​Lately I have been getting a lot of enquiries regarding comprehension skills.  The main theme all of these enquires follow are their child is struggling with comprehension, how can they help them.  It is very important to know exactly what type of comprehension they appear to be struggling with and most parents are not informed of this.  I have put together this information in the hopes of making this area a little clearer. 
 
Comprehension is, understanding what is being said or read.  When it comes to reading, it is an active process that must be developed if a learner is to become a proficient reader.  Effective reading skill development is further accomplished when the learner becomes proficient in literal, inferential and applied comprehension.

Literal comprehension involves what the author is actually saying.  The reader needs to understand ideas and information explicitly stated in the reading material.  Some of this information is in the form of recognising and recalling facts, identifying the main idea, supporting details, categorizing, outlining, and summarizing.  The reader is also locating information, using context clues to supply meaning, following specific directions, following a sequence, identifying stated conclusion, and identifying explicitly stated relationships and organizational patterns.  These organizational patterns can include cause and effect as well as comparison and contrast.  For example, some questions and activities may include:

1. What words state the main idea of the story?
2. How does the author summarize what she/he is saying?
3. Outlining the first paragraph of the story.
4. What happened first, second and last?
5. How are these things alike? How are they different?
6. What things belong together?

Inferential comprehension deals with what the author means by what is said. The reader must simply read between the lines and make inferences about things not directly stated.  Again these inferences are made in the main idea, supporting details, sequence, and cause and effect relationships.  Inferential comprehension could also involve interpreting figurative language, drawing conclusions, predicting outcomes, determining the mood, and judging the author’s point of view.  The following questions are usually asked:

1. What does the author value?
2. What is the theme?
3. What effect does this character/event have on the story?
4. How do you think this story will end?

Applied comprehension concerns itself with why the author says what he or she says.  This high level of comprehension requires the reader to use some external criteria from his/her own experience in order to evaluate the quality, values of the writing, the author’s reasoning, simplifications, and generalizations.  The reader will react emotionally and intellectually with the material.  Because everyone's life experiences are varied, answers to some of the following questions will vary:

1. Could this possibly happen?
2. Is this argument logical?
3. What alternatives are there?
4. Is this a fact or an opinion?
5. Do you agree or disagree with the author?
6. What is the best solution to this problem?

To conclude, literal, inferential and applied comprehension is what makes a skilled, strong reader.  This skill must be learned and developed.  It does not just happen.  With that thought in mind, it has also been shown that strong readers make good writers.  Sustained exposure to the English language does allow for an expanded vocabulary and knowledge of correct grammar usage. When this is combined with literal, inferential and applied comprehension, it enables writers to better express themselves.

​Are you concerned your child’s trouble with listening comprehension could be caused by auditory processing disorder?  It can be hard to know where to start to find out.  Here are steps you can take to see if your child has auditory processing disorder.
1.  Learn the signs of auditory processing disorder.
Knowing specific signs of auditory processing disorder that occur at different ages can help you better frame your concerns about your child.  Some of the things that children with APD find difficult are:·        Focussing on one voice when there are lots of people talking
·        Remembering spoken instructions (they may ask for repetition or only complete the first step)
·        Noticing the small differences between similar words (such as boat/coat, which/wish)
·        Concentrating in a noisy place
·        They may demonstrate sensitivity to noise and show a preference for quiet places
At school, most tasks depend on the child being able to understand what is said by the teacher or other children. This can be very difficult for a child with APD, and the child may become frustrated and less involved at school.
2.  Pay close attention to your child’s symptoms.
Observe your child over time and take notes about the things that concern you.  Auditory processing disorder is not the same as being hard of hearing.  But it can seem like a child with auditory processing disorder has trouble with hearing.  That’s because he may have trouble processing the differences between sounds, filtering out background noise and following what people say.
3.  Discuss what’s happening at school.
Has your child’s teacher noticed signs of auditory processing disorder?  Is your child struggling with phonemic awareness?  Does he have trouble following spoken directions?  Find out if the teacher is using any informal supports to help your child.
4.  Speak to your child’s doctor.
Discuss your concerns with your child’s pediatrician.  Bring your notes, and share any concerns the teacher has as well.  You’ll also want to make sure your child has passed a hearing test to rule out hearing loss.
5.  Consider getting an evaluation for supports at school.
Look into requesting a free educational evaluation by the school counsellor.  The evaluation can provide information that could help your child get support in school, such as accommodations or specialized instruction.  It can also shed light on whether your child’s trouble with reading is due to auditory processing issues or dyslexia, another learning issue.
6.  Consult with specialists.
Ask your pediatrician for a referral to specialists who can identify or rule out auditory processing disorder.  She may refer your child to a speech pathologist to have his receptive language or listening comprehension skills evaluated.  But he will also need to see an audiologist to be formally diagnosed.  Keep in mind that you’ll have to pay or use your insurance for private evaluations.
7.  Talk to the school about supports and services.
Set up a meeting with the school to talk about how to help your child.  Consider providing a copy of any outside evaluations you’ve had done.  Combined with any evaluations the school has done, they can help determine if your child is eligible for an Individualized Education Program (IEP).
8.  Learn more about treatments and therapies.
Talk to everyone involved—doctor, school and specialists—about treatment options for auditory processing disorder.  Speech therapy can be helpful, as can very specific reading instruction.  You can also look into alternative therapies, like auditory training therapy.  
9.  Find other ways to help your child.
Get answers to common questions about auditory processing disorder.  Learn some common myths about auditory processing disorder.  And consider connecting with parents like you who can share tips and advice.
 

