approach is nothing but implementation of all the senses, including touch in learning. These account for best practices for special needs students. 

Majeda AI Sayyed Obaid[3]  investigates the effect of using the Multisensory approach for teaching students with learning disabilities. A total of 117 students were considered for the research, which was divided into two samples of 62 (experimental group) and 55 (control group). The findings of the study remarked that there was a significant difference in post-test performance in the control and the experimental group. This led him to suggest the uses of multisensory learning. Since Kinesthetic learning is all about touch and feels to learn, these can ensure a superior grasping experience.  

multisensory learning

2. How Hand-Eye coordination Works?

Emerging out of traditional practices and opting for various pedagogies like visual and kinesthetic approaches have been showing positive changes in special needs children. The result of research by Geiger[4] suggests that daily hand-eye coordination activities exhibit marked improvement in their reading skills. Further relevant practices are believed to prepare students for reading perceptually. 

Kinesthetic learning- Is it all about benefits?

While it gives hands-on experience to students about various entities and notions, it may feel unfitting in some scenarios. Before one can come to conclusions, inferring possible hitches can make a better decision for you.

  • It is not often followed in schools: Schools often use traditional pedagogies unless these serve special students. For students who prefer admiring the flow of classroom teaching, learning kinesthetically can be an additional job. Nonetheless, one can always prefer this when they could catch up with classroom lessons. 
  • Interaction is crucial: Personalized attention is necessary for kinesthetic teaching. For instance, when an instructor needs to demonstrate an alphabet with an alternative, every student must be given a chance to touch and feel it. Such obligations make kinesthetic pedagogies only exist in approaches like Orton-Gillingham.  
  • Detailing not possible: Ensuring pragmatic experience, logic is never a miss in such a learning style. But, details can be missed in some instances. Such reasons can make kinesthetic, not tailor-made for grasping all the subjects.
  • May affect listening skills: As it is all about touching and exploring the facts, Kinesthetic learning often doesn’t need the pupil to listen to a mentor. Consequently, prolonged hang on this style may affect the listening skills. Institute of Learning Styles outlined a few attributes of kinesthetic learning, and it outlined that a kinesthetic learner is often a poor listener.

Kinesthetic learning serviceable to dyslexics?

For special kids use of multisensory approaches and opting for visual/and kinesthetic learning can often be aiding. Researchers like Galeet Benzion suggested such styles to magnify learning in students. The traits and edge of Kinesthetic learning can evidently prove to be befitting for Dyslexics. Nevertheless, checking if such a learning style can affect you personally can aid you in arriving at an appropriate resolution. 

Concluding thoughts

Like any other learning style, kinesthetic learning has its own set of benefits and points of concern. While one can conclude it to be beneficial for Dyslexics, personally evaluating the pedagogies and possible stumbling blocks stated above can bring them out of general manifestations and thus to the right decision. In layman’s terms, it can be winded up with a note that learning styles can be purely personal choices. However, a Kinesthetic approach can be the choice for certain notions. 

References:

  1. LEARNING STYLE AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS. (2013, March). Rajshree S. Vaishnav.
  2. Teaching Mechanics Using Kinesthetic Learning Activities. (2018, December). AJ Richards. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.5084926
  3. [3] Geiger, G. (2005, October). Towards the Prevention of Dyslexia.
  4. [4] The Impact Of Using Multi-Sensory Approach For Teaching Students With Learning Disabilities. (2012, December). Majeda Al Sayyed Obaid. https://doi.org/10.19030/jier.v9i1.7502

Leave a Comment