Reading Fluency/Comprehension for Dyslexia

[southernm]

DS 7 is dyslexic. I am going to use AAS level 1 with him. He has very little ability to sound out words, and memorizes most. I realize he needs to work on fluency as well. What should I use for that? I'm afraid that the AAR program might be too easy since he has memorized so many words.

 

As for comprehension, we will be doing WWE2. He's great when I read, but struggles with comprehension when he reads. Is there something else we should be doing in addition to the narrations?

[FairProspects]

What reading level? We've had a lot of success with Reading Assistant, which is a computer program that allows you to read into a microphone. Any words that are missed are underlined in red and the computer reads them to you and you have to read it back correctly. We bought it through the HSBC, but I'm pretty sure it is recommended in most dyslexia books to help with fluency.

[Lecka]

Have you read Overcoming Dyslexia? Does that sound like him?

 

Have you looked at phonemic awareness?

 

If he can do AAS Level 1 Step 5 with nonsense words as well as real words -- that is good!

 

My son does not memorize well, but I always read that kids who memorize easily are recommended to try working with nonsense words.

 

But -- if he has the Overcoming Dyslexia kind of dyslexia, then the foundation is kind-of: 1) phonemic awareness 2) decoding 3) fluency 4) comprehension.

 

If he can barely sound out, then to me, that means to see if he has foundational skills in phonemic awareness and decoding.

 

B/c his listening comprehension is good, all the poor reading comprehension is telling you is that he is not readng fluently at that level.

 

I have read about fluency in a library book and the fluency section on reading rockets.org. (Which is also going to be focused mostly on an Overcoming Dyslexia kind of conception about how children learn to read).

 

I have also heard Reading Assistant is good.

[southernm]

Reading assistant sounds interesting. I just got aas and plan to start next week. I will honestly be shocked if he can read nonsense words. When he finished first grade last may in ps he was a mid first level but that's because he didn't answer the questions on the DRA the way the teacher's manual said he should (according to his teacher). He can read in very short amounts but the thought if tackling the page in a chapter book is terrifying to him. He can read large words but will make mistakes on similar words like saying "house" for "horse". I'm honestly trying to start all over with him. He's 2e with dysgraphia as well. We just got his tested done in May which was a huge eye opener!

[Lecka]

My son couldn't read a page in a chapter book either, he is 7, too. I think he is doing pretty good, honestly.

 

Something you might try is to use a notched card and just uncover parts of a word at a time. It can encourage sounding out from left to right.

 

There is an Abecedarian guide for error correction that is free and videos that go with it, that I think are good -- or at least were helpful to me.

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.abcdrp.com/docs/ABCD_ErrorCorrectionPractice.pdf

 

But for blending and segmenting AAS Level 1 Step 5 was really, really good for my son. But he did not have any words memorized. But if you added in nonsense words maybe that would help him.

 

I will also add -- if he does well with the phonogram cards, that is great. If it is too hard for him to memorize the 3 sounds of a, or 2 sounds of g, then you don't have to do them all at once. It is good for a lot of kids but can be confusing or too hard for some kids (it was too hard for my son at the time).

 

I think it is a good program, though. It turned out to be too hard for my son but I know it works great for many kids!

 

(At least I think it was Step 5.... whatever step you start pulling down tiles.)

Edited August 30, 2012 by Lecka

[herekittykitty]

I second the covering of the words, so only one at a time is exposed. We learned this from the Davis program. It helps train the eyes and reduces visual "clutter". Davis calls it sweep/spell reading, but anyone can do it. You basically use your finger or a card to sweep across the word the child should read, keeping the words on the right all covered. If they don't know the word, cover each letter one at a time and have them spell it. Then give them the word. Then keep going. Personally I keep track of all words my son doesn't know, so we work on those at another time. The spelling part for us was a lifesaver. It took out all of the stress from reading. Before that DS would get so frustrated with not being able to sound out a word and shut down. The way we work on words later is to make what I started calling pictogram cards - the word written on an index card with a picture built in. You certainly wouldn't have to do the spelling part if that doesn't fit with how you are teaching.