The Panlexia method (Pamela Kvilekval) was structured with the aim of

teaching children with Specific Language Disorders, through the use of

of structured linguistic techniques.

Não existe uma cartilha, uma receita, para trabalhar com alunos
dyslexics. Thus, more time and more occasions are needed for the exchange of
information about the students, activity planning and preparation of
instrumentals of evaluation specifics;

initial reluctance (or difficulty, even) on the part of some

teachers to separate the behavior of the dyslexic student from their
difficulties;

fear of the teacher regarding bureaucratic norms and content

to the workmates, to the classmates of the dyslexic student,
relatives etc.;

teacher's anxiety regarding the student's level of learning and

to the your conditions to face vestibular o
· time required for each teacher to go through their personal journey in
regarding this matter.

Panlexia - History of the method and the author

Maria Cristina Bromberg

The Panlexia Method is the first method built according to the characteristics
phoneme x grapheme of the Portuguese language spoken and written in Brazil. It is a method
of diagnostic guidance and a comprehensive assistance program
educational for people with Specific Language Difficulties. It is the
result of many years of research and shared experiences by
different sources of information.
Among the first influences that laid the progressive foundations of
Panlexia method, highlights the work of a linguistics professor from Yale
University, Leonard Bloomfield, whose son was dyslexic. Bloomfield formulated the
the concept that 'it would be better to teach reading to dyslexic students,
firstly, through the introduction of consistent elements of the language
written and only then, after these connections have been established, start adding,
gradually, the less common spelling patterns." This form of
the pedagogical approach has been called "Structured Linguistics." Since then
(1933), many researchers have been investigating the numerous aspects of
Dyslexia, and different remedial teaching programs have been published.
us States United.
Already in the 1960s, Dr. Jesse Grimes from Harvard University was
invited by the public education network of the city of Newton, state of
Massachusetts, USA, to investigate which would be the best of the three methods of
initiation to reading used in reading instruction programs: phonetic,
visuo/global linguistic structured.
This research included 30 classrooms, involving 10 classes in each.
of the three approaches, and was developed with the following prognostic orientation:
good readers, intermediate level readers, poor readers. The assessment of the results
The research made it clear that Structured Linguistic Reading achieved the
best results in all categories. However, as in this
the approach included specific teaching methods developed and
supervised by Dr. Grimes, and not just the reading technique
segmented into linguistic elements, their results were ignored in the
era.
As a consequence, the concept of teaching was not established.
reading in linguistic series was more efficient in itself, and by itself. It became
evidenced, however, that the reading teaching methods developed by
Dr. Grimes was the master key to the great success of the Structured Program
in Linguistic Reading. Based on the difficulties of dyslexic son and grandson, the
Dr. Grimes had developed teaching methods to help them in
reading learning. Among its various techniques, training is included
for the development of phonological awareness, which only in recent
has been recognized by respected researchers as a
key component of the success achieved in reading learning and
spelling. The pedagogical techniques based on therapeutic teaching in
structured linguistics, on which the Panlexia Method is based, had
proven its effectiveness in teaching the dyslexic, once again, in
important research work developed by Dr. Sally Shaywitz and her
team yes Yale University.
Pamela Kvilekval, a specialist educator in Learning Difficulties,
was part of the first group of professionals trained directly by Dr.
Grimes to develop the differential teaching program for students with
Learning difficulties in Newton's public network in 1968. After
three months engaged in this work, she became his assistant, supervising
directly to the Special Education teachers. After two years as
Dr. Grimes' assistant and supervisor of the Therapeutic Instruction Course
taught by him, assisting over 200 dyslexics during the school year and
In special summer programs, Pamela was appointed director of the Program.
of Learning Difficulties in the Public Schools of Andover, in the state
from Massachusetts, USA. This indication was made by members of
State Department of Education, after the teaching techniques of
Newton's schools were analyzed and evaluated and the therapeutic program.
developed na speech of teaching declared Very favorable.
In parallel, Dr. Grimes also trained his group of educators in
techniques for development and use of materials as a complementary resource
from your program. Unattached, he never had an interest in formalizing the registration
written for this work. Therefore, when a training manual was
required for the schools of Andover, Dr. Grimes authorized and encouraged
Pamela is writing the Basic Manual, with 70 pages, to get started on
training of 15 members of the teaching staff from the schools. These professionals
they were not formally specialized, but formed a group
committed to differential education, motivated by being directly
involved in teaching children with learning difficulties. And for that,
