Dr. Forgan’s insight on dyslexia

Reading: No Tricks, Only Treats

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Many people agree that giving a child the gift of reading is one of the best gifts available. Remember who taught you to read? About 20 percent of children start school reading, 60% learn with instruction from a good teacher, and 20% seriously struggles to learn to read. I advise you to get an evaluation if your child does not enjoy reading, constantly misreads words, reads choppy and slow, or doesn’t comprehend well. Kids in the bottom 20-25% that struggle to read need more specialized help than what the average teacher with 22 kids in her class can provide. These kids need special and intensive tutoring using a reading program matched to their specific needs.

Consider this. Is there only one way to learn to drive, cook, or learn how to manage your money? Of course not but in many schools teachers are given one way to teach kids how to read. It’s no wonder why some kids seriously struggle. If your child struggles to read an evaluation can help pinpoint the breakdown and identify his or her strengths. Then a specialist can use the best reading program to target this area and improve your child’s reading and build their confidence. I know most of the specialized reading programs available.

My evaluation is the starting point so that you don’t lose valuable time in your young child’s life. I often explain to parents that the evaluation uncovers strengths and weaknesses so we understand exactly how to proceed. You don’t want to waste your time and money doing things that don’t fix the problem. The bottom line is don’t let anyone trick you into believing that waiting will solve the problem. If your child’s reading concerns you then get it checked out and give your child the biggest treat ever: becoming a great reader.

When Jacob Can’t Read

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There is a major problem when ‘Jacob’ can’t read and is in the first grade or higher. If your son, daughter, or grandchild is 6 or older and can’t read get it checked out. This advice assumes your child has at least average intelligence, attends school, and receives adequate instruction. At this young age the timing is critical so don’t let anyone tell you to wait and see or just give ‘em more time. I can evaluate your child to determine the best reading program to teach him or her.

My son was fortunate that I knew the warning signs to look for because in kindergarten he struggled to learn to read. He attended preschool, had a good kindergarten reading teacher, and we worked together at home, but he just could not seem to unlock the reading code. The traditional way of learning to read did not work for him. I paid a certified Orton-Gillingham based multisensory reading tutor to begin teaching him twice a week using this specialized method. It did wonders and he learned to read and now as a middle school student reads like a pro. My family and I are forever grateful to Mrs. Johnson for her skill in helping teach him to read. The testing and tutoring were great investments for his future success.

These are some warning signs to look for in young children: speech problems, slow reading, knowing a word in one sentence but not the other, difficulty sounding out words, and poor everyday spelling. Warning signs in older students include: does not enjoy reading, difficulty remembering what was read, difficulty telling important from unimportant details, spells poorly, and when speaking, may have difficulty finding the correct word. These warning signs often get worse with age. I can evaluate children for reading problems as young as age five and a half.

Secret to Reading

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Learning to read is very complex for about 20% of young children.  Some children have a hard time unlocking the reading ‘code’ because they have weak phonological processing.  The secret for learning to read is to make sure your child has strong phonological processing.  There are three main areas of phonological processing: Phonological Awareness, Phonological Memory, and Rapid Naming.  If any one of these three areas does not work efficiently your child will have reading problems.

If your son or daughter struggles to learn to read, the one thing to know is don’t wait to get help.  I have a test that assesses the three primary phonological processing areas and helps me know the best reading curriculum for your child.  The investment you make by starting testing and/or tutoring will give a life time of dividend returns.  Study after study shows that early intervention is better than waiting to see if it is just a developmental issue.  With the high stakes testing in our public schools, waiting can mean your child may be retained.  A year of specialized tutoring can make a world of difference.

I am one of the few certified dyslexia testing specialist in Florida.  Schools don’t test for dyslexia and they only test for generic learning disabilities.  You need to know specifically what’s going on with your child so that you can get the best reading program in place.

The take away message from this article is that if your intuition has you worried about your child’s reading skills, get them checked out!

Everything About Dyslexia

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All children with dyslexia can read some.  It’s surprising for some when they learn dyslexia is more of an auditory processing problem than visual processing problem.  Kids with dyslexia often don’t discriminate sounds well.  For example, say aloud the sounds /s/, /th/, and /f/ as in the words sing, thing, finger.  Those three sounds can sound similar.  This makes spelling difficult as well as reading.  The other area that kids with dyslexia have difficulty is in learning the sound to letter relationship.  For example, if I said sounds, can you write down the letters that go with the sounds?  Many kids with dyslexia can’t do this.  Furthermore, they may have difficulty with the letter to sound relationship.  So, the child with dyslexia sees the letter but does not know what sound goes with it.  He or she relies upon visual memorization of how a word looks.  That’s why some kids say the word truck or trunk when they read the word trumpet.  They over rely upon visual cues.  These kids usually “hit the wall” by fourth grade because they can’t memorize all the new vocabulary words being introduced. 

Warning signs of dyslexia in elementary students include: slow choppy reading, difficulty remembering the sounds of words, difficulty sounding out words, and poor spelling.  Warning signs of dyslexia in older students include: unable to learn a foreign language, difficulty remembering what was read, slow reading, difficulty telling important information from unimportant details, spells poorly, and when speaking, has difficulty finding the correct word.  These warning signs do not go away and get worse with age.  Children as young as age 5 ½ can be evaluated for dyslexia. 

Dyslexic children can learn to read well if they have the correct instruction.  Unfortunately, most public schools do not teach children using Orton Gillingham materials and instead use ‘whole language’ teaching.  I can evaluate your child and let you know if he or she has dyslexia and also which reading program will work best with your child.

Warning Signs of Dyslexia and Reading Problems

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If you are concerned that your child’s reading is not developing appropriately, see if they have any of these warning signs of a learning disability like dyslexia.  This is important because children as young as age 5 can be identified as either at risk for, or having, a reading disability.  If your child has three or more of these warning signs, learn more about identifying and overcoming reading problems.

These are some of the preschool age warning signs of possible reading problems: delayed speech, mixing up the sounds and syllables in long words (psgetti, aminal), numerous ear infections, trouble memorizing letters or the alphabet, and can’t create words that rhyme.  Many preschoolers with speech problems also have reading difficulty.

Elementary age warning signs of reading problems include: letter reversals, slow choppy reading, guesses based on shape, ignores suffixes, skips or misreads prepositions (at, to, of), or difficulty sounding out unknown words. Other warning signs include difficulty telling time with a clock with hands as well as trouble memorizing math facts or a sequence of steps. 

Middle and high school warning signs can include the above plus a limited vocabulary, poor written expression compared to speaking skills, difficulty learning a foreign language, and poor grades.

Depending on your child’s age there are many effective reading programs.  Having your child evaluated can help determine the most effective program.  This way you don’t spend your valuable time and money on a hit and miss approach of things that don’t work well.  With a proper evaluation there are many school supports available.  The important point is not to let things drag on hoping they will improve.   Check it out so you can have a focused plan and don’t waste time doing a hit and miss approach.