Tests :
Children with normal reading processes spontaneously begin to decode and segment words at age 4-6 years. The most reliable indicator of a reading difficulty is the inability to decode single words. The 3 components of phonological processing that predict reading ability are (1) awareness of different phonemes (eg, say cup without the /k/ sound), (2) ability to name objects, letters, or numbers quickly, and (3) working memory (ie, ability to accurately repeat sentences, words, or strings of numbers). While assessment of intellectual ability, IQ, and achievement level is included in a standard school assessment of reading, these data are unreliable predictors of overall reading ability. Phonological processing ability is the best predictor of reading. An educator trained as a reading specialist, a child psychologist, or a child neuropsychologist is usually best able to examine a child with a reading problem.
Medical care
No medical care is indicated for reading disorders. Appropriate referrals to a special education (SPED) setting, specialized tutoring setting, or both would prove important for long-term progress.
Intervention strategies
Because reading problems affect significant numbers of children, skillful early intervention at school or home can go far to ameliorate mild reading difficulties. The following strategies apply both to early intervention and to remedial work for an older child who reads poorly:
Phonemic awareness tasks in kindergarten include rhyming, making discriminations between similar but different words, blending sounds into words, isolating sounds from words, and segmenting words. These tasks prepare the child for reading, and all have shown some effectiveness in research settings.
Explicitly teaching children about segmenting and blending words has proven more effective in teaching reading than programs that do not explicitly teach those skills.
In first grade, explicit instruction in how the most common sounds are spelled enhances both reading and spelling skills.
Showing children how to sound out words and then providing texts they can decode helps in practicing and retaining learned sound-spelling relationships.
Some schools do not emphasize these processes. The only option for children in these schools is to find an appropriate reading tutor or after-school reading program. Programs that use the Orton-Gillingham or Lindamood-Bell methods have some success teaching students with reading disorders. Both systems emphasize sound recognition and sound-symbol relationships as the basis for reading.
Parents should evaluate private reading clinics and also inquire about reading clinics offered by local colleges of education. Helpful software programs also are available to teach phonemic recognition; programs such as Reader Rabbit or Blues Clues can be effective adjuncts to tutoring and classroom intervention.
Medication :
For children with ADHD, appropriate stimulant treatment is indicated; otherwise, no medical treatment is suggested for reading problems.