The sweet smell of success
Success! One of my high school clients with a moderate to severe language-based learning disability that looks similar to dyslexia, scored in the average range on a formal assessment for writing at the sentence level. This is so exciting! Last year formulating sentences with prepositions, adjectives and conjunctions was a huge challenge for this client. […]
Perfect spelling with spelling remediation?
Another client had severe spelling deficits after years of remediation was still a very poor spontaneous speller. With direct spelling remediation, however; two areas improved. First spell check recognized the spelling of words that originally had been so different from traditional spelling that the program gave no appropriate suggestions. Secondly, she began to recognize when […]
Goal: Spelling perfection?
Back in the 90’s I went to school for a semester in London. Although I was a student at the University of Maryland I was taught by the faculty of the University of London. It was an interesting semester. I choose London because I thought at least there would not be a language barrier. Little […]
Case Study: Part II Reading and Technology
It has taken years of work two times a week to bring Renee’s reading rate up to a functional rate that can support her high school academics. However, Renee’s reading rate is still not grade level and because she easily fatigues when reading, remediation can not be the sole solution. She does not always read […]
Case study: Reading
One of my favorite clients, I will call her Renee in order to retain confidentiality, came to me in 8th grade reading at the kindergarten level. She had years of intervention in school. The school curriculum was project based and the reading program was based on the whole language philosophy. What is “whole language?” It […]
Life when you can’t read
I stumbled across this video from a show called “My So Called Life,” were the main character discovers that a boy she likes can not read well. Jordan, the character, doesn’t appear to be receiving any intervention. He’s ashamed, and other students think he is stupid.Self blame, self doubt, poor self esteem will follow him […]
Good reading skills are needed for postsecondary education
“Millions of adolescents lack the reading skills needed to succeed in postsecondary education and the workplace — and students with learning disabilities tend to struggle the most”( www.ldonline.com; 8/16/10). How do you know if your child has the reading skills they need to succeed at the college level? Poor reading skills can be distinguished by […]
A visit to the dentist
So what does the dentist have to do with language? I recently visited one of the dental schools in the area. As I was waiting in the reception area a dentist came out in his suit with his mask partially covering his nose and mouth. He rushed out to say to another patient, “I will […]
LD online: Offers personal narratives
This is the first web site I found years ago. It offers testimonies from people with a variety of learning disorders. Henry Wrinkler the “Fonz” on the show “Happy Days” writes about growing up not knowing that he had dyslexia and feeling dumb. Teenagers especially benefit from the stories offered on LD online. They have […]
Children’s Language web sites
Did you know that children lose up to a month of school during the summer, and children with LD can lose even more than that. here are some web sites that offer language practice for students? Check out Grammar Gorilla – http://www.funbrain.com/grammar/index.html Mad Lib – http://www.funbrain.com/brain/ReadingBrain/ReadingBrain.html Practice letter recognition (if child says sounds can help […]