From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
Reading materials alone can’t ensure high quality reading instruction. Such instruction requires teachers to consistently use sound instructional practices. To assess this, you might discuss your child’s program with his teachers, observe his classes, or have a private reading specialist do both as part of a reading evaluation.
For the moment, let’s assume you hire a reading specialist. Before the specialist discusses your child’s program with his teachers, the two of you should agree on the questions you want answered. Dozens of such questions are listed in Reading Disabilities: Beating the Odds. Here are a few: 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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