Page 140 - Reading Nest - The Supportive Literacy Environment Handbook

Causes of reading difficulties include biological (genetic changes and particulars of the brain

and its operation) and related cognitive reasons: deviations in vision and hearing, difficulty in
dividing speech into sounds, sequencing sounds in speech and writing, difficulty in developing

sound-letter relationships, that is learning letters, low volume of short-term memory. Literature

often refers to social causes or reduced access to written texts/culture of writing and/or
unsuitable schooling. Neither teachers nor parents can control biological causes but social

causes can be effectively tackled both in school and at home, e.g. designing the physical and
mental environments which support literacy, encourage children’s literacy and promote their

motivation.

A low socio-economic level in a family is considered a risk factor of reading difficulties, in

other words poverty and poor educational attainment. Educational institutions have an essential
role to play in supporting age relevant development of literacy in children from at-risk families.

Creating and stimulating interest in reading at an early age in the case of complicated family

circumstances may help to avoid future learning difficulties, dropping out of school and adverse
effects on the labour market.

Markers of risk of reading difficulty in preschool age

Markers related to speech

• delayed speech;

• difficulty in remembering words and syllables/sounds and recalling them;

• confusing similarly sounding words (cure-pure, loom-boom);

• difficulties in getting the length of vowels and consonants right (important in the
Estonian language for it determines the meaning of some words/utterances);

• difficulties in sequencing words in a sentence;
• difficulties in the perception of rhythm and learning poems by heart;

• difficulties in uttering and correcting words (calvary-cavalry, asking-aksing);

• difficulties in learning sounds and letters, all sounds which sound similar and
letters which appear similar are mixed up (M-N, U-O, K-P, P-T);

• difficulties in learning and using temporal and spatial notions (left-right, up-

down, front-back, yesterday-today-tomorrow);