The title reads “Not all reading disabilities are dyslexia”. It certainly caught my eye. Plenty of the students we see can read the words just fine. They can spell anything. What they can’t do is understand what they are reading.

Vanderbilt University’s website recently featured an article about ongoing research into Specific Reading Comprehension Deficits (S-RCD). This deficit describes those who can read accurately and fluently but can’t grasp the meaning of what they are reading. The research is delving into the brain processing involved in language comprehension in an effort to pinpoint the specific regions contributing to our ability to understand language. It’s pretty interesting stuff, and gaining momentum in the scientific realm. To find out more, check out this link:Vanderbilt University

We’ve long been aware that students who fail to comprehend the spoken word will also struggle with the written word. We’ve also been aware of the fact that just because a child can read the words easily doesn’t mean he can understand what he read. It’s not that these kids aren’t paying attention or don’t care, it’s that their brains don’t react to language the same way, so they don’t “get it”. We’ve been eagerly watching the research on this reading disorder unfold, and it’s finally beginning to confirm what we’ve known for a long time– that students who don’t comprehend easily aren’t “blowing it off” or “just not bright enough to learn like other kids do”. These students are struggling because a brain processing function isn’t fully developed and supporting their efforts to learn.

To find out more about what can be done to develop the brain processing that supports language comprehension, check out this link:Visual/Verbal Integration