Reading Difficulties in Children

Reading difficulties in children attending primary school may occur for a number of the following reasons:

They have a persistent phonological speech disorder.

They may have problems learning the connection between letters and sounds.

They can sound out the letters in a word but not blend the sounds together to say the word; such a reading disorder can be common in the early development years but persist into adolescence when words become longer and more difficult to sound out.

They sound out the word correctly but still don’t understand what they have read which is one of the main causes of reading difficulties.

They may have a reading disorder which impacts their ability to read sight words. Sight words are those which cannot usually be sounded out and must just be learnt. Reading strategies for children must therefore include those which help them sound out words (phonics) and also read sight words (repeated exposure and practise).

Reading difficulties in children and adolescents can be made worse when the entire page is full of text and light on images. Those with reading disorders will become overwhelmed, lose their place on the page or even refuse to attempt to read any of it.

Reading disorders can occur due to underlying learning difficulties relating to problems following instructions. This can make helping your child to read and write very difficult.

Speech Pathologists at Speak & Write can help because they have extensive experience in breaking down the language in instructions to help children with learning difficulties so they achieve success.