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Overcoming Dyslexia: Reading Tools for Improved Comprehension and Confidence

Dyslexia presents unique challenges in educational settings. Fortunately, various reading tools are available to support dyslexic individuals in their academic and professional pursuits. These tools aim to reduce visual stress, enhance readability, and provide alternative methods for accessing and engaging with written material.

The following is a list of reading tools that can help improve comprehension and confidence in dyslexic individuals:

Reading Strips: Enhancing Focus and Fluency

Reading strips are narrow and transparent tools that serve as visual aids for dyslexic individuals. By isolating one line of text at a time, reading strips help reduce visual overload and distractions. This focused approach enhances reading fluency by allowing readers to concentrate on individual lines without feeling confused by the surrounding text. Consequently, dyslexic students experience improved comprehension and confidence in their reading abilities.

Colored Overlays: Alleviating Visual Stress

Colored overlays, tinted sheets, or filters placed over text alleviate visual stress commonly experienced by dyslexic individuals. By adjusting contrast and reducing glare, colored overlays enhance readability and comfort during reading. Different colors may work better for different individuals, as personal preferences and visual sensitivities vary.

Electronic Reading and Instruction Tools: Alternative Access to Written Material

Electronic reading and instruction tools offer dyslexic individuals alternative methods to access and engage with written material. Text-to-speech software converts written text into spoken words, catering to auditory learners and facilitating comprehension. Additionally, dyslexia-friendly fonts are specifically designed to reduce visual confusion and enhance readability for dyslexic readers. These digital tools provide flexibility and customization, empowering dyslexic students to navigate written content with ease.

Spelling Assistance Tools: Improving Proficiency and Confidence

Spelling assistance tools offer convenient references for commonly misspelled words and frequently used vocabulary. By providing at-a-glance support, these tools enable dyslexic individuals to enhance their spelling proficiency and build confidence in their written communication skills.

Highlighting Tools: Facilitating Active Reading and Retention

Highlighting tools like the Memory Mark allow dyslexic students to mark and annotate text, facilitating active reading and comprehension. By visually organizing information and key points, highlighting tools supports learners in synthesizing and retaining knowledge. This active engagement with text promotes deeper understanding and memory recall, essential for academic success.

Benefits of Reading Tools for Dyslexic Learners

  • Enhanced Accessibility: Reading tools help in making written content more accessible to individuals with dyslexia, thereby improving comprehension by providing an alternative auditory input.
  • Visual Customization: The tools allow users to customize the visual appearance of text, such as font style, size, and spacing, reducing visual stress and enhancing readability, which in turn boosts comprehension.
  • Multi-Sensory Learning: Certain reading tools employ multi-sensory approaches, combining visual, auditory, and sometimes tactile elements to reinforce learning and comprehension, catering to different learning styles.
  • Annotation and Note-taking: Reading tools often include features for annotation and note-taking, enabling users to interact with text directly, which can enhance comprehension through active engagement and reflection.
  • Vocabulary Building: Many tools offer built-in dictionaries and word prediction features, facilitating vocabulary acquisition and comprehension by providing instant definitions and context for unfamiliar words.

For more information on reading tools for dyslexic students, visit www.See-N-Read.com or call 1-630-236-5592.

Desc: The article discusses various reading tools designed to support dyslexic individuals in improving their comprehension and confidence. From reading strips to colored overlays and electronic reading aids, these tools cater to diverse learning needs. Benefits encompass enhanced accessibility, customizable visuals, multi-sensory learning, annotation features, vocabulary building, and progress tracking. Empower dyslexic learners with effective reading solutions today.

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How Reading Assists Brain Development In Kids?

“A book is a garden, an orchard, a storehouse, a party, a company by the way, a counselor, a multitude of counselors.” – Charles Baudelaire

The benefits of reading not only reflect on the intellectual faculties of a child but also in other areas like work and life. Reading expands the mind’s horizons and prepares a kid for living a wholesome and knowledgeable life. 

