When Learning to Read is a Challenge--Part II

In Part I of "When Learning to Read is a Challenge", I discussed some of the differences in the way my ninth child processed images and written language compared to his non-dyslexic siblings. I wish that I had known early on just how differently he perceived the world. What I did realize early on was that he was unable to master reading in that almost effortless way that his siblings did.

Before I began teaching my oldest child, I created my own phonics program to teach her to read. I used this program for all of my children, and it worked beautifully. My method was simple. I took 3 x 5 cards and wrote one letter of the alphabet on each. I then wrote common combinations such as sh, ch, tr, etc. on other cards. First, I taught my students the name of each consonant and the sound it makes. I then taught them the name of each vowel and the long and short sound for each. After that I taught them the various common combinations. When they had mastered all of the cards, I showed them how these various sounds combine to make words.  I then introduced Dr. Seuss’ Hop on Pop as their first reader because it utilized many of the combinations that they had learned. Within six weeks after the day I first sat down and began teaching them using this method, they were reading.

Perhaps I should say that within six weeks after the day I first sat down and began teaching them using this method, nine out of ten of them were reading. For my ninth child, reading did not come easily. He had a great deal more difficulty recognizing the cards than his siblings did. It was not that he was not trying; he exerted enormous effort, and whenever he was able to complete an exercise correctly, I really heaped on the praise. Both of us wanted him succeed, but it was a slow process.

Years later one of my daughters told me that he had confided in her that he wished so much that he could read because “it would make Mom so happy.” When she told me that, I nearly cried because I was always aware of how difficult reading was for him. However, not learning to read was not an option. I knew that we both needed help, and I prayed continually about what I should do. After a while I developed a theory that I put into practice, and eventually it paid off.

I thought that a dyslexic child must lack the pathways to the brain that allow non-dyslexic children to learn to read easily. I reasoned that victims of stroke and brain injuries often have to re-learn to talk, read, and even walk by developing new pathways to allow the proper impulses to travel to the brain. Although my theory was strictly my own non-scientific opinion, I believed that this was the only way that I was going to be able to teach my ninth child to read. I would work with him utilizing hours of repetition until we were able to develop pathways that would allow him to process written language.

Because I began teaching all of my children to read shortly before their fifth birthdays, I continued to go over my phonics flash cards with them once each school day for about six months. For my ninth child, I went through the flash cards with him every school day for several years. He made progress, but reading was slow and laborious.

To make things easier I sat with him during his reading assignments.  I would read one page aloud to him while he followed along in the book and, then, he would read one page aloud to me. This kept the assignments from being too tedious. It also gave him the advantage of reinforcing his reading by hearing himself read.

Today I am more convinced than ever that the only way that he could ever have learned to read was by reading, reading, and more reading. I am reminded of the Olympic athletes who became gold medalists because they had disabilities that they had to work hard to overcome. They did not set out to become outstanding athletes—they were just trying to overcome problems that were not problems for “normal” people.

Scott Hamilton developed a mysterious disease at the age of two that caused him to stop growing. He began to skate as a therapy to help him overcome what was originally thought to be a condition that was terminal. Not only did he get well, he ended up becoming one of the greatest male figure skaters of all time.

Likewise, Michael Phelps was diagnosed as ADHD and got involved in swimming partially to help him burn off some of the energy that kept him from being able to sit still for extended periods of time. Consequently, in the 2008 Summer Olympics he won six gold and two bronze medals.  

As I mentioned in Part I of this blog, my ninth child did learn to read. He made excellent grades and received his master’s degree soon after his seventeenth birthday. The methods that I used to help him overcome his difficulties learning to read were simple, but they were not easy. It took love, patience and hard work on both our parts to overcome a situation that often seemed as if it were insurmountable. 

Next week:  When Learning to Read is a Challenge Part III

For more by Joyce Swann, visit her website at http://www.frontier2000.net/ or like her on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/frontier2000mediagroup.