Learning & Reading Disabilities

It’s the end of the school year and your kindergartner or first grader is still struggling with reading. You think he has a reading disability. What should you do?

One of the first things to do is get an accurate, informed, and comprehensive reading evaluation.  Without an evaluation, remediation is like doing surgery without x-rays or lab tests. This raises a critical question: How can I get the right evaluation?

You can pay for a private evaluation. This way, you can seek out a reading specialist with a good reputation who takes the time to listen to you and understand your concerns.  As you might suspect, private evaluations can be very expensive, especially if the specialist has a doctorate in reading or a related area.

You can also request your school district to evaluate your child to determine if he has a “specific learning disability.” If your child’s teacher also indicates that he’s struggling with reading, might have a reading disability, or is making minimal progress, the school will likely honor your request.

If your child is three years old, but too young for kindergarten, and he has far fewer abilities than his peers to play, rhyme words, understand what’s said to him, express himself, listen to stories, or pay attention, he’s probably eligible for an evaluation under the district’s federally-mandated  ”child find” obligation and its obligation to provide preschool services to children with disabilities. In addition to the ethical justification and the fact that the earlier problems are caught, the easier they are to remediate,  federal law provides a legal incentive. Specifically, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEIA), one of the main federal laws governing special education, states that:

• Either a parent of a child, or a [school district] …may initiate a request for an initial evaluation (IDEIA,  Section 614).
• ‘Free appropriate public education’ means special education and related services that …include an appropriate preschool (IDEIA, Section 602).

Because many school districts have learning or educational consultants evaluate children’s reading, it’s important that you specifically ask that a certified reading specialist conduct the evaluation.  Generally, they have far more education, knowledge, and experience in evaluating and treating reading disabilities. So ask for a reading specialist; if you don’t, you’re unlikely to get one.

At least a week before the reading evaluation, give the evaluator a list the questions that you would like answered.  Specific, concrete questions can help focus the evaluation. Also, ask your child’s teacher to list some. Here are examples:

• What are my child’s instructional, independent, and frustration levels for oral reading, silent reading, and listening comprehension?
• What length materials can he comfortably read?
• What, if any, are his major problems with word recognition, word analysis, comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, and writing?
• What objectives are most important for him to achieve in the next two months?
• What specific reading strategies does he need to learn? How can he best learn them?
• How many hours per week should he receive one-to-one or small group reading and writing instruction?
• How should all the parts of his reading program be coordinated?
• How should his progress be monitored? How frequently?

You and your child’s teacher might want to add more.  If  so, and you’re a member of Learning Disabilities Worldwide (LDW), download a copy of my article, “What Reading Program Does My Child Need?” from Insights on Learning Disabilities (Volume 3; www.ldworldwide.org). It has a long list of diagnostic questions you might ask.

“But wait,” you might say. “You started this column by discussing private evaluations. Should I trust evaluations done by school personnel?” My answer: Yes if…. Yes if they answered your critical questions in accurate, valid, and comprehensive ways. Yes if your child’s teachers think the findings are valid and the recommendations practical. The important questions are not about private or public; both can be excellent. The important questions are how well did the evaluation answer the critical diagnostic questions and how sensible are its recommendations. Two equally important issues are how well will the school implement the recommendations and how well will it monitor your child’s progress?

Although this column focused on reading evaluations, keep in mind that vision and hearing problems can affect reading. So ask the school, in writing, to have these checked. School personnel will usually arrange for this. And if you have legitimate reasons to believe that sleep and eating problems may be obstructing your child’s reading, also request, in writing, that they be evaluated by a physician. In all of your requests, list your reasons. Because of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004, the school is more likely to comply with your requests if it’s evaluating your child for special education services. If  these exams find nothing, great: you can focus on working with school personnel to improve his reading.

HM © Reading2008 & Beyond, LLC