Allan Said:

How do you teach a Deaf student to read?

We Answered:

Just like the IEP's you will be writing, reading is based on what the individual child needs. You will have kids who have very good visual memory,and some may have enough residual hearing or cochlear implants which allow them to to develop phonetics.
Of course you will have parents with specific preference to oral-deaf or ASL -Deaf..either way, you will need their support!
With profoundly Deaf children I have taught "word families" which are spelled the same way but not pronounced the same way so they could learn visually. It seemed to help a little on standardized tests which always seem to have a component of sound/symbol tasks.
This year I have a profoundly Deaf parent request her son learn the symbol and speechreading, as he had never had any speech teaching. I use some of the cochlear implant booksvideos and lip-reading books.
As for my kids with some hearing I teach basic phonics with pictures for the sound symbol part. I must say I go through4 to 5 consumables per grade level. I like to work best with picture phonics. Say there are three pictures and two need to "match" the vowel. Then I like to say the words myself and have them tell me which two match rather than set them off to do the work themselves. They need to HEAR a clear model.
Don't count on your speech pathologist to know how to deal with either the D/HH child.(there are obviously some smart SLP's on THIS site.. but not always in every school)!!!
When I was in a Deaf school, the best reading I saw came out of the Deaf teachers who transfered back and forth from ASL to English for comprehension. Explaining and reexplaining and creating visual imagry..always seeing if the child is "getting" it.
I have had some mentally challenged D/HH kids and used agumentative communication devices and the Mayer-Johnson symbols where you can type out words and the icon will print right on top. Check out their material as it will be just esencial for all you special ed kids. Bravo for you thinking ahead!!!

Earl Said:

Any effective ways for teaching to read for infants and babies?

We Answered:

Read to him all the time! Get picture pooks with single words, point to pictures and name them pointing to the word. Let him turn the pages, just teach him a love for books. Soon he will understand the concept of words, then letters and letters make up words, then words make sentances. Point out letters and numbers when you are out and about, my son spells WAIT at the pedestrian crossing and STOP at the stop street, but he can't read as such. His favorate TV character is Super Y, with the power to read

Read your own books or newspaper in front of him, so that he learns reading teaches and informs up. Rather than trying to teach him to read, teach him to love reading.

Jimmie Said:

Where can I find websites about methods of teaching children to read?

We Answered:

here are a few of the sites that i am currently using to teach my children, 4 and 6 ,to read with
starfall.com
readinglesson.com
scholastic.com
magickeys.com
literacycenter.net
Not sure if this is the information you were searching for but it may give you a start.

Jeff Said:

What books/materials are best for teaching young children to read?

We Answered:

I like Writing Road to Reading by Romona Spalding, but it is difficult to use if you are not trained in using it. But,

Saxon (makers of the Saxon Math curriculum) make a phonics curriculum that is excellent. It is both thorough in scope and easy to use. It comes with all the things you need to teach the lessons, a script to follow so you can teach it with just a little preparation, and appropriate worksheet for practice of both reading a writing.

I used the earlier mentioned 100 easy lessons book and had to teach that child over again using a more phonetic approach. The book has special symbols marking all the letters that are not in regular books. I think it actually slows down the process.

Needless to say, at 4 years old it is probably more important to read aloud to him as much as you can. Read about things that interest him and you and his friends and his dad. Keep it as fun and interesting as possible. Stop when he's tired or disinterested.

Teaching reading at 4 years old may be difficult and frustrating for both of you. Some kids read on their own at this age; others struggle and end up feeling like failures (this can make it difficult to help them learn to read for a long time.) If you have any doubt about his reading readiness, wait.

I have taught a 7 year old to read at a 3rd grade level in less than 36 hours. A four year old can take 200 or more hours to "maybe" learn the same skills. Readiness matters- it's not a race. There is really not much for these little guys to read anyway. Receptive listening vocabulary learned from good story books is probably more important than reading vocabulary controlled early reader books.

So my recommendation is wait if you can. And look up Saxon Phonics online and check it out. It's a little expensive but well worth it. You'll get a good reader and a good speller.

http://www.learningthings.com/items.asp?…

Wanda Said:

Teaching a special needs child to read and spell?

We Answered:

I would use direct instrution to teach your child to read. The Dolch sight word list is a list of words that need to be memorized and read within two seconds. These are words that you do not sound out for their spelling does not allow for this and why they are called "sight words." These are important words to know yes, for they are high frequency words, but learning these words will not allow your son to learn to manipulate sounds to decode other words like cat or mat and other words as he progresses.

Your son needs to have intense one on one instruction. It is an effective method and is researched based. You do not say how much he does know. Does he know letter sound correspondence...show him the letter "m" and he can say the sound? Those come first, just orally then do the short vowels sounds, starting wih five letters at a time. When he can do these without error for about 3 days in a row, add more letters and always review all letter sounds making sure he is firm.

When he knows the letters, give him cvc words, consonant vowel consonant, m a t....say each sound mmm aaaa ttt....then say it fast. mat. Do this with lots of combinations. After he gets good, switch out the beginnings, middles, and ends. I have the word "mat" if I take away the m and use p, what word? He needs to learn how to manipulate sounds in order to decode them when he sees them in text. Below is the bible of direct instruction reading and will tell you EVERYTHING you need to do in order to teach your child to read. It is well worth the money if you are serious.

You do not say the level your son is on as far as ASD, but sometimes functional reading is in order or using PECS, but be warned, whole language does not help children learn to read and manipulate sounds or be successful readers.

I can help you with spelling too if yoou would like some advice, but I am done typing for now! LOL