Speech processing or visual processing? What is the reason for my reading difficulties?
Learning to read and write is a challenge: Learning to read and write fluently is an even greater challenge!
Many children have difficulties with reading and writing and most people immediately think:
‘Dyslexia’
But did you know that not all reading and writing problems are caused by dyslexia?
Dyslexia versus cerebral vision impairment (CVI)
Dyslexia
Processing speech sounds
CVI
Processing vision
The cause of reading and writing difficulties is important to understand as this will affect what approach is likely to be more effective. Most children are not able to verbalise if they have visual difficulties and therefore, an assessment is indicated to identify these before strategies and adaptations are put in place.
Let me give you some examples from my clinical practice:
Child stops reading after the first few lines: It is possible that this child has a lower field impairment, which means that it is harder to concentrate on the bottom half of the page.
Child finds it difficult to see the next word: It is possible that this child has poor vision on their right side
Child finds it difficult to find the beginning of the next line: It is possible that this child has poor vision on their left side
Child used to enjoy reading, but suddenly finds it harder: Some children struggle when the text becomes more crowded and the print becomes smaller
These are just some examples and a detailed assessment is required to establish what is causing the reading difficulties. For problems like the ones mentioned above, simple strategies can be taught, which will improve their reading performance.
