Speech and language disorders
This is a general term that describes problems with communicating – including understanding, speaking and forming sounds.
Sometimes it means that a child stutters, uses “babyish” language or has difficulty understanding words in a conversation or written material.
Speech and language disorders often accompany learning disabilities such as dyslexia.
Processing problems
This term is used to describe situations where the information taken in by the senses is disturbed or distorted. This might include visual, hearing and motor deficits.
Although they are classed as learning disabilities, these difficulties overlap with speech and language disorders and specific learning disabilities like dyslexia.
Letters can be reversed and a child can easily lose his/her place while reading or forget simple instructions.
Developmental disabilities
There are many developmental disorders that may affect a child’s reading.
The term autism (or autistic spectrum), for example, is used to describe any of a complex range of developmental disabilities.
Autistic disorders tends to appear during the first three years of life and may mean a number of challenges when learning to read, including difficulties in attention, motivation and problems with decoding.
A child can be very bright and go to mainstream school but have autistic tendencies. Autistic spectrum disorders can often be combined with learning difficulties and often seem to run in families.
An autistic child can have seemed “normal“ ‘ as a baby but then appeared to “regress” and lose the power of language.
Other characteristics can include obsessive tendencies, a liking of order/collecting things, and a general difficulty communicating with and understanding the outside world.
Autism affects more boys than girls, and has nothing to do with ethnic, socio-economic or educational background.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
ADHD is a disorder that affects hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity. People with ADHD can often have difficulty staying still and maintaining attention, which can in turn affect the ability to read.
Researchers think that symptoms result from problems in the systems that regulate and control behaviour. ADHD affects up to 5 per cent of the population and is often accompanied by other conditions/disabilities.
Visual impairment
Accessibility of books (and other written material) is a problem for many blind and partially sighted people.
There are many organisations which offer services and support for reading, including:
- Your local library
- The RNIB, which has a huge library of audio books
- Booktouch is part of the national Bookstart programme. It now offers a special Bookstart pack for babies with a visual impairment. The “Booktouch” pack contains specially selected books and a leaflet to help alert families right from the start to the services available
- ClearVision is a UK postal lending library of mainstream children’s books with added braille. The books all have braille, print and pictures, making them suitable for visually impaired and sighted children and adults to share.
- The Living Paintings Trust is a registered charity that offers a completely free service for visually impaired people of all ages, their families, carers and schools. They produce specialist touch and sound packs that explain a wide variety of pictures for those who cannot see. These packs are distributed from their library by post. They are sent to all parts of the UK and Eire and there is no charge.