Warning Signs
A
reader is not someone who can read;
It's someone who does read. - Frank B. May
According to G. Reid Lyon of the
National Institutes of Child and Human Development notes the following distinct
stages in the process whereby children learn to read:
- Beginning phonological awareness
and an understanding that words are made up of different sounds
- An initial knowledge of linguistics
(sound to letters) and phonics (letter to sounds), associating those sounds
with specific letters
- Becoming increasingly able to
match letters quickly with the appropriate sound - that is, becoming a fast
reader
- Centering on the meaning of words
Early warning signs that a child
may have a learning disability and need professional diagnosis include the following
(Wingert & Kantrowitz, 1997: 58-60)
Preschool/Kindergarten
- Starts talking later than other
children
- Has pronunciation problems
- Has slow vocabulary growth
- Is often unable to find the right
word
- Has trouble learning numbers,
the alphabet, days of the week
- Has difficulty rhyming words
- Is extremely restless and distractible
- Has trouble interacting with
peers
- Displays poor ability o follow
directions or routines
- Avoids puzzles, drawing, and
cutting
Kindergarten
through Fourth Grade
- Has slow recall of facts
- Makes consistent reading and
spelling errors, including letter reversals (b/d), inversions (m/w), transpositions
(felt, left), and substitutions (house/home)
