How can someone with LD improve reading skills?

Question

I have LD. I have absolutley no idea what level I read at, but I know it can't be very high. I absolutly hate reading, but I know it's important. I know that I struggle with almost every word in my text books. How can I improve reading skills?

School will not help. To many students, only one Learing strategist.

Thanks

Answer 1

As an educational psychologist, I agree completely with ibd's statement that the best way to improve reading is to read something you like reading. Also, it can help to re-read the same article/page 2-3 times to improve your recognition of the words and understand the meaning.

However, there is NO evidence that reading problems are linked to eye tracking problems. Much money, time and hope has been wasted on efforts to improve eye tracking when it does nothing to improve reading ability. Check out these websites for evidence from highly trusted universities and medical associations.

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cg...

http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi...

I am sorry to rant, but I don't want parents or people with reading problems to fall for this ineffective method.

Answer 2

Good reading skills come with practice.  My best advice is to subscribe to a magazine that you REALY enjoy.  Magazine  articles are short, and you can feel a sense of accomplishement after completing each one. The experience is easier because you REALY enjoy the topics.  This helps motivate you. Many reading problems are actually eye tracking problems.  The muscles in the eye move in a jerky fashion, instead of smoothly scanning the words.  This causes confusion between the letters p,q,b,and d because the eye scans the letters both forwards,  backwards, up, and down uncontrolably. This is the main cause of dyslexia.  Poor eye tracking also causes you to re-read lines over again instead of scanning down to the next line.  Parrents often scold kids for playing video games too much, and not doing enough reading, but if you have dyslexia, the video game playing can actually improve your eye coordination, and thus improve your reading skills.  (IQ test scores  have been on  rise over the past few decades, and the experts attribute this trend to video games.) A quick test for your eye coordination is to have a friend hold a pencil, and move it back and fourth, as well as up and down.  Have them watch your eyes as you follow it. (keep your head still).  If your eyes make jerky movements while the pencil is moving smoothly, you know you have poor eye muscle coordination. You cannot sense that you are doing it .  Only the person moving the pencil can tell if the eyes are jerking. Part of the problem is that the brain learns to compensate for the jerky movements, so you cannot tell you are doing it.  The only evidence you have is those "p"s and "q"s switching back and fourth.  You may want to see an eye specialist that will proscribe excercises to improve your eye movements.  The important thing to keep in mind is that kids may call you stupid, but you are NOT. Most reading problems have a physical cause and would eventually right themselves in time with maturity.  The real problem comes because the school curriculum cannot wait for that, and it keeps building, and building.  Meanwhile, if your eyes are keeping you form keeping pace, you will fall further behind, and feel bad about yourself.  This is the REAL danger. So, get some help with this because it will help you your whole life to do well in  school.

Answer 3

An easy way to learn to read is to watch TV with the captions turned on.  Just sit back and enjoy the program, watch the words, and easily learn. Soon you'll be reading like a pro.