Overcoming literacy difficulties in education

Abstract

In this chapter, we focus specifically on dyslexia, dysgraphia, and poor reading comprehension across cultures. These literacy difficulties represent a source of adversity in education. Dyslexia and dysgraphia are specific difficulties in word reading and word writing, respectively. Poor reading comprehension reflects a specific difficulty in comprehension of text, often involving struggles with language comprehension itself. These literacy difficulties often lead to frustration and failure across academic subjects. Following a review of research on the nature of these specific literacy difficulties, we then consider possible remediation strategies for each. We consider both work-through and workaround approaches, highlighting the importance of early interventions to prevent adversity in education.