Reading
Difficulties And Dyslexia
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And Dyslexia
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As
a parent and like many other parents, we want our child
to do well and reading is a skill essential to succeed
in this present day. But what happens when a problem
arises in the reading process?
There
is the process of reading, and in addition to being
able to read there is also reading comprehension.
Put
simply, reading refers to the cognitive process of understanding
a written linguistic message and understanding meaning
from a piece of text.
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These reading difficulties
could include:
- How reading
is taught in school;
- An attention deficit disorder;
- Another memory difficulty;
- Trouble sounding out or recognising words out of context;
- A slow reading rate;
- Confusion between letters and sounds;
- Reading without expression;
- Responding to punctuation in an inappropriate way;
- Low intelligence;
- A physical disability such as poor vision or hearing;
- A lack of knowledge of the English language;
- Lack of important pre-reading skills; or
- Lack of exposure to printed material.
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Some of these problems
are easily identifiable and treated, but where a reading difficulty
persists then a diagnosis of a more complex reading problem
may be identified.
A
more complex problem is one that may appear to be brain based,
whether inherited or not, it will follow a more specific reading
disability such as dyslexia.
What
Is Dyslexia?
Educator and researchers are still learning and identifying
what dyslexia is themselves.
Perhaps
we could say dyslexia is an overwhelming difficulty to learn
to read and write by normally intelligent children. A language
based problem.
If
we were to take the word itself it can be broken down into
'dys', meaning not able or having difficulty with, and 'lexia'
which is Greek for language.
The problems associated with
dyslexia are:
- The reversal of letters;
- A tendency to be ambidextrous;
- Unable to remember sounds or names of letters;
- Unable to break words into component sounds;
- Writing
from right to left;
- Reading words backwards;
- Substituting words for another related words; or
- Making new words by mixing letters from other words;
Support
Mechanisms
There are some simple activities one can do to support a child
with reading difficulties, such as choosing stories with:
- A reduced number or words (or difficult words);
- Shorter passages and a clear message; and
- Clear and engaging illustrations.
There is also the option of
attending a course providing information about how to build
a child's pre-reading skills.
Most importantly, it is fundamental
to promote a positive attitude and boost self esteem.
At the end of the day the above
is a very general list and one should not panic if their child
has one or two of these signs.
It is a culmination of many
factors that will contribute to a reading difficulty that
will give you cause for concern.
Early
Detection
Whether you are the parent or the teacher, early identification
of any reading difficulty is essential. Don't hesitate and
leave it, thinking the child will grow up and it will go away
after a year.
Early detection means the child
is likely to have greater success at overcoming their reading
difficulty. As educators we need to deal with such problems
as effectively as possible.
For parents, don't wait, contact
your teacher and discuss your concerns and work towards contacting
a professional reading specialist.
A reading specialist can assess
and discuss a future plan on how to tackle the problem effectively.
A reading specialist can also provide the intensive instruction
necessary to support your child!
Whatever is diagnosed don't
despair, as these reading difficulties may be corrected and
improvement visible, but you must act sooner rather than later!
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