they were determined to develop an efficient support program
pedagogical to students dyslexics in yours schools.
At that time, there was no university degree program in
Massachusetts to train these specialists. Over the years, the
Training Program with a structure based on the characteristics
phoneme x grapheme of the English language organized by Pamela evolved from 70 to
700 pages, published under the title: 'A Program for Difficulties'
Specific Language”. A comprehensive program that today constitutes as
based on the formulation of many other training programs
professionals in Learning Difficulties, in different systems
schoolchildren.
After 4 years as a Supervisor in programs for Difficulties of
Learning and 10 years as a Special Education Administrator,
responsible for all Special Education programs in Andover, under
State and National Laws, Pamela became an Education Consultant
Special in Italy. Since 1986, she has been a consultant in international schools in Italy.
the supervisor of special education for dyslexic students.
Since there were still no specialized educational programs in Italy
In Dyslexia, many Italian doctors and psychiatrists referred children
dyslexic students to be assisted by Pamela's team. For this reason, she
it ended up imposing a real challenge: to translate and build your program
of teaching within the phonetic structural base of the Italian language. In the beginning, it had
what established the phoneme x grapheme linguistic structure of the language what was
easier to do than structuring the Program in your native language:
in English. This is because the Italian language is pronounced almost exactly as
same way it is written. At the beginning of this work, Pamela developed
word lists for the lessons of each day. In the progressive evolution of
formulation of the method, the precise lists of words and dictation exercises
they began to be grouped into manuals. It was only missing to create stories with the
essential component of adapting to each of the lessons, following the
characteristics yes structure linguistics do language Italian.
Although there were linguistically structured reading books to be
used in programs in English, there was no similar book in
Nelly Melone, mother of one of Pamela's dyslexic students,
"Aunt Lara's Stories" was published as a
brochure of "The Panlexia Method". These are the books that make up the first
therapeutic educational program for pedagogical assistance to the dyslexic
published no Italy. Era o year of 1998.
Today, Italy is in the second release of the Program IL MÉTODO
PANLEXIA, which remains the only published program in that country.
Teachers, psychologists, and speech therapists have been trained through
all of Italy, in the following courses by Pamela Kvilekval: REHABILITATION OF
DYSLEXIA - EARLY IDENTIFICATION OF DIFFICULTIES
LEARNING - REHABILITATION OF DYScalculia - GUIDANCE FOR
COUNTRIES OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES DUE TO
ATTENTION.
In addition to the program 'The Panlexia Method', Pamela developed a version
Italian for 'Preschool Screening System', by Peter Hainsworth and Marian
Hainsworth, published in 2002. This is an identification program.
early intervention of different difficulties in children between 2½ to 6½ years, through
characteristic symptoms and signs that predispose them to present difficulties
in their school learning. Children who are integrated early in
adequate preventive pedagogical program, in most cases will be able to
overcome these difficulties.
With the authors' permission, Pamela structured a new version of Preschool
Screening System, published in Portuguese under the title 'Sistema de '
Early Evaluation - the PSS" by the author herself, in partnership with the Center of
Pediatric Neurology of the Clinics Hospital of the Federal University of Paraná.
This assessment instrument is being validated and standardized through
two master's research projects and one doctoral research project.
In recent years, Pamela Kvilekval has been elected to the Board of Directors of
Italian Dyslexia Association. This organization is represented in more
of 50 cities in Italy and Pamela is the only member of the Board of Directors not
of Italian nationality. In co-authorship with other members of the
Association wrote two small books establishing a foundation.
theoretical-practical to support the teacher's work in the classroom.
The Panlexia Method was introduced in Brazil, in Curitiba, Paraná, in the year of
2004, through two events sponsored by the Neuropediatrics Center of
Hospital de Clínicas of the Federal University of Paraná, by the Secretary
Municipal Education of Curitiba and by the Brazilian Association for Support to
Dyslexic, of Curitiba.
The first one was a symposium that featured the presence of professionals and
interested parties coming from all Brazilian states. The second, a course of
training on the method for 90 professionals in the Education field
Health. During the pedagogical practice of the course, more than 50 were worked on.
dyslexics, of different ages and different levels of difficulties. The
answers, quite positive, confirmed, also in Portuguese, the
efficiency already achieved by the methodology in English and Italian languages.
In 2010, with the collaboration of Brazilian professionals, Pamela made a
review of the material published in 2004 and published an updated edition
expanded the methodology, which he called Panlexia Plus. This new edition
took into account the reform of the Portuguese spelling, as well as the
experience accumulated by professionals over the years of practice in Brazil.

