sensory support service Reading for Visually Impaired Children October 2013

Aims Participants will feel more confident in effectively supporting the reading development of the visually impaired child that they work with Participants wills consider useful strategies in identifying reading difficulties the child is having and so more able to report this back to teachers

Reading development The main components of reading are Accuracy - being able to accurately read each word – relying on a combination of whole word recognition, phonological awareness and phonic knowledge Speed - the ability to read words at a ‘reasonable’ pace Comprehension - the ability to understand the words that are read

Research, Reading and Severe Vision Impairment Research (Tobin 1993) shows that pupils with severe vision impairment tend to lag behind their sighted peers in all 3 aspects of reading Extent of this difference appears to increase with age. At approximately 7 years, the reading performance of pupils with low vision is in line with sighted peers but then begins to fall behind Also the worse the vision is (and therefore the closer the child needs to be to the page) the worse their reading ability is likely to be.

Reading Challenges Reduced access to print at home Reduced access to print in the environment Possible reduced access to sharing books at home Reduced access to print in school More limited resources due to the need for enlarged print resulting in less choice The need to master low vision aids (cctv, magnifier etc) at the same time as developing reading skills

Reading Challenges- (cont) Difficulties in discriminating component parts of words Difficulties in scanning text due to enlarged print Slower speed leading to comprehension difficulties and frustration More limited access to pictures in books Vision fatigue – much more likely to tire when reading and therefore reading pleasure and time spent reading is reduced Inability to be comfortable when reading

Also these children are individuals who may have had reading difficulties even if they were fully sighted

Also! Increasingly, if a visually impaired child is falling behind in reading accuracy and speed, they have print read to them as they have LSA support and they need to ‘keep up’ with the lesson. The problem with this is that they consequently get less reading practice and their reading difficulties can be masked.

Strategies to support reading development You are a fantastic resource!! Provide more reading practice on a daily basis. This can be identified as a priority due to the child’s vision impairment and time can be negotiated with the class teacher when this can happen each day.

When sharing a book with the child Check print size and ensure it is the appropriate size. Check reading level One way to check this is to get the child to read 100 words from the book and note down how many mistakes are made in that 100 words. More than 10 mistakes would indicate that the text is too hard (frustration level). Less than 5 mistakes indicates that while the child can read it independently there is not much instructional value.

Miscue analysis By photocopying a passage of 100 words or so you can note the mistakes the child is making while they are reading. This will provide information when about the difficulties the child is encountering. E.G. Phonics Reversals High frequency words Missing out words Missing out lines

Reading strategies- (cont) While a child is reading, notice reading ‘behaviour’. Is the child having a ‘go’, using phonic clues or context clues? If so which? Point out phonic patterns and high frequency words as they read If a child is struggling with phonics and high frequency word recognition it may be useful to practice with flashcards before each reading session Check the child’s reading comprehension by asking simple questions about the passage. If a child’s reading speed is very slow, re-read the passage to the child so that they can hear it at an appropriate pace to aid comprehension

Sensory Support Service Elmfield House Greystoke Avenue Westbury-on-Trym Bristol BS10 6AY Tel: Fax: Text: sensory support service