Dyslexia: My Child Can't Read (3)

Not every child who is having difficulty learning to read is what we would term ‘dyslexic,’ which is a language-based disability. Some children just haven’t had the experiences with language and letters that other children have had. This can happen for many reasons. For instance, some children haven’t been to pre-school. Some children come from homes that have limited books around the house. Some children like to be outside and have little tolerance for sitting still and ‘reading’ books with their families. And finally some children have not received systematic instruction in letter/sound correspondence or phonics. Sometimes, children who have limited experiences for whatever reason are termed at-risk. That means that if they don’t catch up with their peers, they ‘may’ have difficulty in school later on. (The operative word here is ‘may’ because every child is an individual, and some defy the odds, in essence pulling themselves up by their bootstraps.) At-risk is serious and needs to be addressed with the same focus and energy as teaching for children with disabilities. So, what can we as parents and educators do to help these at-risk kids? The first thing is to recognize that there is not a minute to lose. The kids are behind and need to catch up quickly. They do not have the time to figure it out for themselves because the other kids in the class are moving ahead very rapidly. Kids at-risk need to not only to keep up with the other kids in the class, they need to CATCH up. That means that they may need to accomplish 1½ times to 2 times a much learning in one year, and sometimes even more, much more than the other children in class. So, parents and educators need to be cognizant of the type of instruction that will most benefit children at-risk. The good news is that many times, the same kind of instruction, explicit and systematic, that works with children with ‘dyslexia’ works just as well with children at-risk. The difference is that children at-risk usually make the connections easier and make progress at a faster rate. So, parents if your child is behind in reading, for whatever reason, steps need to be taken to address the situation, and the earlier the better!