Neurological Impress Method

You can make your own tapes for the child to read along with. I have used this method after a child has an understanding of the code but they are still not very fluent with multi-syllable words.

The original work in NI was impressive and set in motion read/reread tactics. Great Leaps Reading has this as one of its founding philosophies. Ken Campbell
>

Dear Jan:

I used this method 3 years ago while participating in a practicum to complete my master’s degree in reading. I did not find it to be helpful to the students I used it with. This was due to the fact that they did not have adequate levels of word recognition. As Pattim said, NIM is meant to encourage fluency in children who have a good level of word recognition (words that they can read automatically). Children who have low levels of words that they can read automatically get frustrated with this method. Echo reading or repeated reading are better for increasing word recognition skills.

This is a new name for a technique that has been around for a long time. I’ve used this approach as *part* of a tutoring program, and it can be very helpful *if* used with judgement and with good skills teaching.
As several other people have stated, first the student has to have a knowledge of the phonics code and a reasonable basic reading vocabulary; without that, you are just training parroting.
Then you need to use judgement as to the level of text you choose, the speed you go at, and, as you wean the student away from help, which words you read and which ones you can leave to the student to say. Slow but steady and walk before you run have made this helpful to my students.

Read Naturally and other fluency programs are supplemental reading programs that only should be used when the student is close to being able to decode on grade level. Try buying Reading Reflex and teaching your child to decode or hire a reading therapist trained in the process. The reading method is called Phono-Graphix or PG and the book for parents is Reading Reflex. Run a search on this sight in the archives to learn more or log onto Read America’s Website using the words Reading Reflex. Email me personally and I will speak to you.

I can’t believe I just read this.

“Read Naturally and other fluency programs are supplemental reading programs that only should be used when the student is close to being able to decode on grade level.”

As autbor and developer of Great Leaps Reading I strongly disagree. The academic community has clearly accepted both programs (Great Leaps and Read Naturally) as very legitimate in the remediation of reading problems for students significantly behind in reading. In our journal article in Learning Disabilities Research and Practice our work was done with 6th graders who were primarily non-readers! The school did not afford any other reading instructional opportunities for those very needy students - yet, the results astounded the nation. Don’t tell me a student has to be near grade level to benefit from what has been named a fluency program! We give those parents of students near grade level a free fluency intervention on the phone - congratulating them for their excellent work and saving them a possible second mortgage and certainly would not consider selling the program to students near grade level - that is absolutely proposterous! I believe my friends at Read Naturally would respond accordingly.

I didn’t spend a life in working with the kids nobody seemed to care for to have my work misrepresented. Ken Campbell, Developer - Great Leaps Reading

I have had “Read Naturally” going all year with several students. I am not necessarily finding improvements. They all read the selection “cold” then go through the tape and the exercises, practice and read for a final time. Yes, they shave a minute, almost 2 minutes off every time. Then they go the to the next story and read it cold at the same rate, essentially.

I am most frustrated with my efforts to increase reading speed and fluency in many of my students.

As I have read the link that some folks have posted on highly successful adult dyslexics, they all say reading is downright hard work. They are ok for short things, but long selections are brutal. When I read with my students, I can almost “feel” how hard they work

I suspect if I had the time to truly work like a “therapist” rather than a teacher, I might spend 1-2 hours per day individually with each child I might then have ample time to begin where they are successful and fluent (if there is such a level) and work slowly.

I don’t know, I do become frustrated because I want to do more than I seem to be able to do.

Hi, Ken, as I believe I have shared, I am having trouble getting some really tough cases moving well.

One fellow I started in Great Leaps two years ago, he could read 25 wmp at maybe 1st to 2-1 level (he was in 4th grade). In a year he was reading 55 wpm at 3rd grade level. He continues to progress higher, but he is pretty stuck in the 50-70 wpm range. He continues to use your “Great Leaps” stories and “Read Naturally.” Another girl (5th grade) just doesn’t budge, she is still very slow to recognize any word. But, she too is reading at higher levels. I have recently started another really “hard core” case. Child can read almost on grade level (second) at painfully slow rate.

I like the phrases esp. because they really dig in and force the child to discriminate those often confused words. Lisa is on the list that has tons of “from” and “for,” “of” and “off” and so forth.

I believe that this difficulty that is especially immune to remediation in a few youngsters is neurological…………..I just don’t know how much improvement we really CAN get with students in any kind of reasonable fashion in the public school environment.

“Great Leaps” is a good tool to use in the public school setting where time is always limited and we always we seem to need to do three things at once to get everybody’s IEPs met. “Read Naturally” is also “resource room” friendly. I

I think we need a lot more research on this.

Yes, I agree completely with your frustrations - but would urge you to keep on keeping on - as obviously you have. Fluent reading is an interesting phenomenon. Obviously, you must decode and process the phonemes, etc. But there comes a time when that stops, the brain clicks in, and you have fluency - (I work more easily in the vernacular - thus the lack of articles from my pen - and the abundance of children’s stories.)

What you have described has been in my teaching life extremely rare - I’ve probably met on two truly dyslexic student out of literally a few thousand troubled readers. If you have two, you’ve hit the jackpot! Do you live near a major treatment center? You’re also right about the intensive therapy required - and the absolute inability for a classroom resource teacher to perform such an arduous undertaking.

Thanks for all the support, Ken

And of the resource teacher who is responsible for all disabled youngsters in a K-6 elementary school who may represent LD, autism spectrum, physical handicaps and other. Oh, with one aide to help with all this. No, I can only get a few minutes 1:1 with any child in a day.

I hope I did not use the word “dyslexic” to describe my students. I know they are LD, I do not believe they are the result of dysteachia. I have taught the boy I first referred to since the start of second grade using an O-G based program. Actually our entire K-3 program is very phonics based, all our students are taught explicit decoding and have been for years now. We threw out the one-size fits all literature-based, no skill instruction program at least 6 years ago, maybe more.

Sounds like you really care about your kiddos and are doing a good job with the resources available to you.

Graduate students from University of Oregon’s Institute for the Development of Educational Achievement presented a study to National School Psych this year detailing how they tightend up the delivery of REad Naturally to get better results. You may be able to obtain a copy by contacting Tanya Sheehan at idea.uoregon.edu.

Judy