Reading Disability

A reading disability is one in which a disabled person finds difficult in reading resulting mainly from the neurological factors. Children with reading disability can occur from the disruption in the part of the brain which is involved in reading. About 80 percent of students are suffering from reading disability. A reading disability is also known as reading problem, reading difficulty and dyslexia or reading disorder.

The examination of two types of evidence is involved in the identification of a reading disability and they are:-

• The first evidence relates to a childhood history that contains characteristics or events and they are linked to the development of reading problems.
• The second evidence relates to the administration of psychological and cognitive tests which points whether a reading difficulty is present or not.

Causes of Reading Disability

The main cause of a reading difficulty is Dyslexia. It has number of causes which includes:-

• Lack of knowledge of the English language
• Low intelligence
• Lack of important pre-reading skills like the ability to attach sounds to letters and the ability to recognize letters
• Physical disabilities like hearing or poor vision
• Lack of exposure to printed material

Some children have the ability to read but due to some difficulties they mispronounce the words or skip them. There are 10 million children who have the difficulties in learning to read and about 10-15 percent drops the high school due to reading disability. People suffering from mild reading disability do not have enough energy left to understand the reading skills. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development has estimated that reading disability affects both the girls and boys in the same ratio. The misconception about reading disabled people is that they reverse the letters and write in mirror image. If certain measures are not taken to correct this defect then this disability will persist throughout the life and the disabled person can suffer a lot of problem.

Overcoming Reading Disability

School administrators and teachers play an important role in overcoming reading disability by providing them the correct curriculum and lesson plans which can improve their reading skills. It has been found that about 90-95 percent of children with reading disability can be improved if the appropriate treatment is done at the early ages.

Treatment of Reading Disability

Instructors can help the disabled people by showing them that the words are made up of tiny sound segments. One way to impart this knowledge is to make the children clap in the same sequence in which the word is pronounced. Another way involves making the child move with a small plastic tab or the marker as the sound is made. This type of treatment is known as phonics instruction. After this treatment, the children are able to read the words in a rapid manner and then teaching methods can be taught to them to improve their reading disability.