5 Ways to Prevent the Traumatizing Effect of Reading Difficulties for Your Students via Reading Horizons

@ReadingHorizons

5 Ways to Prevent the Traumatizing Effect of Reading Difficulties for Your Students

Reading Horizons Blog: 10.25.2019 by Angela

“Horrified,” “brutal,” “nerve-wracking,” “awful,” “fear every moment” are a mix of terms and phrases used by struggling readers with dyslexia to describe their school experience in a two-part episode of Podclassed.

In the episode, host Laura Axtell points out that the vividness of the memories and the intensity of the words used by the adults in this episode to describe their school experiences mimic the pattern of recall of individuals who have experienced trauma through war, abuse, or other painful experiences.

Although watching a student struggle in school may not seem as devastating as other traumatic experiences, the feeling of failure and shame can produce a level of anxiety and depression that can be extremely difficult for these students to bear and overcome. These are powerful and difficult realizations. However, there are also a lot of things that can be done to prevent these feelings and experiences for struggling readers.

Screen every student for dyslexia

By screening each of your students for dyslexia, you open up several doors for at-risk students. First, you can point parents in the right direction for diagnosis when a student does show the risk factors of dyslexia. For many students, knowing the cause of their difficulty is freeing. When they know that their difficulties aren’t the result of stupidity but that their brains simply work differently, they are often empowered to learn how to work with their brains and embrace the unique abilities that result from dyslexia.

Second, you can identify which students are at-risk for reading difficulties. By knowing your at-risk students, you can pay extra attention to them during reading instruction and quickly intervene when they struggle with a lesson. If your school has an RTI or other reading intervention program in place, you can refer at-risk students for additional intervention. The earlier a student receives an intervention, the higher the likelihood of reading success. Early reading intervention can prevent the emotional trauma that can come from prolonged struggle.

Here is a free, non-diagnostic dyslexia screener that you can use to screen your students.  READ MORE >>