Teaching Reading to students

with Special Needs

By:
Ana Flor Valdezco
Grace Villarosa
Understanding Learning Disabilities

 “Learning Disabilities” refer to a number of disorders, which may

affect the acquisition, organization, retention, understanding, or use
of verbal or nonverbal information. These disorders affect learning
in individuals who otherwise demonstrate at least average abilities
essential for thinking and/or reasoning. As such, learning disabilities
are distinct from global intellectual deficiency.
 Learning disabilities result from impairments in one or
more processes related to perceiving, thinking,
remembering, or learning. These include, but are not
limited to language processing, phonological
processing, visual spatial processing, processing speed,
memory and attention, and executive functions (e.g.,
planning and decision making).
 Learning disabilities range in severity and may interfere with the
acquisition and use of one or more of the following:
 • oral language (e.g., listening, speaking, understanding);
 • reading (e.g., decoding, phonetic knowledge, word recognition,
comprehension);
 • written language (e.g., spelling and written expression); and
 • mathematics (e.g., computation, problem solving).
 Learning Disabilities & Specific Subtypes:

LEARNING DISABILITIES

Reading Disability Written Expression Mathematics Disorder Nonverbal Learning

(Dyslexia) Disorder (Dysgraphia) (Dyscalculia) Disability

Reading Writing Spelling Handwriting Mathematical Visual– spatial-

Difficulties Difficulties Difficulties Difficulties Difficulties social Difficulties
Skill Areas that may be Affected by Learning
Disabilities
 Receptive & Expressive Language
 Auditory/Phonological Processing
 Visual-Motor Processing
 Visual Processing
 Attention/Concentration
 Memory
 Metacognition
 Organizational/Study Skills
 Social Skills
Reading Disability (dyslexia)
 An individual with a reading disability demonstrates
difficulties in reading skills that are unexpected in relation
to age, cognitive ability, quantity and quality of
instruction, and intervention. The reading difficulties are
not the result of generalized developmental delay or
sensory impairment (Lundberg & Hoien, 2001; Mather &
Goldstein, 2001).
 Reading disability may be characterized by:

 difficulties in single word reading;

 initial difficulties decoding or sounding out words;
 difficulties reading sight words;
 insufficient phonological processing; that is, the understanding
that sentences are comprised of words, words are made up of
syllables, and syllables are made up of individual sounds or
phonemes;
 expressive or receptive language difficulties; and difficulties
with comprehension.
 The processing difficulties may also be revealed in spelling and writing.
Written expression disability and mathematics disability are commonly found
in combination with a reading disability (American Psychiatric Association,
DSM-IV-TR, 2000).

For students with a reading disability, the reading difficulties are

persistent. Even though an individual’s reading ability may eventually reach
an acceptable performance, it often continues to be characterized by a slower
reading rate.
Effective Reading Interventions for Kids with
Learning Disabilities
Improving Word Recognition Skills

 Direct instruction appears the most effective approach for

improving word recognition skills in students with learning
disabilities. Direct instruction refers to teaching skills in an explicit,
direct fashion. It involves drill/repetition/practice and can be
delivered to one child or to a small group of students at the same
time.
Increasing Word Recognition Skills in Students
With LD
Instruction Component Program Activities and Techniques
The teacher:
• Breaks down the task (e.g., starts by
having the child break an unknown word
into separate sounds or parts they can
sound out).
• Gradually reduces prompts or cues.
• Matches the difficulty level to the task and
Sequencing
to the student.
• Sequences short activities (e.g., first
spends 10 minutes reviewing new words
from a previous lesson, then 5 minutes
underlining new words in the passage, and
finally 5 minutes practicing blends).
• Uses step-by-step prompts.
Instruction Component Program Activities and Techniques
The teacher:
Breaks down the targeted skill (e.g.,
identifying a speech or letter sound) into
smaller units or component parts (e.g.,
Segmentation sounding out each speech or letter sound in
that word).
Segments or synthesizes component parts
(e.g., sounds out each phoneme in a word,
then blends the sounds together).
The teacher:
Directs children to look over material prior to
instruction.
Directs children to focus on particular
Advanced organizers information.
Provides students with prior information
about tasks.
Tells students the objectives of instruction
upfront.
Improving Reading Comprehension Skills

 The most effective approach to improving reading comprehension

in students with learning disabilities appears to be a combination of
direct instruction and strategy instruction. Strategy instruction
means teaching students a plan (or strategy) to search for patterns in
words and to identify key passages (paragraph or page) and the
main idea in each. Once a student learns certain strategies, he can
generalize them to other reading comprehension tasks.
 Improving Reading Comprehension Skills

Instruction Component Program Activities and Techniques

The teacher:
• Asks questions.
Directed response/questioning • Encourages students to ask questions.
The teacher and student(s):
Engage in dialogue.

The teacher:
• Provides assistance (as needed).
• Gives a simplified demonstration.
• Sequences tasks from easy to difficult.
• Presents easy steps or concepts first and
moves on to progressively more difficult steps
Control difficulty of processing demands of task or concepts (a technique called task analysis).
• Allows student to control level of difficulty.
The activities:
• Are short.
 Instruction Component
Control difficulty of processing demands of
task
Modeling of steps by the teacher
Group instruction
Strategy cues
Program Activities and Techniques
The activities:
Provide student with additional information or
explanation about concepts, steps, or
procedures.
Use redundant text or repetition within text.
Teacher demonstrates the processes and/or
steps the students are to follow.
Instruction and/or verbal interaction takes
place in a small group composed of students
and teacher
The teacher:
Reminds the student to use strategies or
multiple steps.
Explains steps or procedures for solving
problems.
The activities:
Use "think aloud" models.
List the benefits of strategy use or procedures.
Evaluating your Child's Reading Program

1. Ask for detailed literature on your child's reading program. Some schools
voluntarily provide information about the reading programs they use.
2. Once you have literature on a specific reading program, locate the
section(s) that describe its instruction components.
3. Find out if the instruction model your child's teacher uses is Direct
Instruction, Strategy Instruction, or a combination approach.
4. Once you've evaluated your child's reading program, you may feel satisfied
that her needs are being met.
“Children with disabilities are like butterflies
with a broken wing. They are just as beautiful
as all others, but they need help to spread their
wings."
-Unknown