Reading and spelling difficulties keep some children or students lag behind the other peers in the school. Even special education sometimes can't play any significant role in this field.
A recent research study reveals that a good number of students suffer from RSD or the reading and spelling difficulties. The first two years in the school they lag behind their age level. A research team at the University of Eastern Finland has identified these findings, according to Phys.org.
Leena Holopainen, the Professor of Special Education at the University of Finland, opines significantly about the findings. She says the findings are important in terms of the special education exists in the school to help recover the reading and the spelling difficulties. She also points out the teacher education. The key findings are available in the European Journal of Special Needs Education.
Interestingly, the education system in Finland doesn't provide any formal diagnosis for the students to offer the services of the special education. The necessity of the special education is assessed through collaboration between the teachers, students, and parents. In Finland, two-thirds of the students who had reading and spelling difficulties receive special education during the first two years in the school. The special education is provided to them once a week.
However, the rest one-third students receive special education either in the first year or in the second year on an average 30 hours per year. Students with the reading and spelling difficulties and other important learning problems have a very low level of reading skills compared to others. In a word, these students lag behind their age level.
This big gap increases in a continuous way during the first two years in the school and raises some important questions. The first and foremost question is whether the teaching methods and the contents used in the special education truly meet the required needs or not. Concerns are also surfacing about the existence of the sufficient amount of the skilled teachers for special education to solve the reading and spelling difficulties. The truth is students need proper guidance to recover from learning difficulties.
Properly skilled teachers who can offer special education play the key role in solving the reading and spelling difficulties among the students. Professor Holopainen stresses on the proper ways to arrange the special education in the schools. Properly organized special education provides efficient support to all the students who need to recover even after the first year in the school.
Almost ten to fifteen percent of the primary school students are the victims of the reading and spelling difficulties, according to Professor Holopainen. It is the need of the hour to identify these students in order to make a special education available as early as possible. Early detection also helps to prevent other secondary learning difficulties.
School children or students are the future backbones of the society. It is essential to make them a complete man in future by removing their reading and spelling difficulties at the early stage. A lot of children in different parts of the world face these difficulties. Proper special care with efficient guidance and training must play a major role in this field. Careful parents and teachers can provide that guidance and training.
