I am a first year special ed teacher in an elementary school. I have a student (4th grade) who I was told could not read at all, but on her IEP the goal was to have her reading at a beginning 3rd grade level by June 2001. I have since worked with her and found that she reads, but whenever I try to assess her or when I ask her to read whether it is in a group or 1:1 she starts crying and says that she can’t do it. The confusing part is this child can write. She writes well. Better than most of the 4th graders that I see. She wrote a 5 paragraph story in which she spelled correctly words such as weather, seasons, dehydrated, intelligent, etc. The story contained a clear beginning middle and end, correct capitalization, and punctuation, etc. My question is: Is it possible that she truly can’t read? I am confused as to how she can write so well, but then can’t read. She refuses to read her writing to me or to her gen. ed. teacher saying she can’t do it. Are we being manipulated or is there some real disability going on there. I have tried having her read what she chooses, different things and alone and with other students. She won’t do it or she can’t I don’t know. I would hate to think that I have said she is “faking” when she truly has a disability, but the teachers and I are leaning that way. ANy advice???? Thank you
: She isn’t faking a problem but it may be that her problem has been misdiagnosed as a reading problem when it’s really something else. If this child can write so well as you say, she cannot have a reading problem so severe as she is labeled.My best guess would be that her refusal to test led other examiners to simply label her reading abilities as non-existent. How does one test the child who refuses to be tested? You might like to think the tester writes that down but I’ve seen testers give kids 0 IQs when a child has refused to test! (Fortunately I only saw that once)The good news is she can read. So let her alone. Go in the side door. What has she read that you know of? Ask her parents? What are her interests? Scatter books around that she might love. Don’t try to formally test her again. You read outloud to her - a book she’ll enjoy - and watch her face while you read. At the end, chat about the book. That would give you a sense of what she got out of the reading. Then next, you each read the next book in the series separately. Discuss it at the end.A child who refuses to read outloud may have a real disability but it doesn’t have to be a reading disability. I have a 5th grader right now who will not read outloud but I see her happily reading challenging books. She has an issue with crowds and being noticed and being the center of attention all of which she feels an outloud reader is going to experience. If forced, her face goes white and she starts to stammer a few words so softly, no one can hear, and the anxiety she clearly feels overwhelms her otherwise excellent reading ability.She has a problem but it’s not with reading. Your dear child might have the same.Good luck.I am a first year special ed teacher in an elementary school. I have
: a student (4th grade) who I was told could not read at all, but on
: her IEP the goal was to have her reading at a beginning 3rd grade
: level by June 2001. I have since worked with her and found that
: she reads, but whenever I try to assess her or when I ask her to
: read whether it is in a group or 1:1 she starts crying and says
: that she can’t do it. The confusing part is this child can write.
: She writes well. Better than most of the 4th graders that I see.
: She wrote a 5 paragraph story in which she spelled correctly words
: such as weather, seasons, dehydrated, intelligent, etc. The story
: contained a clear beginning middle and end, correct
: capitalization, and punctuation, etc. My question is: Is it
: possible that she truly can’t read? I am confused as to how she
: can write so well, but then can’t read. She refuses to read her
: writing to me or to her gen. ed. teacher saying she can’t do it.
: Are we being manipulated or is there some real disability going on
: there. I have tried having her read what she chooses, different
: things and alone and with other students. She won’t do it or she
: can’t I don’t know. I would hate to think that I have said she is
: “faking” when she truly has a disability, but the
: teachers and I are leaning that way. ANy advice???? Thank you