What are the learning components involved in reading/writing?

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• Reading

Reading decoding—the ability to transform patterns of alphabetic letters into sound patterns of a corresponding spoken word

Word recognition—the ability to identify words when reading, either through word decoding or sight word identification

Reading fluency—the ability to recognize and read words accurately, smoothly, and quickly, usually in context; requiring automaticity

Reading comprehension—the ability to understand the meaning of written text; integrating vocabulary knowledge, using cues to “unpack” complex syntax, and making sense of the different discourse structures (e.g., stories or expository text)

- Comprehension also requires ability to use prior knowledge and make inferences and predictions

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• Writing / Spelling

Writing process --- the ability to plan, organize, draft, reflect on, revise, and edit written text​

Encoding (spelling)--- requires the ability to segment words into sounds and map those sounds onto letters in an acceptable sequence in written form. Words may be spelled “regularly,” which means that each letter is associated with a corresponding sound (e.g., cat), or “irregularly,” such that not all letters in a word are represented by one sound (e.g., right).

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When should I contact a Speech Therapist?

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Common signs and symptoms of written language disorders are listed below by developmental level.

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• AT PRESCHOOL AGE ---

  • Does not pay attention to sound patterns in songs, books, and nursery rhymes (e.g., recognizing and then generating words that begin with the same sound [alliteration])​

  • Cannot demonstrate awareness of syllables and rhymes in the context of verbal play (e.g., clapping out syllables; generating nonsense rhymes and words that rhyme)

  • Does not know the names of any letters of the alphabet

  • Does not understand that words represent objects, actions, or ideas

  • Does not recognize own name in print

  • Has limited interest in or ability to “pretend write” by drawing and scribbling, including scribbling letters, numbers, or pretend letters

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• AT EARLY ELEMENTARY AGE ---

  • Weakness in rhyming​, and weakness in manipulating syllables and sounds in spoken words

  • Cannot match sounds to letters (e.g., the letter B sounds like /b/ in the word bus)

  • Has not acquired some sight words

  • Has difficulty matching spoken words with written words

  • Does not read smoothly without frequent pausing (i.e., impaired reading fluency)

  • Cannot explain the main parts of a story (e.g., main idea, main characters, plot)

  • Does not write upper- and lowercase letters

  • Does not attempt to spell words phonetically (e.g. “chree” for tree; “kande” for candy )

  • Cannot spell common words correctly (e.g., sat, play, best, add, also, mail)

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• AT LATE ELEMENTARY AND ABOVE ---

  • Displays deficits in morphological awareness—for example, when reading prefixes and suffixes, tries to sound out rather than read as whole units (e.g., reads the word walked as “walk-ed” rather than “walkt”)​

  • Has difficulty recognizing ambiguity in words and structures with multiple meanings

  • Has difficulty paraphrasing information from various texts

  • Tends to write with shorter sentence lengths than peers

  • Does not link ideas and elaborate

  • Is unable to write for different audiences or from different points of view

  • Is unable to spell or identify phonological, orthographic, and morphological aspects of regularly and irregularly spelled words

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Contact Andrea Lau at Speech Vancouver if you have any concerns regarding your child's reading development. 

 

For more information on how Speech Vancouver can help, please phone 604 723 9589 or email: andrealau.slp@gmail.com