READING DIFFICULTIES
Reading disorder is a learning disorder that involves significant impairment of reading accuracy, speed, or comprehension to the extent that the impairment interferes with academic achievement or activities of daily life. People with reading disorder perform reading tasks well below the level one would expect on the basis of their general intelligence, educational opportunities, and physical health. Reading disorder is most commonly called dyslexia. Dyslexia, however, usually includes deficits in spelling and writing as well as reading.
Reading disorder is a learning disorder characterized by a significant disparity between an individual's general intelligence and his or her reading skills. Common learning disabilities include reading disorder (often called dyslexia), mathematics disorder, disorder of written expression, and some language processing
disorders.
Evaluation of children's reading ability must be done on an individual basis in order to make a diagnosis of reading disorder and distinguish it from slow learning or low intelligence. The examiner must take into account the child's age, intelligence, educational opportunities, and such cultural factors as whether the language spoken at home is different from the language taught and used at school. Reading disorder is diagnosed when a child's reading achievement is substantially below what would be expected after
taking these factors into account.
Common problems in people with reading disorder include:
1. Slow reading speed
2. Poor comprehension when reading material either aloud or silently
3. Omission of words while reading
4. Reversal of words or letters while reading
5. Difficulty decoding syllables or single words and associating them with specific sounds (phonics)
6. Limited sight word vocabulary
Common characteristics of children with reading disorder include:
1. Difficulty identifying single words
2. Problems understanding the sounds in words, sound order, or rhymes
3. Problems with spelling
4. Transposing letters in words
5. Omitting or substituting words
6. Poor reading comprehension
7. Slow reading speed (oral or silent)
In addition to these symptoms, children with
reading disorder often have other delays or learning problems. These include:
1. Delays in spoken language
2. Confusion with
directions, or right/left-handedness
3. Confusion with opposites
(up/down, early/late)
4. Mathematics disorder
5. Disorder of written expression