Introduction:
Parents often ask me if it is possible to teach a child with a reading disability. The short answer is yes, you can help them learn how to read and even do so well enough that they may not have any problems in the future. But what does this mean? What exactly will I be doing for these children who struggle to read?
The first thing you need to do is determine what exactly this child struggles with. Do they have trouble decoding words? Is their lack of comprehension preventing them from making progress in reading? Or both? If a child has difficulties with decoding, then it will be important for me to understand why these problems exist and address those issues specifically. In the case of comprehension, this is an even larger problem because it will require a different set of strategies to help them overcome these issues.
Keep in Mind:
Regardless of the method employed to teach them, the majority of youngsters will learn to read. However, unless they receive special assistance, at least 20% of them will be unable to master this basic job that the rest of us take for granted. When they try to read aloud, their struggle is brutally clear. Children who struggle to read typically stop and start, mispronouncing some words and skipping others entirely. Children must first understand that spoken words are made up of these sound fragments before they can learn to read. They must be taught that letters or combinations of letters are how we express these sounds on paper after they have gained this understanding (known as phonological awareness). Regardless of the method employed to teach them, most youngsters quickly grasp this concept.
The Top 3 Reading Concerns:
- Issues with Decoding
- Poor Comprehension
- Speed
1. Issues with decoding
Decoding is the process of converting sounds into
letters in order to sound out written language. Beginners
may have difficulty comprehending new or unusual words, but phonics instruction
and repeated reading aloud help most decoding difficulties go away. If a
youngster continues to have difficulties, it is possible that he or she has a
particular learning difficulty or a physical condition that is preventing him
or her from seeing the letters or comprehending the sounds in spoken language.
For more information on dyslexia and visual impairment in the classroom, see
our posts on dyslexia and visual impairments.
2. Poor comprehension
There's a lot going on in reading, from letter and
word recognition to comprehending meaning at the phrase, sentence, and
paragraph level. When a novice reader encounters a term they do not know or
cannot decode because of faulty decoding, they are more likely to skip ahead.
The more blanks in a sentence, the harder it is to make sense of it and the
more mentally taxing and unpleasant the task becomes. That's why poor
comprehension can happen when a student has trouble decoding, lacks vocabulary,
or attempts to read a text at an inappropriate reading level.
However, in order to comprehend anything, it's
necessary to be able to pay attention. Students must be able to distinguish the
gist, major ideas, and particular details of what they're reading and even draw
conclusions about what they're reading. It may have an impact on understanding
if a student has difficulties maintaining focus as a result of ADD or ADHD.
3. Speed
The more children read, the more new words they come
across. The context in which these new terms are discovered frequently provides
youngsters with all of the information they need to guess at their meaning. As
kids' vocabularies grow, their sight words improve and reading speeds up.
Children who continue to decode might profit from learning sight vocabulary
like those on the Dolch List.
If the child's reading is still slow, there may be an
underlying issue, such as a sluggish processor. Reading is a cognitively
demanding activity, and keeping so much information in mind while continuing to
process text can tire children with poor processing abilities. Strategy
instruction might assist these kids, but it's critical that they be given
additional time to finish assignments that need prolonged reading
comprehension.
What are Top Reading Disorders in Children?
Unfortunately, there is no easy diagnosis when you're
dealing with a youngster who is having trouble reading. There are several
distinct reasons why your child may be struggling to read as well as his
friends. The following are just a few of the sorts of reading difficulties:
- Dyslexia
- Auditory Processing Disorder
(ADP)
- Language Processing Disorder
- Non-verbal Learning
Disabilities
- Visual Perceptual/Visual Motor Deficit
How Can I Teach a Child With Reading Disability?
You might be wondering how to teach a kid with reading
difficulties. It is possible! If you've been following me for some time, you
know I have a master's degree in special education and that it was why I was
able to help my son. Well, let me tell you a little story about that. I wasn't
the one who discovered his dyslexia; no sirree! I had a feeling there was
something wrong with him, but it wasn't until we visited a behavioural
optometrist that he was diagnosed..
When I was studying for my master's degree, dyslexia
wasn't something that was addressed in particular. I'm hoping it has since
then, but something tells me it hasn't. They combined all learning difficulties
into one category and they didn't do it correctly. Each one has its own set of
issues and requires a distinct solution.
There's no need to hire an expert unless you absolutely must. The alternative is to seek outside assistance, but you don't have to send your kid to school in order to assist him. In fact, I'm happy that it wasn't the case for me. I taught in a public school and understand what it's like. I'm not implying that teachers are bad. There are many great ones as well as some who have become my best pals. I'm talking about the overall system here.
Each class contains a large number of children. Many of them have various learning or behavioral difficulties. There's no way a teacher can devote the time and focus to these youngsters that they require. In addition, they are taught in a conventional style, which is not the greatest learning style for these youngsters to excel. Their brains function differently. This isn't bad; it's just different.
Consider individuals in general. We are all unique,
and we approach problems and acquire knowledge in different ways. Children
should not be treated any differently from others since they are different from
adults. The educational system, on the other hand, treats them all the same.
This is neither helpful nor efficient.
Alternatively, if your school is big enough to
accommodate this enormous classroom method, you can send the student to the
special education room (which has its purposes). I've known some amazing
special education instructors, but I don't think kids with learning
difficulties need to be separated and humiliated by being forced to go to a
different room at lunchtime to learn.
Even if they're mentioned all the time, other kids
realize that they receive special education support. You can tell how bad they
feel about themselves by their appearance and behavior. This has a big influence
on their self-esteem, which is already poor to begin with.
I can't fathom how terrible these children feel when
they're in a class of kids and yet they're being taught incorrectly. It's not
necessary. Children with reading difficulties can learn. They can adapt and
overcome these barriers if their brains are able to process information in the
correct manner. The majority of them are capable of dealing with it and going
on to have successful lives.
What are Learning Disabilities:
Children with a specific learning disability may fall
behind their peers in literacy skills. Students who suffer from phonological
dyslexia are among the most prevalent reading difficulties that teachers
encounter. If someone has trouble hearing how individual sounds combine to make
up words, they will have a difficult time sounding out a word's written form or
spelling it correctly.
Strategy instruction and “over-learning” in a
multi-sensory manner may help children and adults who have dyslexia. You could
also investigate a program that helps learners improve their confidence and
enhance reading by learning a supplemental skill, such as typing.
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