What reading disabled children need: What is known and how to talk about it

Abstract

Specific reading disability has a genetic and neuropsychological basis in most children. This article considers what this evidence suggests about a prognosis for reading disabilities and how the evidence can inform decisions about instruction and about research in remediation. Instruction in phonemic awareness (noticing and manipulating speech sounds below the syllable level) and in phonological coding (matching phonemes to regularities in print) helps reading-disabled children improve their deficiencies in word recognition and phonological coding. Researchers need to communicate this information clearly, so that educators can see how to include effective preventive and remedial techniques in their own instructional programs.