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Supporting At-Risk and Below Grade Level Readers: A Guide for Families

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Understanding the Causes and Characteristics:  Readers who do not, or are considered below grade level, have to deal with academically and socially very challenging issues. Causes can be anything from learning disabilities such as dyslexia, and lack of access to books, to trouble with phonetics and decoding. The brain condition called dyslexia causes problems with accurate and fluent word recognition, spelling, and decoding. Such difficulties can create frustration, low self-esteem, and social withdrawal.  On the academic side, these students can be failing in understanding, vocabulary, and overall progress. Socially, they may be bored or fearful of reading in front of a group or doing anything literacy-based. So, Identifying these characteristics is the initial step to targeted support.  How to Spot Reading Challenges and Dyslexia? The diagnostic process for whether a student has dyslexia or risk of reading difficulties consists of a few stages: 1. Observation: Teachers...