Reading & Other Learning Disabilities

From Reading & Other Learning Disabilities

A Blog by Dr. Gary G. Brannigan and Dr. Howard Margolis

Struggling readers are often unmotivated to read. In many cases, the cause is simple to identify: The materials they’re required to read are too difficult. This defines frustration.

One way to reverse this situation and motivate struggling readers is to have adults read to them. The materials should be interesting and moderately challenging to struggling readers. The materials should engage them and make them think. Follow this up with easy, interesting materials for them to read on the same or similar topics.

Easy materials on interesting topics encourage struggling readers to read more, which increases their skill. Lots of easy, interesting reading gives them practice with word recognition, increasing their decoding skills, sight vocabulary, and fluency. Easy, interesting reading also helps them extend old concepts and develop new ones, while increasing their listening and speaking vocabularies.

Although not a panacea for preventing or remediating reading disabilities, motivation is as crucial to reading as air to breathing. Without high motivation to read, little reading and little practice will occur, making meaningful progress impossible. Reading to struggling readers and giving them lots of easy materials to read are critical to strengthening their motivation and skills.

HM