If your teen avoids reading or becomes impatient or frustrated when reading, it could be he has a learning disability. This condition makes reading comprehension more difficult. The National Institutes of Child Health estimates that 20 percent of children have difficulties learning to read.
If her comprehension isn’t good, a teenager may regard reading as a waste of time. It’s possible for a child or teenager to be fluent in phonics, but have trouble with comprehension.
Many schools are now detecting reading problems in children by second grade. Those children are given extra support. But unfortunately, some children with weak fundamental reading skills don't get diagnosed until later years. If this is the case, Angela Zappavigna, M.S.Ed, director of the Sylvan Learning Center since 1995, suggests you do the following:
- Don’t select books over your child’s head. It’s possible to get books that are age-appropriate, but adapted for easier reading.
- Have your teenager keep a journal in which he summarizes what he has read. This will in turn help develop his writing skills.
Jeannette Jansky, Ph.D., educational director of the Hirsch-Robinson Reading Clinic at N.Y. Medical Center, New York and a learning disability reading specialist, offers the following advice to parents: “Teens are more influenced by what peers are reading."
To get your teen to read, she suggests you contact the school library to find out what the other teenagers are checking out.
“Reading should not be a hated and dreaded chore,” said Jansky. “Books on tape are wonderful, particularly for ‘auditory learners’ (those who learn best by listening). The books bring the story to life, are engaging, and simultaneously build up the adolescent’s vocabulary with sophisticated language.”
Wesley Davidson is an award-winning writer whose work has appeared in Good Housekeeping and American Baby magazines.