Rating: 
Summary: I like the list
Review: This is a good book, going into not just what dyslexia is, but how our understanding of the mechanics of reading has changed in the last twenty years, especially with advanced brain imaging.
But my favorite part was the list of what children should be able to do by different ages. It's a calm way of paying attention without freaking out.
Good interview with Shaywitz at www.firstvoicebooks.com/shaywitz.html
I also like that one of the best ways to help kids is to read to them when their young, something that too often is shunned as old fashioned, but it's great bonding, stimulating those young brains.
Rating:
Summary: Pragmatic, exceptional book
Review: This is a scientific understanding by author Sally Shaywitz of why a struggling reader may be having so much trouble. I think most importantly the author discusses all kinds of various practical treatments to ease the challenge. She iterates that dyslexia is not some affliction of a few. It's simply a neurological difference that makes phonemic awareness more challenging for some people and is actually quite common but in varying degrees. The author stresses the importance of early diagnosis. Wow did that strike a personal nerve for me. Unfortunately most schools do not recognize these issues until a child is so far behind, remediation is far more difficult than it should be if a child is identified even as early as preschool. Comforting though are the author's ideas to help even dyslexic adults learn to read better. From a personal perspective my child did struggle and thanks to several books like "Reading Reflex: The Foolproof Phono-Graphix Method for Teaching Your Child to Read by Carmen McGuinness (Author), Geoffrey McGuinness (Author)" and the "Lindamood-Bell" reading program, my child was able to learn to read without the severe frustration that can accompany the process for dyslexics. This "New and Complete Science-Based Program for Overcoming Reading Problems at Any Level" is exactly that - complete - there simply is no need to use a litany of books on the topic if you get this one.
Rating:
Summary: Overcoming Dyslexia
Review: This is THE book to read on Dyslexia. Read it, share it, pass it around. Everyone in the world needs this information and Dr. Shawitz is the authority. We are so lucky that she used her considerable talents to research this disability and then share her findings with us in this book.
Rating:
Summary: Overcoming Dyslexia
Review: This is the book you've been looking for!!! This is "the Bible" for those of us who are, (or who are working with) dyslexic people. This book is written so naturally that you feel like you are part of a dialogue at this very moment. Dr. Shaywitz knows what our questions are and she answers them! Better, she anwsers with Scientific backup! She offers directions on specific places to go for more help; help that works. I have bumbled along as a parent advocate on my own for five years now...how I wish that I had had the benefit of this book from the very beginning. You can! BUY IT! Buy multiples. SHARE IT...especially with the people at school . I have given copies to my school's Kindergarten teacher, and Special Education department first, because that is where I think it will help the most children immediately. Every educator should read this book, every parent should read this book and certainly anyone with a concern about reading should read this book. I won't go on about the entire content; for that read one of the editorial reviews. This one comes from the heart!
Rating: 
Summary: absolutely worthless.
Review: This is the first time I've ever reviewed a book on Amazon. Perhaps because I've never had such a strongly adverse reaction to a book in my life as I have after going through this. Basically, I'm your standard high functioning dyslexic adult. I can read for perhaps 20 minutes at a time before getting a headache and disorientation. I mix up words in my head, and my spelling is criminal. Heartbreaking, considering that I love to read and have a bookshelf full of books that, at my current reading rate, it will take me years to get to. I watch my parents, able to devour a book in a week. I go into a library and see thousands of treasures I'll never get to unlock. I took a look at this book thinking perhaps this time I had found a way. Finally, I figured, I found something that would help me with overcoming my dyslexia. Don't ask me where I got that idea that that's what this book was about. Just the kookie kinda guy I am. Turns out it gives an in interesting history and overview of the research into the disorder. Interesting if I could read the damn thing, but not a help. Then it proceeds to tell me all the things my mother could have done to fix this for me, but it's too late now. Again, not a help. That seems to be the overriding message of the book. It's too late for me. 20 dollars and the most useful thing you can get out of it are a mention of programs some people sell that might be able to help adults. I checked some of these out, and I think that these are written for retards or something. Seriously. I think, being learning disabled, I can politically correctly use the term retard. If not, I apologize to any retards who disagree. Some things these programs teach are 'how to construct a sentence' or understanding suffixes and prefixes. Excuse me, but are these people able to dress themselves in the morning? God, I'm gonna have nightmares tonight thinking that adults are out there who are unable to do this. One would think that I would feel better about myself knowing that things could be worse, but that's little comfort.
This book is worse than useless because it offers false hope, and there's nothing more cruel in this world than that. I hope someone can prove me wrong.
Rating: 
Summary: Useful book, but not what the title promises
Review: This would be a wonderful book - worth 5 stars - were it not for the title. This book is not about "Overcoming Dyslexia" so much as it is about "Coping with Dyslexia". There is no "New" Program for Reading Problems but rather a detailed description of a strong phonics and language-based curriculum that has been around for years -- and is geared to the needs of ordinary students, not dyslexics.
This book does give a good overview of the process of learning to read in ordinary children, as well an explanation of some of the differences in the way dyslexic children learn and read, and an excellent overview of good curriculum materials available and in use in many schools today. It also give a wonderful and very readable summary of Dr. Shaywitz's own research into reading and dyslexia -- but Shaywitz's theories are not universally accepted, and the book does not analyze or compare the research done by the dozens of other prominant researchers in the field of dyslexia.
As another review noted, the book also suffers from a sort of split personality -- in the first section it outlines the many aspects of the dyslexic learning style that are different from typical children, and then the section on reading instruction recommends many of the very same techniques that the first part said were inappropriate for dyslexics. For example, in one part the author points out the difficulty of rote learning for dyslexics; in the next part she recommends using flash cards for drill and memorization of common sight words.
Ever since the pioneering work of Samuel Orton, educators have known that dyslexics learn best by "multisensory" methods -- but this book does not include an explanation of the importance of such teaching, or even a list of the most commonly used tutoring methods for dyslexia. Worse - while parents are bombarded with information about one new approach after another (the "sponsored" ads on this page are likely to be hawking a novel visual-training program called "Brighstar" as a "cure" for dyslexia) --- this book barely mentions the availability of private tutoring or therapy, let alone give parents any means to evaluate the various competing approaches that might be recommended for their children.
Dr. Shaywitz is one of a number of researchers who have contributed immensely to the understanding of dyslexia -- but she is only one, and this book happens to present an exremely useful but somewhat one-sided view of her work. That is certainly an appropriate book for her to write; but it would have been better with an honest title that didn't promise more than it delivered.
The harm that this book can do is that it might mislead parents into being complacent when their children are struggling. At one point the author states that parents of children in California have nothing to worry about: their children will certainly learn to read because California has adopted her recommended curriculum. Needless to say, California test scores (among the lowest in the nation) do not bear out her contention. The reality is that dyslexic children, almost by definition, do NOT learn to read with ordinary instruction in regular classrooms -- no matter how good the curriculum. The dyslexic children are the ones on the tail end of the bell curve - the 20% who don't learn by the methods proven effective for the other 80%. They need specialized and individualized support and methods, geared to their unique learning style. While Dr. Shaywitz does a great job exploring that learning style, she fails to apply that knowledge to the art of teaching reading.
Dr. Shaywitz is a doctor and a scientist, not an educator - so her book is long on theory and conclusions, short on practical advice. For anyone who is understands enough about dyslexia to recognize the limits of this book, it is a valuable and essential read. If you want to understand about brain science and dyslexia, this book is a must-have -- AFTER you read the more comprehensive text "Brain Literacy for Educators and Psychologists" by Drs. Virginia Berninger & Todd Richards.
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