In regards to that whole ‘phonics’ debate:
Many LD individuals throughout life will never be on grade level in reading. As we all know, a learning disability is a language based disorder, and each individual with LD varies in severity. Obviously, Dyslexia is one of the more severe cases of learning disabilities. But the main thing that individuals with learning disabilities, their parents, and people in general need to accept is that those individuals are going to have to accommodate and assimilate their lives in different aspects…especially in the area of reading and language. Does an individual ever “grow out” or “completely overcome” their learning disability? - NO. Take Tom Cruise for example. He has Dyslexia, and relies on audio tapes for movies scripts instead of reading them.
I’m not saying that phonics is a bad thing. I’m in favor it, but I don’t believe special education teachers in upper elementary or secondary schools should dedicate as much time to phonics as they should comprehension, vocabulary, and other reading skills that will be found on standardized testing. Most state standardized tests focus on comprehension and vocabulary - not phonics. Yes, if a student is a non-reader or is barely at a 1st grade level, then focus more on phonics. However, I think that if students are at 2nd or 3rd grade levels (or higher), reading comprehension (along with some phonics-based teaching) should be implemented. Students need to be taught skills to use context clues, inferences, etc.
For example: I had a 6th grade LD student last year with a very high IQ, but moved into our school district, reading at barely a 1st grade level. He came from a good home, and decent school corporation prior to joining our school. I used several types of materials with him that focused mainly on comprehension, but I also used a Phonics-based program a few times per week. Through the use of his overall intelligence, he was able to read 3rd grade materials quite well by the end of the year.
Overall, I think a lot of LD or MiMD students reach a particular plateau in their lives where they’re really not going to make too much more progress. I’m not talking about ADHD kids or other “low” kids…I’m talking about LD (language-based disorder) students. They need to learn how to accommodate and assimilate their situations. Find techniques that help aid them in reading and writing. I’m certainly not implying to give up on them, but realistic goals and expectations need to be in place!
Re: Accommodation; Assimilation
My son has LD. He did 6 months of phonograpix and moved 3 years in reading ability. He was labeled dyslexic, but somehow that label does not fit.
I am sure that if he stayed with reading recovery and other whole language methods that were available in the school he would fit right into exactly what you are talking about. Memorizing a lists of words will get you to 2nd maybe 3rd grade reading level if the child has a good memory. Then the child has to unlearn this strategy and learn to look at the sounds in the words to move on. Seems rather backwards and confusing.
I agree that once a child has develop phonemic awareness, (this isn’t phonics, go to ERIC and read the research on what truely works to help children read) you need to work on fluency and comprehension.
Re: Accommodation; Assimilation
hope my kids never get you for a teacher, it is just these low expectations that cripple so many kids, too bad you think kids cannot become good readers and plateau,
what a terrible shame for you and for your kids
Misinterpreted
I think you clearly missed my point about accommodating and assilimating. I don’t have low expectations for students. I have realistic expectations, which lean more toward the high end than anything. By the way, you can ask several LD experts and they’ll tell you that many kids do plateau out in reading. From that point, teachers need to focus on helping students find other ways to accommodate and assimilate their reading techniques in order to succeed. You’re just wasting your time if you spend every second busting your butt trying to ‘force’ students to learn phonics.
(There are hundreds of different reading programs, materials, and software that can certainly make a HUGE difference in the life of an LD student. However, does a teacher have the time and resources to try out every single program ever developed???? - I think not).
Finally, I can assure you that I bust my butt everyday trying to make a difference in my students lives. I have had great success with my reading program, but I also know what reality is.
Re: Misinterpreted
It is called evaluating the research. Every professional in every field should objectively evaluate the research to improve not only their individual performance but their entire profession.
It is not a trial an error process, it is a logical, look at the science approach.
The research says improve phonemic awareness. You really need to learn techniques or programs that will help you do that.
Research shows that the strategy of context clues works only 20% of the time.
Not a very effective strategy.