Developmental Literacy Impairments copy

Chapter 6: Developmental Literacy Impairments

Learning Outcomes (Owens, Metz & Farinella, 2019, p. 143)

• Understand key aspects of reading and its development.

• Identify and characterize reading problems across the lifespan.

• Detail assessment strategies and intervention methods for reading impairments.

• Understand key aspects of writing and its development.

• Identify and characterize writing problems throughout the lifespan.

• Detail assessment strategies and intervention methods for writing impairments.

Literacy (Owens, Metz & Farinella, 2019, p. 144)

• Definition: Literacy involves the use of visual stimuli for effective communication, encompassing reading and writing.

• Common issues include difficulties with reading and spelling.

• Literacy combines academic understanding with cognitive processes.

• Conversational skills play a significant role in a child's early reading capabilities.

• Literacy is fundamentally language-based, involving:

  • Encoding: The process of converting information into a coded format for understanding.

  • Decoding: Breaking down words into their phonetic components to interpret meaning.

  • Composing and comprehending: Creating text and understanding it effectively.

• Literacy challenges can vary in complexity and severity.

Reading (Owens, Metz & Farinella, 2019, p. 146)

• Reading Definition: The ability to decode and understand words.

• Phonological Awareness: Knowledge of sounds, syllables, and their structure in words, crucial for reading success.

  • Strong phonological skills correlate with better reading abilities.

  • Best predictor of spelling outcomes in elementary education.

Reading Skills Development (Owens, Metz & Farinella, 2019, p. 147-148)

• Morphological Awareness: Understanding the structure of words is critical for literacy performance by age 10.

• Comprehension: Combining textual material with knowledge and experience for understanding.

• Critical Literacy: Analyzing and synthesizing read information, elaborating on its implications.

• Dynamic Literacy: Relating information to prior knowledge, problem-solving, and reasoning effectively.

• Metacognition and Self-Appraisal: Awareness of one's cognitive processes; essential for self-regulation and effective learning strategies.

Reading Development Throughout the Lifespan (Owens, Metz & Farinella, 2019, p. 148)

• Emerging Literacy:

  • Initiated through shared reading interactions.

  • Dialogic Reading: Interactive reading that encourages dialogue between adult and child enhances literacy skills.

  • Print awareness develops by age 3; children become familiar with the concept and function of print.

  • By age 4, phonological similarities and syllable structures become apparent.

• Predicators for Kindergarten Readiness:

  • Oral language, letter knowledge, and print concept awareness, influenced by socioeconomic status (SES).

• Progressions:

  • First Grade: Focus on phonics; letter-sound associations are fundamental.

  • Third Grade: Transitioning from 'learning to read' to 'reading to learn'.

  • Middle School: Language predicts decoding and reading comprehension, especially for students with speech sound disorders.

  • High School: Overall language skills continue to predict decoding efficacy.

Mature Literacy (Owens, Metz & Farinella, 2019, p. 150)

• Mature literacy allows for:

  • Reduced cognitive energy needed for simple word recognition.

  • Increased cognitive focus on high-order processing and understanding of text.

  • Enhanced ability to predict subsequent words and conduct text analysis swiftly.

Reading Problems through the Lifespan (Owens, Metz & Farinella, 2019, p. 151)

• General Observations:

  • Articulation and language difficulties correlate with reading issues.

  • Children with good phonological skills but poor comprehension often have oral language challenges.

  • Children from low SES backgrounds develop language skills more slowly.

  • Signs of delayed literacy include letter recognition and phonological awareness deficits.

Dyslexia and Hyperlexia (Owens, Metz & Farinella, 2019, p. 152-153)

• Dyslexia: A specific learning disorder characterized by:

  • Poor word recognition and decoding.

  • Difficulties in phonological processing and spelling.

  • Neurobiological origins.

• Hyperlexia: Children display high word recognition but struggle with reading comprehension; may exhibit obsessive interest in language, often accompanied by social skill challenges.

Causes of Reading Challenges (Owens, Metz & Farinella, 2019, p. 153)

• Extrinsic Factors: Include exposure to reading materials and instructional methods.

• Intrinsic Factors: Encompass genetic predispositions, vision, and auditory processing issues, attention deficits, and neurological conditions.

Developmental Reading Assessment and Intervention (Owens, Metz & Farinella, 2019, p. 155-156)

• Assessment Strategies:

  • Comprehensive evaluation of phonological awareness, word recognition, and decoding skills.

  • Consider cultural and linguistic backgrounds during assessments.

  • Utilize both formal and informal assessment techniques to establish a rounded understanding of the child’s abilities.

• Intervention Approaches:

  • Focus on segmenting, blending sounds, and morphological awareness.

  • Employ multisensory techniques to engage learning.

Writing (Owens, Metz & Farinella, 2019, p. 166)

• Writing is characterized by its abstract nature and necessity for understanding various writing forms, including:

  • Narrative: Telling a story or recounting events.

  • Expository: Explaining or informing.

  • Writing skills develop progressively, integrating spelling, phonology, and memory.

Writing Development Throughout the Lifespan (Owens, Metz & Farinella, 2019, p. 166-168)

• Early Stages:

  • Ages 3-4: Begin with scribbling and drawing.

  • Ages 9-10: Spoken and written systems begin to diverge.

• Emergence of Mature Writing Skills: Recognizing audience, developing complex sentences, and using effective narrative structures.

  • In elementary years, narrative forms develop first, followed by more complex expository text in adolescence.

Writing Problems through the Lifespan (Owens, Metz & Farinella, 2019, p. 146)

• Common writing deficits include:

  • Poor spelling and phonological processing.

  • Underdeveloped executive functions result in disorganized writing with limited elaboration.

  • Text generation challenges lead to simplistic sentence structures and frequent errors in grammar and punctuation.

Assessments and Intervention for Writing Impairment (Owens, Metz & Farinella, 2019, p. 146)

• Assessment Components:

  • Utilize standardized tests for spelling and text generation measurement.

  • Evaluate vocabulary richness and coherence in written expression.

• Intervention Techniques:

  • Integrate reading and writing exercises through multisensory techniques.

  • Focus on narrative structure by employing story grammar and writing maps.

  • Encourage self-regulation and effective planning in the writing process.

References

• Owens, R. E., Jr., Metz, D. E., & Farinella, K. A. (2019). Introduction to Communication Disorders: A Lifespan Evidence-based Perspective (6th Edition). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.