Literacy is the ability to comprehend written information and accurately convey our thoughts in written form. Literacy development depends on how we learn language, such as understanding different speech sounds, how we build words from different sounds and, ultimately, how those words combine into sentences to convey our wants, needs, thoughts and feelings.
Literacy Disorder: difficulty with reading, writing, and spelling. This can include:
- Reading
- Word recognition (dyslexia): difficulty with accurate/fluent word recognition, can cause poor spelling.
- Reading comprehension: the ability to process text, understand its meaning and integrate that information with what the reader already knows.
- Writing
- Writing process (dysgraphia): difficulty with forming letters, letter sequencing and spelling. Can also impact ability to plan, draft, and revise written work.
- Writing product (dysgraphia): difficulty organizing and expressing thoughts in writing, difficulty constructing grammatically correct sentences, and spelling difficulty.
- Spelling: difficulty with decoding in order to spell words and recalling and reproducing the patterns of irregularly spelled words.
How a Literacy Disorder is treated: Speech-Language Pathologists treat Literacy Disorders usually with the support of other specialists (e.g., Occupational Therapists, Reading Specialists, teachers) as a multidisciplinary team. This skill area can be targeted by an SLP by working on:
- Reading comprehension
- Building of syntax/vocabulary
- Sequencing (e.g., events by retelling a story, thoughts in a written paper)
- Phonemic/phonological awareness
- Following written directions (receptive language)
- Producing grammatically correct sentences to communicate thoughts/feelings/wants (expressive language)
(American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2021)
