From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities
A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis
What’s wrong with him? In most cases, nothing. Lots of struggling readers resist reading. After years of failure, they expect to fail; they’ve given up, they’re protecting themselves from more failure and embarrassment. From their perspective, resistance is rational. Here’s Dr. Sebastian Wren’s explanation:
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.
If a struggling reader’s motivation is blocking her reading progress, her motivation must be systematically and knowledgeably evaluated, which tests cannot do. Evaluating motivation and its components shouldn’t be sidestepped, but often is. As Robert Sternberg, a leading expert on intelligence and motivation, so aptly noted, “Motivation is perhaps the indispensable element needed for school success. Without it, the student never even tries to learn.”
