“WILL MY CHILD EVER LEARN
TO LOVE READING?”
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS FROM PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH DYSLEXIA
BY LINDAMOOD-BELL
SPONSORED CONTENT:
F or nearly three decades,
Lindamood-Bell has worked
with thousands of individuals
with various learning struggles and
disabilities. Sitt ing with a child or an
adult who struggles to read a word
provides unique insight into the
learning process. Lindamood-Bell’s
success with students is due to their
unique approach, including their
research-validated, sensory-cognitive
instruction. Below they’ve answered
some questions parents of students
with dyslexia often have .

Q: “MY CHILD HATES READING.

Maybe she reads from something that’s
at a comfortable level, and then you
read a chapter of “Lemony Snicket.”
You can also take turns reading: switch
every paragraph, you read two pages,
she reads one, etc.

Q: “WHAT IF HE MAKES A
MISTAKE? DO I INTERRUPT?”
A: You can let some small errors go!
Changing “the” to “a” is something that
happens even to good readers. As long
as it doesn’t change the meaning of the
text, there’s no need to stop him. For
errors that aff ect meaning (i.e. reading
“protect” as “project”), you can ask a
question to help him monitor his own
accuracy. “Did that make sense?”
HOW DO I GET HIM TO DO IT?”
A: For struggling readers, books don’t
yet bring joy. Rewarding him for the
reading he’s done can help motivate
him while also providing needed
fl uency practice. Track the number of
pages or minutes read with stickers,
points or something he enjoys (i.e.

printed “Minecraft creepers”). Decide
as a family what the reward will be —
it could be a toy or game, extra screen
time, one-on-one time with a favorite
adult or gett ing to choose what’s for
dinner on Friday night. Work with your
child to fi nd something that works for
your family.

Q: “CAN I JUST READ TO HER?”
A: There are lots of benefi ts to reading
to your child, but doing so won’t help
develop her fl uency skills. Set up a
system where you both can read.

36 September 2018
washingtonFAMILY.com Q: “ALL OF THE BOOKS AT HER
LEVEL ARE BORING. SHOULD I
LET HER READ “HARRY POTTER”?
WHAT IF SHE GETS FRUSTRATED?”
A: Children with dyslexia often are
very bright with strong comprehension,
which can make fi nding a “right
fi t” book challenging. Having her
read a book that is far above her
reading ability will most likely lead to
frustration and dampen her desire to
read. More challenging, higher-level
books can be the kind you read to her.

Having her practice her fl uency with
more manageable books may allow
her the confi dence and skill to fi nd out
what’s happening at Hogwarts on her
own soon enough. Once you fi nd a
book she likes, check in with your local
librarian to fi nd some suggestions of
other books she might enjoy.

Q: “HE KEEPS SAYING HE’S
STUPID. DO I JUST IGNORE IT?”
A: When a child continually works
harder than his peers to read — and
doesn’t feel successful — it’s easy to see
why his self-esteem might plummet.

Listening to and acknowledging his
feelings is as important as reminding
him of all his strengths and talents.

Q: “IS IT EVER GOING TO
GET EASIER?”
A: Some dyslexic students may need
more than extra time on tests or being
able to hear the questions orally. A
cause of diffi culty in establishing
sight words and contextual fl uency is
diffi culty in visualizing lett ers in words.

This is called weak “symbol imagery.”
A signifi cant number of students —
even those who have well-developed
phonemic awareness — have diffi culty
with rapidly perceiving sounds in
words, and are slow to self-correct their
reading errors. It can be helpful to get
a picture of your child’s individual
strengths and weaknesses through a
learning ability evaluation in order to
know the best way to support him.

Lindamood-Bell® Learning Processes is
committ ed to helping all individuals learn
to their potential. Since 1986, Lindamood-
Bell has been a leader in the education fi eld
in meeting the language, literacy and math
needs of all students. For more information,
visit them online at LindamoodBell.com or
call (800) 300-1818.




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