Effective Reading Strategies for Disabled Learners

Reading Strategies for Students with Learning Disabilities

Reading is a critical survival skill for students with disabilities. Students with learning disabilities will experience multiple challenges in reading decoding, comprehension, and fluency. Many studies have shown that children who struggle with reading difficulties are often at higher risk for dropping out of school and developing psychiatric disorders. Therefore, early identification and intervention of reading difficulties is crucial for positive academic, social emotional, and economic outcomes (Partanen, Siegel, 2013). Unlike students with learning disabilities, good readers effortlessly recognize words and build

One of the most important skills that students need to learn is how to learn. Knowing specific techniques and strategies to help with learning can enable students to become strategic, effective, and lifelong learners (Sturomski, 1997). Strategies used for learning can be simple or complex, cognitive or metacognitive. Simple strategies are strategies that many of us use. Simple strategies may include asking questions, taking notes, or rereading a passage that is confusing to us. Complex strategies, on the other hand, may be a set of several strategies used together. For example, a complex strategy for writing might include three simple strategies of prewriting, writing, and editing. Each complex strategy includes several simple strategies in and of itself. Strategies can also be categorized as cognitive and metacognitive. Cognitive strategies help a person process and manipulate information. Much like simple strategies, cognitive strategies are very task-specific and are useful when learning and performing certain tasks such as filling out a chart and answering specific