WHY DOES PANLEXIA REALLY WORK?

A PANLEXIA INCLUDES THE STRUCTURE, ACTIVITIES, AND METHODS OF
TEACHING FOLLOWING THE PRINCIPLES TO TEACH DYSLEXICS TO
READ AND WRITE.
Here is the reason for success: 1. The method is phonological, structural and
provides a lot of reinforcement for each element of written language, so as to
to ensure answers automatic.
2. The activities use all the senses involved in reading and in
writing: visual, fine motor skills, auditory perception and awareness
phonemic, including awareness of tactile sensations during pronunciation
two sons.
3. lists structural of words promote
the ability to decode, because they only change one letter in the word for
therefore inducing the person to carefully follow the sequence of
letters;
a sense of rhythm that develops the ability to associate the sound of the syllable
and the sequence of symbols (phoneme-grapheme association) that represent the
letras;
the recognition of the word due to the similarities of each word;
– o reinforcement of the visual memory of each new element.
4. Write each word after reading the list (adapted for age and
capacity):
– reinforces o learning yes word.
involves Synesthetic Memory, helping to develop automatic writing
of each word.
helps in understanding the sequence of letters in the word, because the letters
they must be written one by one within a sequence. This gives the person
time to feel all the sensations in the mouth and in the vocal cords that
they during a writing yes sequence of letters.
– given that each list of words presents only one new element to be
reinforced, the repeated writing of this element induces the automatic remembrance of
each new element.
Writing the word lists in columns emphasizes the new pattern/element.
because it becomes more evident than words written in line.
5. The exercise of changing the lyrics reinforces phonological awareness.
sequence of som what follow a sequence of symbols.
6. Reading the sentenças:
A. Allows a practice of reading the words
B. It helps in understanding the words, because they are used in context.
C. Provide a review of the words already learned.
D. Improves the visual memory of new and previously learned words.
learned.
7. Write as sentences
A. Practice using short-term auditory memory when the student repeats the
sentence.
B. Allows greater practice do new element.
C. Improves vocabulary: the use of new words in sentences helps to
remember o meaning of the word.
D. It allows for the practice of writing skills and provides an opportunity for
to teach, if necessary, the reason and logic of diacritical signs and
punctuation, such as apostrophe, comma, contractions, question mark and the
words homophones.
E. Teaches the student to carefully check each word and punctuation in
sentence and reading the sentence after writing it, in order to make the necessary
corrections before saying that the work is complete. In summary, learning to
reviewing your work, a valuable practice for everyone, but essential for
people dyslexic e dysgraphic.
8. The reading of stories
A. Provide a practice of all the previous elements.
B. Provide normal reading practice - horizontal, from left to right.
right.
C. Provide a reason for to read.
D. It improves vocabulary. Reading words in context helps to internalize it.
basic significant, just like the understanding of the meaning of words in
different contexts.
E. It induces a feeling of satisfaction with reading, as the student can read
without difficulty and can understand everything they are reading, because each story
contains elements in the words that are already automated or, at least,
he can decipher.
F. Develops the concept of 'Mental Image' to improve understanding.
of material written.
9. In summary, oral you written:
A. Improves the ability to develop an oral summary of written material.
B. Provides the practice of developing written summaries of written material.
C. Develops the skill to extract the important points from a mass of
information, essential for taking notes in the classroom or for assignments
house.
10. The teaching methods are inductive and non-didactic. Instead of rules,
the student receives many examples of each new element to be learned, from
so that the association of sound and symbol becomes automatic - as it is
for regular readers.

