What does K say? But he doesn’t talk! Early Metalinguistic Reading Skills

Many children with severe phonological disorders or language impairment in the preschool years are at risk for mastering the print code in kindergarten and first grade. Other children, who exhibited typical language development in their preschool years, exhibit metaphonological language difficulties when they must decode print. Children’s difficulty in mastering the code is complicated by the fact that English orthography is among the most complex orthographies in the world. Children at risk for dyslexia and other long-term difficulties in decoding print can be identified in their early school years. Speech-language pathologists can play a major role in developing children’s metaphonological skills essential for efficient print decoding. This session will explain the relationships between “the simple view of reading” and language disorders and dyslexia; the role and development of metaphonological skills essential for decoding print; “red flags” for diagnosing dyslexia; and strategies to develop early phonological awareness skills.

Presenters

Carol Westby
PhD, CCC-SLP, BCS-CL
Dr. Carol Westby, PhD, CCC-SLP, is a consultant for Bilingual Multicultural Services in Albuquerque, NM and holds an affiliated appointment in Communication Disorders at Brigham Young University in Provo, UT. She is a fellow of the American-Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), has received the Honors of ASHA and the Kleffner Lifetime Clinical Achievement Award, and holds Board Certification in Child Language and Language Disorders. Dr. Westby has received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Geneva College and the University of Iowa's Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology and the ASHA Award for Contributions to Multicultural Affairs. She has published and presented nationally and internationally on theory of mind, narrative/expository development and facilitation, adverse childhood experiences/trauma, qualitative methodologies, assessment and facilitation of written language, metacognition/executive function/ADHD, and issues in assessment and intervention with culturally/linguistically diverse populations. Dr. Westby has a BA in English from Geneva College and an MA and PhD in Speech Pathology from the University of Iowa.

Learning Objectives

Explain the relationship between the simple view of reading and reading problems and identify red flags for dyslexia
Describe the hierarchy of metaphonological skills essential for emergent literacy and the complexity of English orthography
Design playful activities to develop children’s phonological/grapheme knowledge

Agenda

10 minutes	The simple view of reading: the nature of reading difficulties and dyslexia
20 minutes	Development of metaphonological skills
10 minutes	The complexity of English orthography
20 minutes	Strategies to promote early metaphonological skills

Disclosures

Speakers - Financial	Carol Westby has no relevant financial relationship to disclose<./p>
Speakers - Nonfinancial	Carol Westby has no relevant nonfinancial relationship to disclose.
Course - Content	Carol Westby has no relevant content information to disclose.
Course - Financial Support & In Kind	This course is being sponsored by SLP Now and SLP Toolkit.

ASHA

This course is offered for 0.1 ASHA CEUs, Intermediate Level, Professional Area, Professional Area

What does K say? But he doesn’t talk! Early Metalinguistic Reading Skills