Learning and attention issues can impact self-control in a number of ways.  Trouble with self-control is a key symptom of ADHD.  Self-control issues can also be a sign of the frustration and anxiety that often go hand in hand with struggling in school.
Sometimes what may look like lack of self-control is actually a lack of social skills.  Kids with certain issues may not understand social rules.  And it’s hard to follow social rules if you don’t know when you’re breaking them!
Use this table to learn what might be causing or contributing to your child’s issues with physical, emotional or impulse control.

ADHD
A brain-based condition that makes it hard to pay attention and control impulses.
Many kids with ADHD have trouble waiting to get what they want (delaying gratification).
ADHD affects the brain’s ability to “hit the brakes” and think through consequences before speaking or acting.
Some kids with ADHD struggle with hyperactivity. ADHD can also affect emotional control.
Fidgeting and trouble staying seated
Nonstop talking
Interrupting or talking over others
Blurting out answers in class
Expressing emotion that’s too intense for the situation
Throwing tantrums when frustrated
Having trouble taking turns or playing too rough

Sensory processing issues
Being over- or under sensitive to sensory input such as sights, sounds, flavours, smells and textures.
Sensory processing issues may also affect motor control. Kids with sensory issues may struggle with body awareness (proprioception) or spatial orientation (the vestibular sense).
Kids who are oversensitive may try to run away from the stimulation. Or it may cause a sensory meltdown they can’t control.
Kids who are under sensitive may seek out stimulation in ways that annoy other people (such as tapping them or pacing around the room).
Jumping on furniture and crashing into people or things
Fidgeting, squirming in seat or pacing
Refusing to wear new clothes or try new foods
Having intense meltdowns over seemingly little things (like hearing too much noise or seeing bright lights)
Recoiling from a hug or erupting in anger after getting accidentally bumped into
Slamming things down or ripping paper when erasing

Nonverbal learning disabilities (NVLD)
Difficulties with interpreting and responding to unspoken communication. This includes body language, facial gestures and tone of voice.
Kids with NVLD tend to talk a lot. But they may do so in socially inappropriate ways.
Kids with NVLD may have a hard time picking up on social cues. They might not realize they’re breaking social rules or need to adjust their behaviour.
They may also get fixated on a topic or idea and have trouble moving on to something new.
Standing too close to people
Interrupting others and hogging the conversation
Sharing too much information
Asking too many questions or getting stuck on a topic
Trouble adjusting to change
Cutting in line

Social communication disorder (SCD)
A brain-based condition that causes difficulty with the unspoken, subtle rules of spoken language.
This makes it hard to communicate effectively in social and academic settings.
Kids with SCD may seem like they can’t keep themselves from doing or saying the wrong thing during conversations.
But it’s hard to follow social rules when kids don’t understand them or notice they’re breaking them.
Trouble adjusting language to different situations (such as talking the same way in the classroom as on the playground)
Talking too much or going off-topic
Not knowing how to start or sustain a conversation
Having trouble “reading the room” and taking part in group conversations
Talking too casually to an authority figure

Dyspraxia
A brain-based condition that involves difficulty with motor control, such as coordinating a sequence of movements.
Kids with dyspraxia have trouble calling up strategies to move more gracefully. They may also struggle to adjust the volume, pitch or rate of their speech.
Some people may misperceive these difficulties. They could view a child with dyspraxia as being disruptive on purpose.
Trouble moving effectively such as when tying shoes or playing sports
Speaking too loudly
Dropping things
Bumping into or inadvertently pushing people
Playing too roughly

Learning issues like dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia
Brain-based issues that make it hard for kids to read, write or do math.
Many kids with learning issues also have ADHD.
Kids with learning issues often get frustrated when they can’t master material, even when they’re trying really hard.
Anxiety is also common in kids with learning issues and can lead them to quickly give up on tasks.
Breaking pencils and crumpling up homework
Throwing tantrums or having verbal outbursts
Worrying a lot about little things
Fidgeting or constantly tapping legs or feet
Refusing to take part in a social or school activity

 
If your child struggles with self-control, take a look at strategies to help him gain self-control.  Explore apps that can help tweens and teens with self-control, or apps to help younger kids.  And find out what to do if you think your child might have ADHD.
 

