Anxious parents sense or remember this fact of life. To pretend that such difficulties don’t matter does a disservice to children. They are already likely to perceive their difference from others. They may blame their struggle on a lack of intelligence or know-how. In fact, children with learning disabilities are likely to be unusually gifted in other areas. Many famous people claim this particular difference.
Children deserve to know the truth – that such difficulties may exist simply because the pattern of brain activity differs when they do reading tasks. With proper diagnosis, there are methods to overcome such a disability. There are strategies to match sounds with segments of words, for example. Among all the ways we can build
positive identity in our children, one of the most important is giving them what they need to become confident and capable readers.
| INDICATORS | |
|---|---|
| DIFFICULTY GRASPING CONCEPT OF RHYMING WORDS (KINDERGARTEN) | |
| TROUBLE NAMING LETTER OR WORDS’ BEGINNING SOUNDS | |
| PROBLEMS RELATED TO SEEING OR HEARING | |
| CHALLENGES REGARDING FOLLOWING SIMPLE DIRECTIONS | |
| NOT READING AT ALL BY THE MIDDLE OF GRADE 1 | |
| DIFFICULTY PAYING ATTENTION | |
| DIFFICULTY FORMING PRINTED LETTERS | |
| NOT READING GRADE-LEVEL BOOKS BY MIDYEAR (GRADE 2) | |
| MISCUES: RARELY NOTICING READING MISTAKES | |
| SKIPPING OVER LONG WORDS, GUESSING MANY | |
| COMPLAINTS ABOUT READING AS “TOO HARD” | |
| AVOIDANCE OF READING OR WRITING | |
| NOTICEABLY BEHIND PEERS IN READING/WRITING | |
| NOT READING GRADE-LEVEL BOOKS BY MIDYEAR (GRADE 3) | |
| LITTLE UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT’S BEEN READ | |
| MISREADS WORDS WITH MULTIPLE SYLLABLES | |
| MOST OF THE ABOVE |