What You Need To Know
About Reading Difficulties
ANGELA WEEDN, PSY.D, ABSNP, LEP
LEAD PSYCHOLOGIST
The 3 Parts to Reading
 Decoding
Sounding out a word using sound-symbol
correspondence
 Fluency
The rate and accuracy of reading
 Comprehension
Understanding the content of what is being
read
What Causes Reading
Difficulties?
1) PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSING
DEFICITS
2)ORTHOGRAPHIC PROCESSING
DEFICITS
3)COMPREHENSION DEFICITS
Phonological Processing Deficits
 Core problem in the phonological processing system
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of oral language.
Obvious trouble learning sound-symbol
correspondence, sounding out words, and spelling.
Trouble with accurate and fluent word recognition
Often occurs in combination with fluency and
comprehension problems.
70-80% of poor readers have this type of deficit.
*See handout entitled, “Developmental Sequence of
Phonological Processing”
Orthographic Processing Deficits
 Specific weaknesses with speed of word recognition
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and automatic recall of word spellings, although they
do relatively well on tests of phoneme awareness and
other phonological skills.
Appear to be accurate but too slow in word
recognition and text reading.
Trouble developing automatic recognition of words
by sight and tend to spell phonetically but not
accurately.
Generally has milder difficulties with reading than
students with phonological processing deficits.
10-15 percent of poor readers have this type of deficit
Comprehension Deficits
 Appear to decode words better than they can
comprehend the meanings of passages.
 Can read words accurately and quickly and they can
spell.
 problems are caused by disorders of social reasoning,
abstract verbal reasoning, or language
comprehension.
 10-15% of poor readers have this type of deficit
Wait!
What about Dyslexia?
DYSLEXIA: A MOVING TARGET
Developmental Dyslexia
Learning Disabilities
Reading Disorders
Dyslexias
Subtypes
What is Dyslexia?
Current Definition by International Dyslexia Association
(2002)
“Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is
neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties
with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor
spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically
result from a deficit in the phonological component of
language that is often unexpected in relation to
other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective
classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may
include problems in reading comprehension and reduced
reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary
and background knowledge.”
3 Subtypes of Dyslexia
Dysphonetic Dyslexia
Surface Dyslexia
Mixed Dyslexia
Dysphonetic Dyslexia
 Great difficulty using phonological route in
reading, so visual route is used. These readers do not
rely in letter to sound conversions, but rather overrely on visual cues to determine meaning from print.
Surface Dyslexia
 Over-reliance on sound symbol relationships as the
process of reading never becomes automatic. These
children break every word down to its phonetic base, and
read slowly due to poor orthographic processing.
WORD
READ AS
island
→ izland
grind
→ grinned
listen
→ liston
begin
→ beggin
lace
→ lake
Extreme difficulty reading words where phonemes and graphemes are
not 1:1 correspondence:
yacht
debt
Mixed Dyslexia
 Severely impaired readers with characteristics of both
phonological deficits, as well as orthographical deficits.
These readers have no usable key to the reading and
spelling code. Very bizarre error patters are often
observed.
WORD
advice
correct
violin
museum
possession
material
READ AS
exvices
corex
vilen
musune
persessive
mitear
There are multiple breakdowns along many cognitive pathways
modulating the entire reading process
What is Dyslexia?
If my child has dyslexia, will they
qualify for special education?
…MAYBE
• Approximately half of all students in special education are
identified as being learning disabled (not necessarily
dyslexic)
• As many as 20% of the entire general education population
may be dyslexic
Reasons why students who are dyslexic may not
qualify for special education
 Certain subtypes of dyslexia do not always have a
significant education impact (statistically significant
underachievement compared to general population to
qualify as having specific learning disability).
 Some students with dyslexia have learning difficulties
that do not reach disability threshold and can be
addressed with intervention within general education.
*It’s important to note that a learning disability should not
be viewed as a disease model of interpretation- meaning
that a student either has “it”, or does not have “it”. There
are degrees of differences in learning each child differs in
how they may, or may not, compensate for weaknesses.
Other Factors that Can Contribute to
Reading Difficulties
 Other neuropsychological processing deficits
including global language deficits
 Memory deficits
 Naming speed deficits
These factors can cause reading difficulties but the
root of the cause is a more global impact on the child’s
functioning.
What can I do if my child has trouble decoding?
 Always discuss your concerns with your child’s teacher.
Your child’s struggles may be developmentally
appropriate for their age. If not, discuss the
appropriateness of an SST.
 Study sound/symbol associations with flashcards,
especially diphthongs (ou, ow, ai, ea, ay, oy, oi, etc…)
 Car games- phoneme sequencing in chains. Start with
basic vowel sounds and CV (Consonant Vowel) words
and increase complexity as child is ready.
(demonstration). Can also do this with colored block
manipulation and blank paper with lines. Always start
with real words and when that is mastered, move to
nonsense words
What can I do if my child struggles with fluency
 Choose a paragraph to read with your child that is at
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your child’s reading level.
Prior to reading, go through and identify words your
child may not be familiar with and work on sounding
them out BEFORE you start reading.
Immediately identify reading errors (demonstration
to appropriate way to correct errors)
Reread a sentence if there was a correction.
Reread the paragraph at the end.
Paragraph example
Volunteer?
Little Bear’s Friend
He could hear the wind sing. And he could feel the
wind on his fur, on his eyes, on his little black nose.
He shut his eyes, and let the wind brush him. He
opened his eyes, and saw two little squirrels.
What can I do if my child is struggling with
comprehension?
 Pick a paragraph that is at your child’s reading level and a
subject matter of interest. It doesn’t have to be a chapter book.
It could be ANYTHING.
 Ask questions at the beginning of the text to provide direction.
If there are pictures- talk about them and ask for predictions.
 After about 30 seconds, stop and ask your child what they
picture happening. Don’t let them repeat verbatim what they
just read. Question to character, setting, and anything that is
visual in nature. You want to encourage them to be making a
visual representation in their head instead of trying to
remember what they are hearing themselves read.
 Continue doing this for 10 minutes and then have your child
retell you what they read in their own words.
Things to keep in mind…
 Limit these extra things you do with your child to no
more than 10 minutes a day, but do them at least
5 days a week.
 Reward them when they do these activities- their
brains get tired!
 If it’s too hard, make it easier. You want them to do
this practice but if they aren’t successful, they are
likely to shut down. It’s a delicate dance.
References
Feifer, S.G. & Douglas, D.T. (2007). Integrating RTI
with cognitive neuropsychology: A scientific
approach to reading. Middletown, MD: School
Neuropsych Press, LLC
Moats, L. & Tolman, C. Types of Reading Disabilities.
Retrieved from
http://www.readingrockets.org/article/typesreading-disability
QUESTIONS