Oh, thank you  thank you thank you.  Your words hit the target right on.
Every word you say rings true.

The next question to ask: when will the colleges preparing teachers of K-6
(responsible for teaching reading) follow a curriculum based on scientific
research?  Teachers would then have the tools you so correctly suggest.

Lucille Cuttler

Founder of Project Literacy/Outreach, Inc. - a non-profit agency preparing
volunteers in Orton-Gillingham methods. All services delivered free to an
underserved population.  No charge to volunteers for a 21 hour course.  This
organization (1986 to 2004) proved the method works.




  -----Original Message-----
  From: learningdisabilities-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:learningdisabilities-bounces at nifl.gov]On Behalf Of John Nissen
  Sent: Saturday, January 28, 2006 4:32 PM
  To: The Learning Disabilities Discussion List
  Cc: Lisa Seeman; Debbie Hepplewhite; DAVID FULLERTON; New Vision
Technology; John Rack
  Subject: [LearningDisabilities] Reading difficulties in adults - a legacy
ofpast teaching methods



  Hello everybody,

  This was to be in the "Educational Resources", but I've changed to a new
heading, since I am making a new point.  (Thanks for your moderation,
Rochelle).

  In the discussion on this list concerning "Educational Resources" there
seems to be an assumption that adults have reading problems for different
reasons from children.  For example it is said that "models from K-12 don't
work".  But we know, from reports on the Clackmannanshire study, that 20% of
children are failing to read satisfactorily if taught by methods that do not
put phonics first: and teach phonemic awareness, the alphabetic principle
and blending skills.  As these children grow up, they remain poor readers
and writers.  In fact it is more than 20% who are struggling at work.  A
recent report shows that 40% of the workforce in the UK have a reading age
of children, see
http://education.guardian.co.uk/further/story/0,,1693572,00.html.  This is
the dreadful legacy of decades of teaching by the wrong methods - methods
which do not teach phonics systematically, first and fast.

  If you work on the assumption that reading problems arise from teaching by
the wrong method, then everything falls into place.  For example consider
the heart-wrenching story from the "MedicalHELP" programme, referred to by
Barbara Guyer on this list.  Go to http://www.marshall.edu/medicalhelp/ and
press on the button "Here" to read the "compelling story".  It is quite
clear to me that this person had not been taught to read by an effective
method, and suffered the most dreadful consequences.  If you'd asked him
what the problem was, he'd have blamed himself.  He did not have a different
"learning style", it was the teaching that was the problem.

  Following up on another pointer from the list, see message below, I went
to www.ahead.org.  From here I looked at the "AHEAD Deaf & Hard of Hearing
SIG.  http://www.jsu.edu/depart/dss/ahead_sig/links.html and followed the
link concerning Cued Hearing.  I know that hearing people have great
difficulty in learning to read, and the average deaf adult has a reading age
of a child.  So I was interested to read this article:
http://www.cuedspeech.org/sub/viewpoints/overcome_late_start.asp
  which shows how attention to phonics teaching, through cueing the
phonemes, lead to success. It shows that systematic/synthetic phonics can be
applied for profoundly deaf children by using a different modality from
speech, namely visual cueing of the phonemes.  Julie persisted in her
phonics approach, although a significant challenge in her first year were
the people who were "philosophically opposed to the program".  You bet!   It
seems that when anybody tries synthetic phonics they get a lot of opposition
at first, but people are converted when they see the results.

  Cheers from Chiswick,

  John Nissen
  Cloudworld Ltd - http://www.cloudworld.co.uk
  maker of the assistive reader, WordAloud.
  Try WordAloud with synthetic phonics:
  http://www.cloudworld.co.uk/teaching-synthetic-phonics.htm
  Tel: +44 208 742 3170  Fax: +44 208 742 0202
  Email: info at cloudworld.co.uk


    ----- Original Message -----
    From: bgiven at gmu.edu
    To: The Learning Disabilities Discussion List
    Cc: learningdisabilities at nifl.gov
    Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2006 4:48 PM
    Subject: Re: [LearningDisabilities] Educational resources for someone
interested in a profession working with


    also, there is a strong LD teacher preparation program at George Mason
University in Fairfax, VA. bkg

    Barbara K. Given, Ph.D.
    Director, Adolescent and Adult Learning Research Center
    Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study, and
    Director, Center for Honoring Individual Learning Diversity and
International Learning Style
    George Mason University
    Fairfax, VA 22030-4444
    Fax: 703-993-4325
    Ph:  703-993-4406




----------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Suggest that he go to
    www.ahead.org

    as one source of information.

    He may also find useful information at the websites for the
International Dyslexia Association and the Learning Disabilities
Association.

    There are degrees in Rehabilitation, counseling psych, learning
disabilities, etc. at many universities.

    Many disability services providers in colleges/universities, though,
come from a wide range of backgrounds, some having nothing to do with
disabilities (which is not necessarily a good thing.)

    Nancy Reed


    Nancy Larkin Reed, Ph.D., CCC-SLP,
    Liaison/Consultant
    Regents Center for Learning Disorders
    Georgia State University
    P.O. Box 3995
    Atlanta, GA 30303-3995
    404/651-4662
    nreed at gsu.edu
    www.gsu.edu/rcld
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