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Basic Facts About Dyslexia & Other Reading Problems
Paperback
Published June 30, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 27, 2025
Quick and to the point with lots of timeless insights sprinkled throughout
April 5, 2026
A quick and easy read with many great facts about dyslexia. There are beneficial resources in the back to help educators and parents.
October 31, 2024
This was written in 2008, and I think it could use an update. There's good information on dyslexia here, but in 16 years, surely there are some new neuroscientific insights.
One thing I didn't love:
Quote:
The most recent National Assessment of Adult Literacy (2003), reported by the National Center of Educational Statistics, showed that 5% of all adults are “non-literate,” about the same proportion as children in educational research studies who have chronic, severe, reading disabilities. These adults cannot read at all. Another 21-23% of adults can recognize some words but function at the lowest level of reading, often described as functional illiteracy. In other words, we can safely say that 20-25% of the adult population can only read and the lowest level or not at all. Of this 20-25% of non-literate and non-reading adults, only about 25% are immigrants whose command of English is limited [...] (26).
First of all, a new edition would have updated statistics (which, to be fair, are not a whole lot different, but still worthwhile to look at). Second, I take issue with immigrants being called illiterate. I realize it's not necessarily the authors calling them that, because it's based on official language from the National Center of Educational Statistics, but I got to thinking, how would I feel if I moved to Germany and was called a "non-literate, non-reading adult"? Those things just aren't true. Sure, I am not literate in German, but that doesn't make me illiterate and certainly not non-reading.
In my opinion, there needs to be a different category for those who are literate in one (or more) language but not the language of the country they currently reside in. When considering education, whether someone is a child or adult, literacy in any language makes a huge difference in the ability to apply phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension skills in learning how to read and write in a new language.
I liked that this book was a super fast read and explained dyslexia and other reading difficulties in an easy-to-understand way. It's worth reading if you want a quick rundown, but I'd advise something more current.
One thing I didn't love:
Quote:
The most recent National Assessment of Adult Literacy (2003), reported by the National Center of Educational Statistics, showed that 5% of all adults are “non-literate,” about the same proportion as children in educational research studies who have chronic, severe, reading disabilities. These adults cannot read at all. Another 21-23% of adults can recognize some words but function at the lowest level of reading, often described as functional illiteracy. In other words, we can safely say that 20-25% of the adult population can only read and the lowest level or not at all. Of this 20-25% of non-literate and non-reading adults, only about 25% are immigrants whose command of English is limited [...] (26).
First of all, a new edition would have updated statistics (which, to be fair, are not a whole lot different, but still worthwhile to look at). Second, I take issue with immigrants being called illiterate. I realize it's not necessarily the authors calling them that, because it's based on official language from the National Center of Educational Statistics, but I got to thinking, how would I feel if I moved to Germany and was called a "non-literate, non-reading adult"? Those things just aren't true. Sure, I am not literate in German, but that doesn't make me illiterate and certainly not non-reading.
In my opinion, there needs to be a different category for those who are literate in one (or more) language but not the language of the country they currently reside in. When considering education, whether someone is a child or adult, literacy in any language makes a huge difference in the ability to apply phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension skills in learning how to read and write in a new language.
I liked that this book was a super fast read and explained dyslexia and other reading difficulties in an easy-to-understand way. It's worth reading if you want a quick rundown, but I'd advise something more current.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews