Reading Specialists

Reading specialists play a vital role in the academic and professional outcomes of individuals with reading (and writing) disorders. With a good reading specialist's expertise and support, individuals who struggle with reading can become good readers who meet with academic and professional successes.

As a reading specialist, you know that a child must have command of his or her language in order to succeed in learning to read, spell, and write. Yet, many programs concentrate on the written form of language and neglect the oral forms.

We, Drs. Katz and Pierson, received our PhDs in Special Education with a specialty in Literacy, Language, and Learning Disabilities at the University of Michigan's School of Education. However, our earlier graduate work and experiences were in speech-language pathology, resulting in our in-depth understanding of the relationships between language and literacy.

With our educational backgrounds and professional experiences, we are well situated to help you make the connections between oral language and reading, spelling, and writing.

If you are a reading specialist who is looking to learn more about the connections between oral language and literacy, 3LI can help. Drs. Katz and Pierson can design professional development experiences that meet your or your organization's interests and objectives.

Specific topics for reading specialists might include:

• Oral Language Development: The Early Years

• Not all Reading Disorders are Alike: Making Sure the Intervention Matches the Problem

• Morphological Awareness Matters: Improving Decoding, Word Recognition, Spelling, Vocabulary, and Comprehension

• Comprehension: How Oral Vocabulary Contributes to Reading and Vice Versa

• Comprehension and the Sentence Level: The Role of Syntax/Grammar

• Building Collaborative Relationships with Speech-Language Pathologists To Improve Reading and Writing Success

For more information, please contact us.