8th grader unable to read silently? problem?

[SonshineMama]

Asking for a friend! Her 8th grade ds really struggles to read silently. When he does he feels like it takes forever and he has to reread sentences and paragraphs. It is causing frustration for mom and child!

 

Is this a concern? If so, how should it be addressed?

 

Thanks!

[PeterPan]

Not to state the obvious, but has she done basic things like get an eval or get his eyes checked? This dc is ps or hs? Different things could cause symptoms like that. Either go through the ps or get the ped to refer off to a psych (ed psych, neuropsych, whatever) and get the evals. They can check for attention issues, dyslexia, etc. that could be causing those symptoms. Meanwhile hit the developmental optometrist (find through COVD) and get his eyes checked. You can guess and be totally wrong. You basically need to do testing to sort it out.

[klmama]

Does he do better when he reads aloud? I had a roommate once who had to read aloud in order to remember. Otherwise she had to read and reread everything, and most of it didn't stick. She really did need that aural input for her memory to engage properly.

[Guest thehomeschoolmom]

I am the friend. :-) After Jodi said she was posting here for me, I joined.

 

He's had his eyes checked...wears glasses and is far-sighted. He is homeschooled.

 

Haven't done any other testing because this issue didn't become obvious until this year. He reads completely fluently aloud. He used to whisper when he read to himself, but now he recruits family members to listen to him. He said reading aloud is faster and he loses his place and or doesn't always understand what he is reading when he reads silently.

 

Since he hasn't shown any other signs of delay, I didn't really think twice about it until now, when it is an obvious issue. When he is reading what he wants (for recreation), it doesn't seem to be as much of a glaring problem, but when the reading is more difficult assigned literature, or science, he nears tears if he can't read to someone.

 

Not even sure how/where to have him tested for something like this. He has OCD and PTSD...but that eval was from a behavioral pediatrician. I am hesitant to go through the schools for anything.

[Mukmuk]

Double posted

Edited October 11, 2012 by Mukmuk

[Mukmuk]

I remember seeing this in the Eide's book, The Dyslexic Advantage. Broca's area, which is an area in the brain, controls speech production. A child typically processes reading in the Broca's area when they are beginning readers, which is why young children move their lips when they read silently. But as the child develops, other parts of the brain take over as the complexity of reading deepens (visualizing, abstract meaning etc). Dyslexics have been known to rely on this area as the primary area of reading processing.

 

I'm wondering if your son's reading development is centered around the Broca's area, and the issues you have mentioned are the result of it.

 

Here's a webpage that may be informative: http://www.positivedyslexia.com/reading/article_brain_science.htm

Edited October 11, 2012 by Mukmuk

[RamonaQ]

I personally wouldn't be quick to jump on dyslexia...there are other possibilities (ADHD, for one)

 

What does his spelling look like? How fluent is his outloud reading? (words per minute)

 

As far as an eval, often a neuropsych is the way to go, but that can be super expensive. An educational psychologist would be cheaper. If you are near a medical center/ university that might be another place to look for an eval as I know some on this board have had luck in that direction.

Edited October 11, 2012 by RamonaQ
whoops! saw you answered that he is homeschooled

[eoffg1]

The need to read out loud, is typical of a delayed development of the ability to 'sub-vocalize'.

Which is also termed as 'self-talk'.

As you read this, you would be hearing the words in your mind, without saying them out loud.

But imagine trying to read silently, if you couldn't imagine and hear the sound of the words, as you read?

Where you'll understand the need to read out loud.

 

So the first question, is whether he can hear the words as he reads, without saying them out loud?

Which given that he is in 8th grade, this could simply be discussed with him.

Where he might be surprised to find that people can hear the words, without saying them out loud?

[AK_Mom4]

One simple thing to try - my very far sighted kiddo needed to use an index card or a piece of paper under the line he was reading in order to help him keep his place when reading silently. When reading aloud, he could find his place when moving from line to line quickly from context. When reading silently, it was more difficult to find the right spot when his eyes got tired (reading is lots of work for far-sighted kids).

 

He improved over time and became less far sighted and reads easily silently.

[Lecka]

/ random

 

Maybe he would also like comprehension strategies? My kids are younger and I have only read about them. But this is like -- pre-reading ( making predictions, saying what you want to find out), summarizing as you go along, underlining the thesis statement, and things like that.

 

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/3479/ This is a really general page about reading comprehension strategies and aides. I have seen more about it other places.

 

I have not seen this in reference to reading out loud, but the frustration and trouble keeping track in more difficult, informational books will mention this kind of thing.

 

I read part of a book by a middle-school teacher and it had a little section from the perspective of the student, who would listen to classmates discuss reading, and not know how they had gotten the information. Then it had all kinds of suggestions for reading comprehension. It was in with struggling readers but it was not about decoding.

Edited October 11, 2012 by Lecka

[Mukmuk]

I personally wouldn't be quick to jump on dyslexia...there are other possibilities (ADHD, for one)

 

 

Yes. Wanted to say in my original post, I'm no NP. Just another mom. What I noticed in bringing my kid around before he had a dx was that, depending on the alternative practitioner, my son's issues were his specialty, ie, to every man with a hammer, every problem is his type of nail.

 

Just wanted to throw you what I read as a possibility. You know your child best and his other issues, which will help you narrow down the google-able terms with which to get help.

Edited October 12, 2012 by Mukmuk

[Guest thehomeschoolmom]

Thank you for all the great responses and information. :001_smile:

 

To answer some of the questions, his spelling is decent...not fantastic, but not horrible. His handwriting is miserable, LOL. He just moves at such a fast pace (wants to be "done" with school as fast as possible), he doesn't take the time to write or spell properly.

 

I asked him about the self-talk...he said when he reads something silently, he can hear himself say it in his head. He says it's faster and easier to read aloud though. I am going to try the index card strategy to see if it helps.

 

I'm not sure how many WPM he reads aloud...but only slightly slower than I do.

 

Reading comprehension strategies would probably be very helpful. Even when he reads aloud, sometimes I feel like he doesn't entirely understand what he reads. He mostly does when he's free reading, but harder stuff...not always.

 

Jodi's son lent him some audio books...I may see if I can find the books at the library to let him read along with them.

 

I guess I am just nervous and concerned because he's in 8th grade and moves to even harder material next year. I don't really know what to do or where to go with this.

[Lecka]

Aside from other things, I have an impression it is common to have a harder time with comprehension getting into middle school and high school.

 

I think if you posted on K-8 or afterschooling (I post sometimes on afterschooling) there is a former public school teacher who knows about this.

 

I googled and common reading comprehension strategies are "KWL" and "SQ3R." I think if you are interested in that direction, you could find out that way if you wanted to try one of those or something else.

 

I have seen that graphic organizers (a paper with circles or squares and lines connecting them, in some way) are good, too.

 

It sounds like he needs some tools but you are looking and I am sure you can find what he needs or what will help him!

 

Something I see a lot -- if he has the same problems when he is listening, then it is likely that comprehension strategies will be helpful. If he does better when he is listening, then it is likely that some work on his reading (decoding, fluency) will be helpful. Or maybe some of both.

 

edit : I don't mean anything by saying "former public school teacher" -- this person (can't remember her name) just seems very knowledgable about it.

Edited October 12, 2012 by Lecka