Reading-Language Therapy

MAKING COMMUNICATION EASIER

In 2000, the National Reading Panel (NRP) published the results of more than two decades of research regarding how children learn to read. Not surprisingly, a strong foundation in early language skills was determined to be the one most critical aspect for predicting reading success. Five fundamental language skills were identified by the NRP report:

• Phonemic awareness – the knowledge that words are made up of sounds that can be manipulated in word play
• Phonics – the knowledge of letter/sound correspondences and conventions of word structure
• Fluency – reading with adequate rate and accuracy so that the text flows meaningfully
• Vocabulary – word knowledge, background experience, and flexibility
• Comprehension – constructing meaning from the text, self-monitoring, and correction strategies

Language is represented across four modalities: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The student with a language disorder or language processing difficulty may show weaknesses in one or more of these areas. The Speech-Language Pathologists at ABILITIES can help children with reading/writing difficulties by addressing the underlying deficits in language – the five fundamental skills identified by the NRP report.

Making Sense of Sounds for Reading and Spelling ©, offered exclusively at ABILITIES, targets phonemic awareness and phonics by providing multi-sensory processing of the sound- and syllable-structure of language to improve reading and spelling.

Reading/Language Intervention emphasizes the construction of meaning through interaction with print to learn and recognize new vocabulary, expand use of sentence structure and grammatical markers, and build comprehension skills for recalling, interpreting, and reasoning about text.

Various writing programs, including Ready, Set, Write! and The Write Idea! enhance written expression by addressing composition skills, planning and organization, spelling, sentence structure, paragraph and essay formats, and mechanics of written language.

Early markers of speech and language development continue to provide us with the best evidence for early identification of students at risk for reading/writing difficulties. Research has proven that preschool and early childhood programs rich in language experience are critical in building a foundation for sound processing, word formation, sentence comprehension, and understanding of language in context; however, help is available to students of all ages who are having difficulty with reading and writing.