Did you know that the state of Arizona, in part, predicts its future need for prison cells by the number of students who have reading problems in fourth grade?
Scary isn’t it?
Political data and various claims say other states are doing the same. It's no surprise that measurement reading skills can be a good predictor of one's future. Right or wrong the prisons are using this data.
Knowing this, we think early intervention is critically important.
Do you agree?
A Reading Difficulty Can Change the Course of Someone Life for the Worse!
Every day I talk to adults whose entire lives went down a lesser path because of a reading problem. They tell me things like:
“I avoided having friends and stayed away from social activities just to avoid being asked why I went to ‘Special Classes’”
“By fourth grade, I had given up on school. Somehow I graduated but never learned a thing after fourth grade”
“After years of struggling, I finally got myself into a good job that didn’t require reading. But then we had to attend a week-long safety training class that I knew I’d have to read in. I quit that job to avoid the class”
I probably don’t have to go on and on about how poor reading affects a person’s life, long term. It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? Instead, let’s talk about a solution. Shall we?
Reading difficulties stem from a variety of causes. Nailing down these causes and fixing them is critical. So many people just try to keep on using traditional learn to read techniques but never drill down to why they are not working. They go on and on practicing reading. With no results. Never to realize the underlying cause. They just assume they are a bad reader and accept their fate. That's so sad :-(
If something is not working,
STOP DOING IT AND TRY SOMETHING ELSE!!!
Yet that's not what ussually happens. Instead students are given more reading for "more practice". This only compounds the problem.
Visual Closure
One of those possible causes is a weakness in visual closure. A visual closure problem often has similar symptoms as a visual tracking problem. So if these symptoms occur it’s best to work both. Some symptoms are:
- Letter and number reversals
- Mixing up letters and numbers as they read
- Headaches or other physical symptoms
- Comprehension problems
- Slow labored reading
A person with a visual closure weakness may seem like they have to work much harder. And they are. Visual closure speeds up reading by recognizing words rather than deciphering them. Without it a student struggles at things that are easy for others. Working harder causes other issues too. Because they are working so hard just to recognize letters, they can’t really think about meaning and comprehension is non-existent. It’s a struggle just to figure out the words.
Note: Visual Closure problems are NOT a vision problem. They are a vision processing problem. The good news is you can work on them.
Visual closure issues, as well as other visual processing problems (Visual discrimination, visual memory, etc) is one of the underlying causes of dyslexia (for some). It’s not the only possible reason. There are many others, including a variety of auditory processing problems. And, of course, it can be a combination of several of these underlying problems. Usually is. That's why it's really important to cover them all. Which the Learning Success System does. Each takes a little work, but the end result is worth it. Don’t you think?
To help you out I’ve prepared this little visual closure exercise for you. It’s pretty simple to do. Just say the word as soon as you recognize it. Because that’s what visual closure is about, recognizing rather than deciphering. Train for awhile with exercises like this and you will strengthen visual closure. Strengthening visual closure will:
- Make Reading Easier
- Make Reading Faster
- Improve Comprehension
When visual closure is strong we process things much more quickly. Reading is faster. We recognize words faster. Recent studies have even shown that we can count without counting. Visual closure does that, We simply recognize how many instead of counting. We don't even realize we do it. Kind of neat isn’t it. Our brains are so much more amazing than we can even imagine.
Anyway, let’s get to it. Simply watch the animation below and say the word as soon as you recognize it.
Say the word as soon as you recognize it.
Learning Success Visual Closure Exercise
Key Takeaways:
This exercise uses some of the Pre-K sight words. Of course, the Learning Success System covers all the sight words, as well as all the other foundational learning skills. This is just a little sample exercise out of the many in the program. If you are ready to start you can get the rest here.
“Is your child having difficulty with reading or other academics?” “Wondering if it’s dyslexia?” Use our free dyslexia test to get answers. Simply answer a few easy questions and find out now
You can get this analysis for free by filling out this simple form. This will help you get to the bottom of a learning difficulty and provide you with a solution. If you are ready to put this problem behind you click the button below and fill out the form.
