Diagnostic studies of children with specific reading disability as applied in Irvington, New Jersey, public schools

Summary

Our work over the past eleven years with children with specific reading disability seen in a hospital mental hygiene clinic, in private practice, and in the public schools has led to the following conclusions:

• (1) Diagnostic procedures based upon cooperative efforts of psychiatrist, psychologist, and teacher are essential in differentiating the needs of the children, evaluating progress, and evolving meaningful research designs.

• (2) There is no one way of teaching reading which will be universally effective — flexible choices among existing approaches, (and any new methods which might appear in the literature or be devised by resourceful teachers) are essential in order to meet the needs which diagnostic studies reveal.

• (3) Some manipulation of the total educational setting is frequently required for children with specific reading disability.

• (4) Remedial reading must be related to the total language sequence if it is to be effective; more and more there is awareness of reading disability as but one facet of total language disability in the diagnostic process. This same principle is pertinent to the remedial process as well.