This newsletter has been created to inform and educate people about current findings that can help a struggling reader. We also hope that the content of the newsletter will inspire those who struggle, that there is hope.

Those who struggle with reading usually also have problems with spelling. Spelling can be very scary for children and adults. We often associate spelling skills with intelligence, and, as a result, we feel that if we are poor spellers, it must mean we are not very bright and should be ashamed of and hide our weakness. Spelling skills have to do with the language centers of our brains and how we process and have nothing to do with intelligence. Spelling is a mirror process of reading and involves both decoding and encoding, so it tends to be more difficult and takes a little longer to see improvement, but with the right program it can improve at least some. Many with reading struggles may learn to read fairly well, but difficulties with spelling and handwriting may persist throughout life, requiring accommodations and understanding from those who teach or work with the individual.

In an article compiled by the International Dyslexic Association and Louisa Cook Moats, Ed.D, it states:

One common but mistaken belief is that spelling problems stem from a poor visual memory for the sequences of letters in words. Recent research, how ever, shows that a general kind of visual memory plays a relatively minor role in learning to spell. Spelling problems, like reading problems, originate with language-learning weaknesses. Therefore, spelling reversals of easily confused letters such as B and D, or sequences of letters, such as wnet for went, are manifestations of underlying language learning weaknesses rather than of a visually based problem. Most of us know individuals who have excellent visual memories for pictures, color schemes, design elements, mechanical drawings, maps, and landscape features, for example, but who spell poorly. The kind of visual memory necessary for spelling is closely "wired in" to the language-processing networks in the brain. Click to view the complete article.

Those who struggle with spelling are helped when they are taught word patterns and strategies to determine what the letters are saying. The English language is not unpredictable or crazy, and students will be able to store and recall spellings more often and more accurately if they are taught these predictable English patterns in a systematic, explicit way.

Spelling in classrooms should be structured around word patterns and similar phonetic skills. The students should be taught decoding skills for the words and should work with meaning in context in order to have the skills "stick." Otherwise, the words will be memorized for the test and forgotten a few days later. We want these students to be able to use these words far beyond the test. Those parents working at home with their children should request that their children's spelling tests be organized in this manner. If the teacher is not willing to accommodate, then parents should take the spelling lists, try to find common phonetic skills, and group those together, decoding and breaking down the words and using them in context to help with meaning.

This section contains names of famous or recognized people who have been reported in the media, on the Web, and in books as having some form of dyslexia or struggling in school.

The unforgettable Elizabeth Daniels Squire, a native of Raleigh, North Carolina, and a graduate of Vassar College, created the character of Peaches Dann, the absent-minded detective who is one of the most original crime solvers. An Agatha Award winner, Liz was working on her ninth mystery at the time of her death in February 2001.

"I am convinced that learning to read does not have to be such a frustrating experience."
- Barbara Janasz, Elk River, Minnesota

View more success stories.

Why does cat begin with a "C" and kitten begins with a "K"?

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