Targeted interventions for reading disabilities

As many as 20 percent of children struggle with a reading disability (RD). In fact, children with RD account for 80 percent of the children with learning disabilities. Considering the number of children that are affected, there is a considerable amount of research done to understand RD and interventions for remediation. Given the current research, the National Association of School Psychologists characterizes RD as neurological based disability, meaning that the deficits in reading stem from different brain wiring. While RD is characterized by neurological deficits, it is important to note that children with RD are smart, capable children whose brains are simply wired to learn differently. This unique wiring makes reading difficult but other tasks easier. Struggling to read is not a matter of intelligence.

We know that children with RD struggle with many different types of deficits related to language. This is important because we need to get out of the mindset that there is one type of intervention for all children with RD. It is critical to understand a child's specific problems with reading in order to provide targeted, research-based intervention.

There is wide spread consensus that RD is characterized by phonological deficits that impair a child's ability to break spoken language into sounds, creating difficulty in making the connection to the alphabet. Thus, the main behavior seen in children with RD is poor phonological awareness or the ability to mentally manipulate speech sounds. However, RD typically includes additional deficits. Current research demonstrates that many children with RD struggle with speed and automaticity in language based tasks, poor verbal short-tem memory, poor ability to recognize visual symbols and poor auditory processing. Our current reading interventions focus primarily on phonological awareness. However, these interventions do not help children gain automaticity, improve verbal short-term memory or increase auditory processing; all critical cognitive components to becoming a good reader.

Understanding how and why a child struggles to read is critical to the effectiveness of interventions. We should not be throwing random interventions at children, hoping that one will stick. Rather, we should be discerning in the intervention(s) we choose for a child so as to not burden a child that already must work harder and longer than his/her peers to learn to read. In addition, interventions should be based on strengths, interactive and fun; thus, helping children to build self-esteem in their language-based deficits.

Research recently performed by this author demonstrated that leveraging the global visual-spatial and creative strengths in children with RD increased phonological awareness while at the same time increased self-esteem and self-efficacy in reading tasks, leading students to embrace reading for the first time in their lives. Wired2Learn offers targeted interventions for children with RD. Summer classes are available to help your child gain reading skills before he or she heads into the new school year. Call to schedule a reading evaluation to understand the root of your child's reading struggles and get specific interventions targeted to your child's deficits.

For more information reading evaluations, interventions and summer class availability, please call Wired2Learn at 699-6232.