Reading & Other Learning Disabilities

In Part 1 of 2 we discussed the importance of phonemic awareness, phonics and reading specialists. In Part 2, we’ll focus on teaching strategies and recommendations for action. As in Part 1, the quotations come from the National Institute for Literacy’s publication, What Content-Area Teachers Should Know About Adolescent Literacy. You can download it from www.nifl.gov.

Teaching Strategies

“Research on phonics indicates that certain phonics instructional strategies improve the reading abilities of both younger and older readers” (p. 6).  Read more...

He’ll probably need to master phonics and other decoding skills, but first he’ll need an evaluation from a reading specialist. The evaluation should include diagnostic teaching and observations of him in several classes. Probably, he’ll need intensive instruction from the specialist. It’s unlikely that his content-area teachers, such as his history and science teachers, have the expertise, time, or opportunity to provide the core of his reading instruction.

To help you understand your child’s problems of sounding-out words, and to get him the services he needs, we’ve listed several quotations from the National Institute for Literacy’s guide, What Content-Area Teachers Should Know About Adolescent Literacy. We’ve also commented on several of these.  Read more...

Children with reading disabilities and other learning disabilities need intensive instruction. Usually, this statement generates little or no controversy. The definition of intensive, however, does. Recently, Robert E. Slavin and his colleagues (2009) critically evaluated the relevant research on the effectiveness of programs for struggling readers. Their key findings should help to define the word intensive:  Read more...

• One-to-one tutoring works. Teachers are more effective as tutors than paraprofessionals or volunteers, and an emphasis on phonics greatly improves tutoring outcomes.
• Although one-to-one phonetic tutoring for first graders is highly effective, effects last into the upper elementary grades only if classroom interventions continue past first grade.

If your child struggles to recognize words, should he memorize the “rules” of phonics? Generally, no. Here’s why.

Many of the “rules” of phonics are not rules, but overgeneralizations. The number of exceptions makes them highly fickle, highly unreliable. Often, they don’t work; they confuse children with reading disabilities. That’s why we put quotation marks around the word “rules” and why it’s often better to teach children with reading disabilities how to pronounce common spelling patterns.  Read more...

Many myths surround phonemic awareness and phonics. These myths hurt children, especially children at risk for or with reading disabilities. By understanding the better scholarship about phonemic awareness and phonics, you may be able to protect children from harm.

The quotations below summarize much of the better scholarship. If you’re involved in making decisions about phonemic awareness or phonics, we suggest that you study these quotations, review the sources, and, if appropriate, share these quotations with others.  Read more...

Yes, it’s important if he struggles to recognize words.

One of the many abilities critical to a child’s reading success is his knowledge of the sounds that letters make, and his ability to use this knowledge to figure out unfamiliar words. This is phonics.

Phonics is critical, but it’s not everything. It’s not the child’s comprehension of what he reads, or the fluency with which he reads, or his ability to understand words he hears. But it directly effects each of these. Here are some reasons:  Read more...

Shortly after meeting me, parents often ask, “What program and services does my child need to overcome his reading disabilities?” They’re surprised when I say, “I don’t know enough about your child and his problems. Tell me more. Exactly what problems does he have?  With what components of reading does he struggle? What can’t he do?” My response often surprises and disappoints them. Here’s my explanation.

A Reading Evaluation Needs to Pinpoint the Problem: The Five Areas of Reading

To be effective, programs that aim to improve the reading of children with reading disabilities need to focus on the child’s specific difficulties. Identifying those difficulties requires an evaluation from a reading specialist.  Read more...