Listed below are different ways in which reading helps in brain development of kids:

  • Mental Imagery: When children read, the area in their brains that support mental imagery is strongly activated. Children who read develop better visualization skills as they try to “see” the story in their minds.
  • Cognitive Development: Reading improves a child’s capacity for reasoning, processing information and intelligence. It provides children with a deeper understanding of the world around them. A child learns about places, people, cultures and facts of the world around him that he would not have known otherwise.
  • Language Development: Reading from an early age develops parts of the brain responsible for language acquisition. The part of the brain responsible for processing language is stimulated by reading as children pick new words and phrases.
  • Concentration And Discipline: Reading improves a child’s ability to concentrate and focus on a single activity for a longer duration. He develops the mental discipline of completing a task at hand. The benefits of the concentration levels acquired reflect in academic performance as well.
  • Empathy: The part of the brain that is responsible for empathy i.e. understanding the feelings and emotions of others greatly develops through reading. Children get better at perceiving and understanding the emotions of others and grow into sensitive and helpful individuals.
  • Eases Stress & Anxiety: Reading can reduce stress in children. In fact, it has been shown to even surpass walking and listening to music for stress reduction. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends reading to children as early as birth for a positive impact on a child’s brain and overall health.
  • Academic Success: All the benefits stated above culminate into better academic performance. Children who can focus, have better language skills, are equipped with knowledge of the world around them and have a broader mental horizon are sure to perform well academically.

See-N-Read Reading Tools offers offline and online reading tools that help kids in developing reading skills. The tools are based on research and help in improving memory and focus. For more details on how reading assists brain development in kids, visit 2533 Sutton Lane, Aurora, IL – 60502, or call at (630) 236 – 5592.  

Reading Strips

Eye Tracking And Reading Comprehension

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Eye tracking problems in children can be detected at an early stage if parents and teachers monitor their reading skills. If your child is not able to read the words in the correct order, omits or adds his own words and reads very slowly, he is most likely suffering from eye tracking issue. Poor visual skills can eventually hamper reading comprehension as the child is unable to understand the meaning of sentences while reading on his own.

Steps that can improve eye tracking and consequently develop better comprehension skills:

  • Utilize Reading Strips: One of the best tools that can be used to improve eye tracking is reading strips. These strips have a clear as well as translucent window which allows a person to read without distraction and also improves their hand-eye coordination. Continuous use of reading strips promotes fluency and increases reading comprehension skills.
  • Read Aloud: Another important exercise that can improve eye tracking is reading aloud. Ask your child to speak out instead of reading quietly. This practice coaxes the eyes and brain to work together. This leads to increased concentration and enhanced reading skills. However, reading aloud needs to be done on a regular basis in order to get the best results.
  • Perform Visual Tracking Activities: In order to improve the eye tracking skills of your child you may ask him to practice some simple techniques at home. For instance, you may encourage the child to keep staring at a single object without making any eye movement. This will help you to evaluate the time he is able to concentrate without any disruption. Adding similar exercises in your child’s daily routine can bring in positive results.
  • Vision Therapy: This therapy helps to resolve problems associated with reading, learning and comprehension. Designed according to individual requirements, these techniques involve vision exercises that change the way a child processes visual information. Vision therapy needs to be performed consistently so as to bring out best outcome.

In addition to the above mentioned tools, there are many other activities that can enhance eye tracking skills in kids. These include drawing or painting pictures, solving puzzles and mazes, performing dot-to-dot pictures, etc. You can sit with your child and see how well he manages to perform these activities. Be patient and help him wherever you can to build his confidence.

See-N-Read Reading Tools help to improve comprehension skills in children. For further details about the reading tools, visit http://www.see-n-read.com/ or call at (630) 236 – 5592.

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The “Language” Barrier: Why Students Struggle to Read Correctly and What You Can Do To Help

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When a child has difficulty reading, it’s important to understand that it isn’t necessarily because they’re not reading fast enough or they’re having a hard time discerning the meaning of the words. Oftentimes, issues develop with the physical act of reading itself. Kids can have a hard time staying on the proper line as their eyes move across a paragraph (thus changing the order of the words), or may accidentally switch words around in their heads.

