reading

3 Reasons Your Child Has Reading Comprehension Difficulties

Laura LeBlanc MA, CCC/SLPLeave a comment

Approximately 85% of children diagnosed with learning difficulties have a primary problem with reading and language skills.  What baffles many parents is the “where” and “why” the process breaks down. Problems may occur in any area -decoding, comprehension, or retention.  Many experts, however, believe the root of reading problems lies in decoding.

Decoding Difficulties

Decoding is the process by which a word is broken into individual phonemes (sounds) and recognized based on those phonemes.  For example, a proficient reader will separate the sounds “fr” “aw” and “guh” in the word “frog”.  Someone who has difficulty reading may not hear and differentiate these phonemes.  Even experts do not understand why this is.

Signs of decoding difficulty:

  • trouble sounding out words and recognizing words out of context
  • confusion between letters and the sounds they represent
  • slow oral reading rate
  • reading without expression
  • ignoring punctuation while reading

Comprehension Difficulties

Comprehension relies on mastery of decoding; children who struggle to decode find it difficult to understand and remember what has been read. Because their efforts to grasp individual words are so exhausting, they have no resources left for understanding.

Signs of comprehension difficulty:

  • confusion about the meaning of words and sentences
  • inability to connect ideas in a passage
  • omission of, or glossing over detail
  • difficulty distinguishing important information from minor details
  • lack of concentration

Retention Difficulties

Retention requires both decoding and comprehension of what is written. This task relies on high level cognitive skills, including memory and the ability to group and retrieve related areas. As students progress through grade levels, they are expected to retain more and more of what they read. From third grade on, reading to learn is central to classroom work. By high school it is an essential ask.

Signs of retention difficulty:

  • trouble remembering or summarizing what is read
  • difficulty connecting what is read to prior knowledge
  • difficulty applying content of a text to personal experiences

 

 

Articulation in Children Top 5 Speech Questions

Laura LeBlanc MA, CCC/SLPLeave a comment

What is articulation?

Articulation is the ability to make speech sounds clearly. Children learn correct sound production by listening and imitating appropriate speech role models. Articulation develops gradually over a period of 8 years.

When should I be concerned about my child’s articulation?

Under the age of 3, it is common for children to make quite a few sound errors and substitutions.  By age 3, a child should be using at least 200 words, using 3-5 word phrases and be understood at least 80% of the time.  By age 4, a child should be 100% intelligible even if they continue to have some articulation errors.  Sounds which are “later developing” include “sh”, “ch” “j” and “th”.  Sometimes the “s” and “r” sounds are more difficult to remediate and require more speech therapy.

What sounds do children learn to produce first and in what order?

Most children are able to produce the “bilabial” sounds (made with the lips) of “b”, “p” “m”and “w”. They may also produce sounds such as “d”, “t”, and “n” early on as well.  Child acquire sounds developmentally and by age 8 should have mastered all of the sounds.

What causes an articulation disorder?

Although the cause is often unknown, the following are may cause an articulation disorder:

  • Hearing loss
  • Illness
  • Developmental Disorder (ie Autism)
  • Neurological Disorder (ie Cerebral Palsy)
  • Genetic Disorder (ie Down Syndrome)

How do you treat an articulation disorder?

If you feel that your child is in need a speech evaluation, it is vital to seek treatment from an ASHA (American Speech Hearing Association) Certified provider who will conduct a comprehensive evaluation and provide services as needed.