[NIFL-LD:3937] Re: assessment of LD

From: Anne Murr (anne.murr@DRAKE.EDU)
Date: Fri Mar 08 2002 - 15:37:24 EST


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From: Anne Murr <anne.murr@DRAKE.EDU>
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Subject: [NIFL-LD:3937] Re: assessment of LD
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Art, you wrote:

"Interesting that the diagnosis makes the assumption that the student 
was exposed to a perfect learning scenario delivered by a perfectly 
qualified teacher and because they didn't learn the material in this 
perfect situation they, the student, must be dysfunctional.  ??

Am I the only one here who sees this?"

My response:
The student is not dysfunctional, he or she just processes 
information differently.  With direct, intensive, systematic, 
multisensory instruction he or she can learn to read.  Research has 
shown that children who read below grade level can be brought up to 
grade level with such instruction (Torgesen and others).  They will 
still read much more slowly than their peers but they will read.

IF young children receive the type of instruction they need as they 
begin to learn, instead of waiting until they are 2 years behind and 
then remediation begins, we will come much closer to the goal of 
every child reading at grade level by grade 3.

I do not blame teachers.  Teachers need the information they need to 
teach the 50% of the children who struggle with phonemic awareness 
and phonological processing.  Children also need a stimulating 
language and print-rich environment.  As Louisa Moats has written, 
Teaching Reading is Rocket Science.  There is not one complete 
answer, but we do know many of the necessary pieces. Stimulatingn 
development from birth to age 5 is another essential prerequisite for 
learning.

Anne





-- 
Anne Murr, Coordinator
Adult Literacy Center
School of Education
Drake University
3206 University Ave.
Des Moines, IA 50311
anne.murr@drake.edu
   Tel 515-271-3982
   Fax 515-271-4544



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