When the child begins the process of reading and writing, some issues may arise.
failures in the association of letters and sounds, in the understanding of words and of
texts and even being intelligent and without presenting neurological deficiencies,
however, it may present an obstacle associated with a deficiency of
learning that affects proper development: specific difficulty
of reading.
When speaking the Portuguese language, structural differences occur between the language.
spoken, written language, and between the structure of the language to be learned, by
for example, the presence of the n or m changes the sound of the previous vowel. One of
major difficulties of a child who has a specific difficulty in
reading é to do a association between a lyrics e o som.
Preventive measures and early remedial teaching practices should
to be applied to avoid specific language difficulties and to address
perceptual problems already at the beginning of school life in order to avoid threatening the
student's self-image and developing emotional and social problems
unnecessary things that could negatively impact school life.
Several researchers are seeking alternatives to minimize the effects of this.
disturbance and when Pamela Kvilekval was in Brazil for the first time in
In 2004, a select group of professionals had the opportunity to meet her and
receive training for the application of your method, called the Panlexia Method
– Re-education of Specific Difficulties in Reading and Writing. I had the
privilege of participating in this training and being one of the trainers of the method
(with authorization signed by the author) to develop its methodology.
For several years, Pamela researched and applied her method in schools.
Americans, English, and Italians in the rehabilitation of people with difficulties
of learning in reading and writing and since 2004 has researched and applied
this Remedial Teaching Program for Specific Difficulties of
Language in: Reading, Writing, Spelling, Comprehension, and Composition of
a text, here in Brazil, in Curitiba/PR. Its method was based on the
works of Dr. Jesse Williams Grimes who for many years had Pamela
as an assistant and coordinator of your Learning Difficulties Program
Learning at Newton Public Schools, Massachusetts (USA).
Pamela was given the opportunity to observe, develop, and familiarize herself
yes, in practice, of the entire organization of the program in Public Schools of
Andover, in Massachusetts, implementing Dr. Grimes' program. Departing
from this experience organized its own Program for Difficulties of
Learning. Pamela values the need for the integration of the senses,
for an effective processing of information. For her, "new information
it must relate to the previously learned and integrate with it, to
that we can use it." (Kvilekval, 2005, p.08) To process the information
the sensory channels are used and each channel can be used more or
smaller extent. For a person to be able to decode a symbol
written, needs to be aware that the letter (grapheme) is associated with
a specific sound (phoneme) and she needs to be aware of the whole
sensation of the movements that the mouth and tongue make when a sound is produced
determined sound. This association must be perceived consciously
to later automate. People who do not have difficulties
perceptive individuals easily acquire this skill without explicit training, the
which does not generally occur with a large percentage of children.
It is known that there are children who can learn to read on their own and in a
natural. The lack of ability to learn "naturally" to read, write,
spelling and understanding of written language occurs when there is a lack of
efficient processing of sensory information. It is increasingly observed that
concern of teachers who feel helpless in the face of the 'student'
problem” for not being able to “diagnose” what is adequate.
happening with your student and he ends up being labeled as "lazy".
"hyperactive" and "demotivated", when, in fact, what is being presented is a
specific language difficulty and the anguish increases regarding the
process from rehabilitation of this difficulty.
When the child cannot adequately respond to the construction
of knowledge, feels frustrated and may develop problems
emotional, behavioral, and relational due to not being able to understand your
inability and to be successful, as in other areas of your
learning, resulting in socially inadequate attitudes.
It is known that they are intelligent, smart students, but they show a
specific difficulty in: reading, writing, and spelling; in organizing their
thoughts or transcribe them on paper; in extracting the main ideas
from a written communication; in the task of remembering instructions or
information sequential.
For Pamela, the teacher could benefit if he had a capable education.
to enable him to carry out a diagnostic assessment (to know the level of
instruction that your student is in) and a pedagogical proposal oriented
with training to apply differentiated specific pedagogical techniques to
in order to favor all types of students. And it complements that there is a need
to modify this situation since fifty percent of the world
the population shows some symptoms that can be classified as 'problem'
"perceptive". (Kvilekval, 2005) Therefore, by early identifying problems
of a child's learning, perceptual problems, parents and teachers
they can do a lot to help their children and students not to suffer in their
school day-to-day. The benefits of using a program effectively well
structured to assist them, will reduce the incidence of difficulties in
learning.
Discover the Panlexia Method to support your students and your practice
pedagogical.