Information for Parents About Reading Development and
Reading Difficulties
Individual assessment is important to determine each child's
specific type or combination of reading problems.
1. The first "basic" ability
is phonological awareness ("the conscious awareness that
words are composed of separate sounds and the ability to identify
and manipulate those sounds" - Hall & Moats, 1998,
p. 321).
For more information, see Partnership for
Reading http://www.nifl.gov/partnershipforreading/publications/k-3.html
Early rhyming and language games can help young children
to establish phonemic awareness, e.g., W. Blevins Phonemic
Awareness Songs & Rhymes and Phonemic Awareness Activities
(Scholastic Trade Books, 1999). Tested remedial approaches
are Lindamood-Bell LIPS at www.lindamoodbell.com or (800)
233-1819; Sounds Abound or Phono-graphix (available as a
book called Reading Reflex. See M. J. Adams' Phonemic Awareness
in Young Children (1997, Paul Brookes), or S. Hall &
L. Moats' Straight Talk about Reading (Contemporary, 1998)
for more.
2. Phonemic decoding comes next (the
ability to associate word-sounds
with printed letters or letter-groups).
A program that parents can use to help reinforce
these skills is N. Traub, "Recipe for Reading"
(Educators Publishing, 2000). Reading specialists use a
variety of phonics-based methods such as the Lindamood,
Orton-Gillingham, or Wilson programs. Software for home
and school use includes Earobics (earobics.com), SoundReading
(soundreading.com), Great Leaps (greatleaps.com), and Reading
SOS (lexialearning.com). Reader Rabbit and Jumpstart Phonics
can be fun for practice.
3. Some children master phonemic decoding,
but remain very slow at Rapid Naming (quickly "calling
to mind" the sound, or word, that corresponds to a picture
or printed text). They are accurate but very slow
readers. Some also have word-finding problems in conversation
(cannot "call to mind" a precise word to express
their thought).
See Dyslexia, Fluency and the Brain (2001)
edited by M. Wolf (York Press), or the article by Wolf,
M., Miller, L., & Donnelly, K. (2000) Journal of Learning
Disabilities, 33(4), 375-386. Fluency problems require specific
reading remediation strategies. For example, a computer
program called RAVE-O is being developed by Dr. Wolf at
Tufts University to treat this type of problem.
4. Once basic reading/decoding skills
are established, "emergence in literature" or "meaning-based
approaches" also are very important. However,
research has shown that "whole language" or "reading
recovery" approaches, which avoid or de-emphasize phonics
instruction, are not an effective way to teach basic reading
skills.
5. Training of the instructor is as
important as the program or "curriculum." Most good,
experienced reading teachers use a "balanced" or
"flexible" approach that includes both phonics instruction
and meaning-based strategies. Intensity of practice
also is important; an hour a week may be useless; an hour
a day may be necessary (in short segments for younger kids).
6. Read to children and encourage them
to "read along" with you or with a tape. The Read
Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease recommends good "read-alouds"
for all age levels. Provide a model - having parents
and older siblings set aside a time to read to themselves,
no matter what the content (comics, sports magazines, novels,
etc.), is very important. Have books and magazines around
the house. Give kids a bookshelf of their own, a reading light
over their bed or chair, and a bookshelf or rack in the bathroom.
Visit the library often.
7. For children who are diagnosed with
dyslexia, the National
Library System Talking Books (books on tape) may be helpful.
Recording for the Blind and
Dyslexic records books including textbooks. Both of these
resources are free to qualified applicants.
Resources:
1.) For parents and teachers, excellent information
about reading disability is available on the web at LD
Association of Minnesota and International
Dyslexia Association and in two recommended books, Susan
Hall, Louisa Moats, & Reid Lyon, Straight Talk about Reading
(Contemporary, 1998); and Starting Out Right: A guide to promoting
children's reading success, by the National Reading Council
(1998, National Academy Press).
2.) For a comprehensive, technical
review of research on early reading skills and remediation,
see Marilyn Jager Adams, Beginning to Read (MIT Press, 1990).
A shorter but fairly comprehensive review of scientific research
on reading instruction is available in the journal, Psychological
Science in the Public Interest, November 2001, Vol. 2, No.
2, "How psychological science informs the teaching of
reading."
3.) For children who have already
developed solid phonemic awareness and phonological decoding
skills, some strategies for reinforcing reading comprehension
are suggested in: Katherine Maria, Reading Comprehension Instruction:
Issues and Strategies (York, 1990), & Lynn Rhodes &
Nancy Shanklin, Windows into Literacy (Heinemann Press, 1993).
4.) For children who have mastered
reading but still cannot spell, consult L. Moats' (1987) Spelling:
Development, Disabilities, and Instruction. Susan Setley's
book, Taming the Dragons: Real Help for Real School Problems,
has lots of great spelling tricks (Hawthorne Educational Services,
1-800-542-1673).
5.)
Inclusion Resources: Methods for educating students with dyslexia
in the regular classroom setting are described in books such
as Susan Weinbrenner, "Teaching Kids With Learning Disabilities
in the Regular Classroom. (Browse the library or amazon.com
books for additional resources on "inclusion and learning
disabilities").
Adapted from and thanks to
Karen E. Wills, Ph.D., LP, ABPP
Pediatric Neuropsychology
Department of Psychology
Children's Hospitals and Clinics
2525 Chicago Avenue South (mailcode 17-301)
Minneapolis, MN 55404
(612) 813-6344
karen.wills@childrenshc.org
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