Reading to understand is not an isolated skill.
If your child comprehends very little of what they have read when reading information and answering questions you need to ask why?
Could be as a result of language difficulties, dyslexia, depression or anxiety resulting in poor attention or behavioral problems?
Sound language abilities which includes a good oral vocabulary , and well developed discourse and narrative abilities will positively influence reading.
However, many children with early language difficulties fail to outgrow these struggles or catch up with their typically developing peers. As academic language-learning becomes more challenging and demands increase, difficulties manifest themselves, and often reading comprehension is deficient. Children need to know the meaning of numerous literate words, such as abstract nouns and have the ability to coherently and concisely state the main ideas as well as summarize passages. They also need to be able to answer abstract verbal reasoning questions, These become monumental areas of difficulty.
Memory also plays a significant role in reading comprehension. Working memory is used for temporary storage and manipulation of information in order to carry out a particular instruction. Two important sub-components are a phonological loop that stores verbal information and a visual-spatial sketchpad that stores information you can see in relation to the space it occupies. Together these are responsible for the acquisition of sound-letter correspondence, phonemic awareness(hearing, identifying and manipulating sounds) and ultimately reading comprehension. Children with poor working memory will expend all their capacity on basic tasks like decoding and so this leaves very little room to devote to comprehension of the text.
So, what if your processing speed is slow? Processing speed refers to the speed of task completion. If you take significantly longer to answer questions and summarize information this negatively affects your comprehension of the test you have read.
Speech Therapy is highly effective for reading comprehension difficulties as the therapist is trained to assist with phonological awareness, phonological memory and language skills.
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