Ask the Expert
Expert: Cherie Takemoto

During the month of April, Cherie Takemoto answered your questions about helping readers with special needs.

Read her response to question 4 below.

Question 4:
Hi!
I'm wondering if you can suggest helpful hints on how to get my second grade son to better enjoy reading. He's quite a bit behind the rest of his class without any apparent "need" (as far as his school teachers are concerned) for extra help, and his other subject areas are fine...so far. It's been a vicious circle that has led to his inferior reading skills — first, he'd much rather play than read, so he doesn't read often enough; second, because he doesn't read often enough, he struggles; third, because he struggles, he doesn't like to read — and the cycle starts all over. I've tried pleading, praising, awarding, punishing...he hates to read.

He starts 3rd grade next year, and I'm very concerned that his inferior reading skills will hinder the rest of his subjects. Also, my concerns do not seem to be important to the teachers that I've voiced them too; I get "He's fine." Any helpful hints on how to get my point across more firmly and make something cooperative happen between my son, his school, and me? I believe that my son is more than capable of developing better skills — so long as we can get to work on it now —I just haven't found a way to entice him. I would appreciate any hints you may give.
Thanks,
Trish

Response from Cherie Takemoto:
Dear Trish,
What a frustrating position! I know that sometimes it may seem like you are the only one who is concerned about your child's learning struggles. It is definitely not too late to get him back on a path to being a successful student and reader. My comments are for you, your son, and your son's school.

For you first: Your love and concern for your son are two of your greatest assets here. Use that conviction that there are answers and approaches to help him learn by combining information with that love so that you can be a cheerleader and advocate for him. Being the parent of a child with disabilities, I have been up many a late night, finding answers on the Internet. My frustration when I couldn't find the information I needed stimulated my interest in creating a website at PEATC (www.peatc.org) where families could find answers to their questions. In addition to a series "For the Love of Reading" to help frustrated parents like you keep their perspective and get ideas (click on "reading" from the main page), the "disability information" section has some information that you may find helpful about special education and communicating with your school. Of course, the RIF site has a wealth of good ideas for you to try.

Next, your child: Spend some time thinking about how he learns and what he likes. The previous two questions might give you some ideas for building on what he likes and does well. What is important is that he finds opportunities to LIKE to read. This is something that you can help him with, even if you are not an expert on reading.

• Cuddling up to enjoy a good book, (with you reading and refraining from turning it into a reading exercise!) might give him a thirst for more reading.
• Finding some good reading websites for kids helps. Some of these sites include talking text, icons, and other ways for children who are not good readers to get around the site and enjoy.
• Giving him things to read that aren't too difficult. A rule of thumb is don't give him something to read that has more than a few words on the page that he struggles with. For a child who likes to play and move around, having to slow down to get the intended meaning of the text is even more difficult.
• Document what happens when he is struggling with reading and homework. What is his behavior? What can he do right now. What happens when he is able to do things well?
• Find out if he has any visual issues that may be making it difficult for him to read.

Finally your child's school: Find out what reading practices your school uses to teach children to read. The US Department of Education has a wealth of information about reading practices that work. Go to www.ed.gov. On the search engine type "reading" and choose from among the many subcategories available to you. Find out what your child's teacher is doing for reading. Is it a structured and balanced approach to reading that is based on evidence based practices? Are there reading resources that you can share? Are there activities you can do at home that complement what is happening at school?

If you are worried that your child may have a learning disability, speech/language or attention problems, you can request that the school conduct an evaluation. Put information about your child's specific problems and your specific concerns. Ask them to conduct an evaluation. If the school takes a "wait and see" approach, ask them for specific activities (in writing) that they will undertake to remediate his problem or decide that more testing is necessary.

It is important to share your concerns and let the school know that you want to work with them to help your child. A couple of resources on our website might help:

• How to Talk so Schools Will Listen
  This PDF document will give you some ideas for helping the schools understand your concerns and for helping you learn what your child's school might do to help.
• Put it in Writing
  This PDF document offers some pointers about how to make sure the schools clearly understand, in writing, your child's unique situation and what you would like the schools to do to help.

For individual help, each state has a parent training and information center that can offer personal assistance to families of students who either have or are suspected of having disabilities and those who work with them. The up-to-date contact information from your state is available at the Alliance website.

Best of luck!

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