If you have a child who is learning to read, you may have come across the terms “decodable words” and “sight words.”  Being able to decode words is essential for beginning readers.
Decoding isn’t just about sounding out words.  It involves taking apart the sounds in a word (“segmenting”) and blending the sounds together.
Another important skill for beginning readers is learning to recognise words at a glance.  Kids need to build up a large group of “sight words.”  Working on word recognition helps a child become a faster, more fluent reader.
Most beginning readers are taught to read both ways—by matching letters to sounds and by building a vocabulary of sight words.  But kids with reading issues may need more specialised instruction.
Here’s what you need to know about sight words, decodable words and non-decodable words—and what can help your child learn to read.

Decodable Words
Decodable words follow the rules of phonics.  They are spelled the way they sound.  Examples include jam and nest.
Once a child knows how to break words apart into their letter sounds and blend those sounds together, she can begin to “decode” one-syllable words like splash.  As she gets familiar with syllable patterns, she can sound out longer words like splashing.
Teachers use phonics rules to help with things like knowing whether the vowel in a word makes its short or long sound.  Here are two examples of phonics rules:

• When a one-syllable word ends in a consonant and only has one vowel, that vowel tends to be short (mat, cop, dud).
• Adding a “bossy e” at the end of that word changes the short vowel sound to a long vowel sound (mate, cope, dude).

Words That Can’t Be Sounded Out
There are lots of words that don’t follow the rules of phonics and aren’t spelled the way they sound.  Look at who and was, for instance.
If you’d never seen those words before, you might guess they were spelled hoo and wuz.  Sounding out these written words won’t work. The only way to learn them is to memorise them.
The goal is for kids to become so familiar with a non-decodable word that they don’t even try to sound it out.  They automatically recognise it at a glance.

Sight Words
Sight words are words that readers can recognise instantly and effortlessly.  These words can be decodable or non-decodable. They’re sometimes called “high-frequency” words.  That’s because early readers encounter them so often.  Examples include the, of and said.
Automatically recognising words helps kids become faster, more fluent readers.  Repeated exposure to a word is key.  That’s one reason many teachers create a “word wall” that lists a group of high-frequency words in alphabetical order.  The word wall is placed on a classroom wall where students can see it often.
A word wall gives kids extra exposure to these words.  It also gives kids instant access to words they’re likely to need during reading and writing activities.  Word walls can include both decodable and non-decodable words.

Why Reading Can Be Hard
When kids have early reading issues, regular phonics instruction might not be enough.  There are many possible reasons for this, including:

• Not being able to see the difference between individual letters. For example, b and d or m and w may look the same to them.
• Not being able to break apart words into individual sounds. (They may hear the word cat but not be able to hear the three separate sound units in C-A-T.)
• Not understanding the similarities and differences between words. (They might not know that the t sound at the end of cat is what makes it different from the word can.)
• Not hearing the subtle distinctions among sounds.

These types of challenges make learning to read very difficult.  And they make memorising sight words—some of which follow no rules and can’t be sounded out—even harder.

What Might Help
There are many teaching methods that help struggling readers.  The most effective ones use a multisensory approach.  This uses sound, sight, movement and touch to help kids understand and remember what they’re learning.
For instance, struggling readers may need to work on their phonemic awareness.  Doing this can help them get better at hearing the phonemes—or smallest units of sound—in spoken language.  One multisensory way to work on this is by clapping or tapping a finger as they hear each sound.
Skywriting is another activity that engages multiple senses. Kids can say letters and words while using their arm muscles to “write” them in the air.
If your child is having trouble learning to read, it’s important to find out why.  A number of learning issues can cause difficulty with reading.  They include dyslexia, auditory processing disorder and visual processing issues.
Getting to the bottom of your child’s issues can help both you and the school figure out the best ways to help her learn to read.  Talk to your child’s teachers about what they’re seeing in the classroom. Finding books that are at your child’s reading level can help, too.