Reading Intervention

What is Reading Intervention

Reading requires the complex integration of several skills including language skills and cognitive skill, which are called upon simultaneously to work together. Research has shown that the reading pathways in the brain develop from the language pathways. The integration of all the requisite skills for reading occur in a hierarchical fashion, and, in order for any level to work well, it is necessary for the lower levels to be automatic so that available brain resources can be used for the higher levels. A breakdown in processing at any one or multiple levels of this hierarchy can result in a reading delay which will require reading intervention. Reading intervention often requires an integrated approach to address the multiple processes involved in reading. The following levels of reading assist in the diagnoses and the intervention of reading struggles:

Who Should Do Reading Intervention

Reading intervention can be used for both reading remediation for reading delays but it can also be used to strengthen reading skills that are already in place. There are several diagnoses and conditions which typically require reading intervention. The most common ones are:

Programs for Reading Intervention

Fast ForWord Programs

Scientific Learning provides a variety of programs which emphasize training and remediation of auditory processing systems, language systems and reading skills. Their programs have been successful in the treatment of auditory processing delays and disorders. Each Fast ForWord Language program provides exercises for different levels of auditory processing and language processing from the earliest levels of processing the elements of sound to later levels of processing multi-step instructions and language comprehension tasks. Each level the program is designed to prepare the brain for learning through working on key foundational aspects of cognitive functioning, processing speed, memory, and attention.

In addition to the Fast ForWord language programs, Fast ForWord provides a series of reading programs that can be used in conjunction with the language programs to reinforce the auditory processing aspects of reading skills. Auditory processing deficits result in the inability to process clear phonological representations which leads to impaired phonological awareness. Phonological awareness is an essential skills for reading. Combining the reading programs with the language programs results in stronger auditory processing abilities, and ensures continued practice in the area of auditory processing while improving reading skills.

Reading Readiness

Although this program is called reading readiness and represents the first program in the reading series for reading intervention it is an excellent program for foundational auditory processing skills for young children. This program is effective because the temporal aspects of the sounds and words presented in the tasks are modified to allow for easier processing. This program allows for early practice of phonemic awareness skills, sound recognitions skills, auditory discrimination skills, processing of the temporal aspects of sound, and auditory attention.

Fast ForWord Language v2

Fast ForWord Language v2 is an effective intervention for children with early stage deficits in auditory processing as it is a level 1 intervention program. Each exercise targets different foundational skills such as sounds frequencies, phonemes, syllables, and finally words and sentences. The program builds upon the cognitive skills to provide individualized, intensive practice on the underlying auditory elements of language processing skills. Sound exercises present complex auditory information in a pre-word format with digitally enhanced speech sounds. The syllables, words and sentences tasks at the higher levels, have been acoustically modified to emphasize the rapidly changing phonetic elements within natural speech. These modifications provide an ideal environment for learning language based information when there are deficits in the auditory processing mechanism. The exercises at this level provide essential skills for learning to read.

Fast ForWord Language to Reading

This is a second level program that provides additional practice with basic speech sounds while performing in reading tasks. Similar to Fast ForWord Language v2 the exercises have been acoustically modified to emphasize the rapidly changing phonetic elements within natural speech. This level adds new sequences of sound combinations with different time durations, as well as more word exercises of various levels of linguistic complexity. The Language to Reading program also adds reinforcement of reading concepts such as graphemes, the letters that represent phonemes, and elements of visual tracking to support left-to-right reading patterns.

Fast ForWord Literacy and Literacy Advanced

Although these programs continue to develop auditory skills for processing sounds, syllables, and words, they introduce activities for used auditory cohesion and auditory/listening comprehension, sequencing of multi-step instructions, and auditory-visual memory skills. The activities provide advanced grammatical structures and vocabulary, as well as auditory skills related to reading such as phonemic awareness, decoding, and word recognition skills.

Fast ForWord Reading Series

Fast ForWord Reading provides a series of reading programs that develop reading skills through intensive language based activities. Like their language series the reading series combines training of cognitive skills such as attention and memory, language skills, and auditory processing skills, to target critical reading skills at various levels of reading development. There are five levels of training in the reading series.

The flexibility of these programs allows for training at multiple levels within the same training session for a more individualized therapy program that is geared towards individual needs rather then a one size fits all approach.

Reading Assistant

The Reading Assistant program targets reading from a different approach by focusing on the aspects of reading which lend to the ability to read text accurately, quickly and fluently. This process incorporates both the decoding aspect of reading as well as the comprehension aspect of reading and how they work together to make successful readers.
There are three main components addressed in this program:

How Does it Work?

The first stage of training provides the trainee with an opportunity to read on their own or to have the passage read to them.

The reader models correct pronounciation, inflection, and rhythm. The trainee may click on any word in the passage to hear it pronounced. The program allows the reader to practice vocabulary skills by selecting key concepts throughout the passage that are underlined. When the trainee selects these words, the computer provides a definition with contextual support. Build into the system is also the ability to click on certain parts of the passage to activate “think about” questions to encourage active reading comprehension.

In the next stage of training, the trainee reads aloud while the computer records. During this stage reading assistant provides guided oral reading support through a real-time feedback mechanism which guides accurate word pronounciations and speed of reading.

In the final stage, the program presents a quiz which tests the trainees comprehension of the entire passage.
Before the trainee can pass to the next story, they must attain a fluency goal and comprehension goal that was determined by baseline reading test performance levels.

Cogmed

Working memory is the core of the information processing system. The process of reading requires that an individual hold many pieces of information in a very limited working memory system. If that system is overloaded with processing early stage reading skills such as decoding and fluency, then there is no working space available for the comprehension elements required for successful reading.

This is why it is important to train memory skills, especially working memory skills in order to help increase the working memory capacity and automate certain elements of reading.

Lindamood Bell Programs

The Lindamood Bell reading programs focus on the sensory-cognitive processing and language processing skills used for reading and comprehension. These skills include word attack, sight word recognition, contextual fluency, oral vocabulary and comprehension.

The programs used in the integrative model for intervention are:

Hear Builder

Hear Builder is a program that addresses language and auditory processing skills in children from PreK to eighth grade. It provides individualized instruction at three levels of difficulty in 5 key areas of auditory and language development. Within each key area there are specific activities designed to target the multiple skills sets which are required for mastery of the domain. The following 5 areas and their skills sets are as follows:

This program provides comprehensive training in a variety of areas to improve early developing language skills, auditory processing skills and reading skills.

How Our Reading Intervention is Different

Through the use of different brain scans researchers have identified two specific neural pathways for reading, both residing in the left side of the brain. The Brodmann system also identifies several areas of the brain essential for the task of reading. These areas correspond to the locations of the sensors in the Brain Map/QEEG analysis. When any of these reading specific areas are identified through the brain map as being disrupted in some way, neurofeedback training can be used to retrain those specific regions. This targeted training addresses reading from the core brain processes and results in significantly improved reading abilities in a shorter amount of time.