The Source for Learning Disabilities

“Clearly it is time for a holistic approach to the understanding of writing. The Writing Dilemma offers an embarrassingly overdue breakthrough, as this most important work acknowledges and describes vividly the multiple possible breakdown points that must be considered in a child who is not developing writing skills.” Other sections include components that facilitate automatic writing performances, assessment techniques, and a variety of recommendations for compensations and remediation of writing problems.

On the first day of fourth grade, Hank’s teacher assigns a five-paragraph essay, “What I did on my summer vacation,” and he knows he’s in trouble. It has always been difficult for him to read, write, and spell so he decides to “build” his assignment instead — to “bring Niagara Falls into the classroom, water and all.”

This updated comprehensive guide addresses revisions to federal and state discrimination laws, includes educational options that are available to students with learning disabilities, and describes the pros and cons of various therapies.

This completely updated book contains new chapters on Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and on the public laws that guarantee an equal education for learning disabled children. There is also an entirely new section on learning disabled adults and the laws that protect them. Sally Smith, the parent of a learning disabled child herself, guides parents along every step of the way, from determining if their child is learning disabled to challenging the school system to provide special services. Drawing on more than twenty-five years of experience at her own nationally acclaimed school, she also offers valuable strategies to teachers who are anxious or discouraged as they struggle with learning disabled students. Although there are no easy answers, Sally Smith’s experience, wealth of information, and sense of humor provide essential support.

The prevalence of learning disabilities has provoked both the growth of research into the field and the development of educational interventions to assist those with learning disabilities. This book’s aim is to present the current state of this research and intervention ideas and programs. It includes updated material on the 1997 re-authorization of IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) and expanded coverage of ADHD and its relationship to learning disabilities. This book presents the latest information on the characteristics of persons with learning disabilities, the causes of their problems, and educational interventions to help them succeed in school and at work. The book is research-based, user-friendly, and practical. 

*This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

The updated second edition of Unlocking Literacy is here — and now pre- and inservice educators will have the very latest research and practical guidance on teaching good reading and spelling skills. Developed for general and special educators of students from prekindergarten to middle school and beyond, the new edition of this bestselling textbook arms teachers with the most recent developments in reading research and shows them how to apply their knowledge in the classroom to help all students learn.

Focusing on two interlocking skills — decoding and spelling—this textbook gets teachers ready to:

• promote students’ print awareness and phonological awareness through letter naming, letter forming, and listening and speaking activities such as poetry and play
• improve students’ spelling skills by teaching the origins of English words, Anglo-Saxon base words, Latin affixes and roots, Greek combining forms, and multisyllabic words
• help students understand and correctly use the components of the English language, including common consonant and vowel patterns, syllable patterns, common spelling rules, prefixes and suffixes, roots, nonphonetic words, and contractions
• deepen older students’ proficiency with language by introducing less common Latin roots and Greek combining forms, new words entering the English language, and lessons built around themes such as calendars and mythology

To help educators teach with confidence once they’re in the classroom, this text is packed with practical, immediately applicable material. Educators will get engaging classroom activities (including 21 NEW activities suitable for use all students, including English language learners); lesson plans incorporating multisensory, language-based instruction; samples of student work; explanations of current research; and even more websites and reference material to strengthen their instruction.

An essential text for college and university courses on reading instruction — and an ideal professional development resource for inservice educators—this new edition of a classic bestseller will help teachers unlock literacy for all their students.