From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
If your child has a reading disability, the school should monitor his progress frequently enough to prevent minor problems from becoming major ones, to prevent him from getting frustrated with work that’s too difficult, to prevent him from becoming bored with work he’s already mastered, to accelerate instruction when the data shows he can handle it comfortably.
In 2006, the federally-funded National Research Center on Learning Disabilities (NRCLD; Johnson et al.) recommended that schools assess the progress of students who need “extensive and intensive interventions” twice weekly (p. 2.4). Children with reading disabilities are part of this group. Read more...
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After reading our posts on monitoring the progress of children with reading disabilities, several parents and teachers requested more information. If you want more information, we suggest you read Reading Disabilities: Beating the Odds, chapters 7 (Monitoring Progress) and 9 (The IEP). We also suggest that you join our mailing list. By joining, you will get a free pdf article, Monitoring Your Child’s IEP: A Focus on Reading (co-authored by Sheila Alber-Morgan, Associate Professor, Ohio State University). We hope these suggestions help.
Assessment, curriculum-based assessment, curriculum-based measurement, Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, monitor, Monitoring, monitoring of reading, reading assessment, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading evaluation, reading problem, reading problems, reading tests, struggling reader, Struggling Readers
The post below was originally published two months ago. I’m republishing it because its topic—monitoring children’s progress—is critically important. The topic is so important that I’ve encouraged university scholars to provide more comprehensive information on one of its recommendations, curriculum-based measurement (CBM). Thus, the Reading & Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties (RWQ) will publish a thematic issue on advances in CBM. The issue, edited by Erica Lembke of the University of Missouri, will address many CBM topics, including its use in tutoring, newly created CBM measures for students with cognitive disabilities, and the school-wide use of CBM. Read more...
Assessment, curriculum-based assessment, curriculum-based measurement, Dyslexia, dyslexic, dyslexics, Learning Disabilities, learning disability, monitor, Monitoring, monitoring of reading, reading assessment, Reading Disabilities, reading disability, reading evaluation, reading problem, reading problems, reading tests, struggling reader, Struggling Readers
Yes. But many reading specialists have little knowledge of autism and other developmental disabilities. Thus you may want to share this column with them.
The Difference
Diagnosing the reading problems of students with autism is similar to diagnosing the reading problems of all children with reading disabilities. What’s different and often interferes with obtaining a valid, effective diagnosis is the student’s label: autistic. It often evokes stereotypes that prevent a close, fine-grained analysis of the student’s functioning in critical areas of reading, such as word identification, word analysis, oral reading fluency, receptive and expressive language, vocabulary and concept development, and comprehension. Deficits in any one of these areas will adversely influence reading achievement. Read more...
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What you want from and ask an evaluator depends on her specific discipline. It addition to reading and special education evaluations, children with reading disabilities may need evaluations from applied behavior analysis specialists, clinical psychologists, neurologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, psychiatrists, school psychologists, social workers, and speech and language therapists. The list can be long, seemingly too long. It might also include allergists, art therapists, music therapists, and nutritionists. Of course, your child should be evaluated only in areas that might be causing him academic, social, emotional, or health problems. By itself, too many evaluations can create problems. Read more...
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Assessing small improvements in word recognition and fluency requires weekly assessments. One quick and valid way for teachers to assess progress in word recognition and fluency is to ask the child with reading disabilities to read aloud, once weekly, for 60-seconds, from material at or slightly below his instructional level. As he reads, his teacher (or an aide) counts the number of words correctly pronounced. This figure is charted.
If, for several weeks, the number of words read correctly on these 60-second oral reading probes continues to increase, your child is probably making progress; if, however, it remains flat or decreases, he’s probably having difficulty. This requires school personnel to investigate the problem, collect and analyze relevant data, and probably modify his program. Read more...
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