This “Language” barrier (that is to say, a barrier not with any particular idea, but with language as a form of visual communication) is very real and is affecting millions of kids right now.

The Language Barrier: Facts and Figures

According to one study, more than $2 billion is spent every year to help students who are forced to repeat their current grade for no other reason than that they have a reading problem. A distressing fact from the National Research Council’s Committee on Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children is that the education of an estimated 25 to 40 percent of kids in the United States is in danger because, for a variety of reasons, they find reading too difficult.

According to a report commissioned by the National Institutes of Health, up to 10 percent of people across the country of all ages have these types of specific, brain-based reading difficulties – including those who are characterized as having average or above average intelligence. 

It’s particularly important to address this situation in young children because taking corrective measures while someone is still in their formative years has a profound positive impact on the rest of their lives.

Finding a Solution

Addressing this issue requires a certain change in perspective. A student who is struggling to read correctly for these types of reasons does not have a problem to be “fixed” or “eliminated”. They have a problem that must be solved. It’s about finding a solution to the issue, which is why assistive devices like those available from See-N-Read® Learning Tools are so essential.

At their core, the learning tools from See-N-Read® are designed to give readers the ability to support the cognitive and visual skills required to not only read faster and more effectively, but to also process and remember that information more easily. They don’t address the symptoms a person may be experiencing, but instead offer a solution by way of improved and supported fluency – that is, the ability for a person to read text at a natural, accurate pace.

The See-N-Read® reading strip, for just one example, uses a clear strip to essentially “highlight” a full line of text on a page WITHOUT visually blocking other lines that may be valuable for context. The text is essentially emphasized, allowing a reader with difficulties to focus on the current line while still improving fluency and overall comprehension.

When students suffer from reading difficulties, it can be overwhelming for everyone involved – from parents to teachers to, most importantly, the students themselves. Teachers who utilize research-based, classroom-tested products to students that support natural reading processes will improve student performance in multiple subject areas. Such research-based tools offer functional solutions that create an environment where students can truly flourish.

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The Benefits Of Reading Strips For Students

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When reading any given content, our eyes must make small stops after a few words along the sentence. However, struggling readers tend to make many more stops, thereby, reducing their reading speed and inhibiting comprehension.  Contrasting font and background colors can make it difficult for them to focus and track smooth line transitions. Reading strips are practical assistive tools that can help students to better visualize, concentrate and retain the information they read. They are usually a ruler sized strips with a transparent shaded cut-out window that is placed over the text being read.

See-N-Read Reading Tools are research based and classroom tested products designed to improve reading skills for children of all age groups. The reading strip helps students to control their eye movements while reading and avoiding problems like skipping words and sentences, repeatedly reading same sentences, losing concentration, swapping letters and reading too close to the page.

How Do Reading Strips Work?

Place the reading strip, ReadBar™, on the page and read the sentence through the cut-out window. Move the strip down the page as you read to maintain concentration and track upcoming information. The transparent shaded portion filters out distractions without blocking the entire reading context.

The reading strips offered by See-N-Read Reading Tools can be easily used with all types of reading material. The ReadBar™ fits almost all commonly used font sizes. The tool is also available for on-screen reading of documents, spreadsheets and standardized tests. The reading strip comes in two different sizes – Book (to be used with small books) and Document (to be used with large books and printed documents).

Benefits Of Reading Strips

  • The clear reading strip helps the readers to keep their eyes focused on a single sentence to control visual field.
  • It controls eye movement for a smooth transition from left to right and top to bottom, without losing place while changing lines.
  • The reading strip also supports chunking reading strategy, allowing the readers to view the content in larger ‘chunks’ for better comprehension and information retention.
  • Having a controlled visual field helps to reduce pattern glare, prevent word or line skipping and increase reading speed as well as fluency.

For more information about the benefits of reading strips offered by See-N-Read Reading Tools, feel free to call at (630) 236 – 5592 or visit 2533 Sutton Lane, Aurora, IL 60502.