When assisting with word identification, words should be taken from the content materials that the learner is having difficulty reading. According to the Council of Learning Disabilities, instruction should focus on: sound-symbol correspondence, recognition of phonetically regular consonant-vowel-consonant words and recognition of some sight or high frequency words. The following are some suggested strategies.
Word identification strategy: Adults learn how to break words into parts to facilitate decoding. It is helpful if learners know prefixes and suffixes and have some knowledge of phonics.
Overt word parts strategy: Learners circle word parts at the beginning and end of the word and underline letters representing the vowel sounds in the remaining part of the word. Learners pronounce the parts quickly to say the word.
Making words: Learners use their knowledge of sound, letter correspondences, orthographic patterns, structural analysis, and contentspecific vocabulary to form words.28 Through this process, a number of new concepts will be introduced to learners, such as prefixes and suffixes. To help with the management of the new "language", together practitioners and learners can develop small resource books that list the key concepts and examples. The learners can use their resource books when they come across a term without having to rely on the presence of a practitioner.
- The Efficacy of Alphabetic Phonics-Based Instruction:
Contemporary Orton-Gillingham Approaches to Reading and Spelling Go to: http://www.neuhaus.org/paper4.htm
Reading fluency and cueing strategies
It is important to help learners become fluent readers so more emphasis can be placed on comprehending the content. Many adults with learning disabilities who struggle with reading often focus so much on understanding a single word that it interferes with their fluency and comprehension of the passage or text.
The Seeds of Innovation Project, which asked practitioners to review various instructional strategies, found that cueing strategies were essential in assisting adults with learning disabilities to read. They found the use of cueing strategies must be taught first by modeling. In addition, time must be taken to "sell" the use of cueing by explaining why these strategies are important.