With Easter and the presidential elections already behind us, I'm sure you would agree that 2014 is moving faster than we can run. Amidst the most welcomed school break for both the public and private sector schools, The Speech Therapist & Audiologist is hoping that all the kids are experiencing positivity as we embrace the 2nd quarter of this year.

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Achievements

The Speech Therapist & Audiologist is now a certified Independent Reading Therapist (Read for Africa) and would like to share the following information with you:

Of all the skills children learn, reading is considered a fundamental skill required for success. Unfortunately, for many children, learning to read is one of the most arduous and frustrating activities they will ever face. All too often, without proper guidance, they never overcome the barriers that outweigh their desire to read.

The process of reading is a complex set of physical, neurological, and cognitive processes set in motion, enabling us to convert print into meaning. Learners may be more likely to develop a reading difficulty if they have parents with histories of reading difficulties; if they have been diagnosed with specific language impairment or a hearing impairment; or if they gained less knowledge or skills related to literacy during the preschool years. Remember that Learners learn differently and at different rates, but it is important that a student not get too far behind in learning how to read.

However, helping a child who is struggling with reading begins with recognizing signs of struggle. The following are some of the most common signs indicating a problem in one of the three main developmental areas of reading:

An inability to decode, or break down, words into individual sounds. Signs of a decoding problem include:

• consistent difficulty sounding out words and recognizing words out of context


• confusion between letters and the sounds they represent


• slow reading rate when reading aloud (reading word-by-word)


• reading without expression


• ignoring punctuation while reading

Comprehension relies on a mastery of decoding. Children who struggle to decode find it difficult to understand and remember what has been read. This is because their efforts to grasp individual words are so exhausting, that they have very little mental energy left for understanding. Signs of a problem with comprehension include:

• confusion about the meaning of words and sentences


• inability to connect ideas in a passage


• omission of, or glossing over, detail


• difficulty distinguishing significant information from minor details


• lack of concentration during reading

Children are commonly asked to read passages and to answer questions, verbally or in writing, based on what they've read. This requires the ability to retain, which relies heavily on a child's decoding proficiency and ability to comprehend what is read. Signs of retention difficulty:

• trouble remembering or summarizing what is read


• difficulty connecting what is read to prior knowledge


• difficulty applying content of a text to personal experiences


• inability to view content from multiple perspectives

References:

Reading Disabilities (www.pbs.org); About Reading Disabilities, Learning Disabilities, and Reading Difficulties (Drummon, 2014); Preventing Reading Difficulties in young Children (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998).

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