Reading and Writing

1. What is reading and
writing?
DANIEL KETCHUM

2.  Literacy is your ability to read and write. These skills are important for school, at work,
and at home. Speech-language pathologists, or SLPs, can help you learn to read and
write.
 You start to learn language as a baby. You learn how to say sounds and put them
together to make words. You learn to use words to tell people what you think and how
you feel. These early speech and language skills help you learn to read and write.
 Does your child have speech or language problems? He may have trouble learning to
read and write. This can make it hard to do well in school.
 Adults can have problems reading and writing, too. You may have had trouble as a child
and still not read and write well. Or, you may start to have problems reading and writing
after a stroke or brain injury.
 An SLP works with children and adults who have trouble reading and writing. The SLP
can test speech, language, and literacy skills and find ways to help you or your child
improve. The SLP can also work with your child’s teacher to make it easier for her to learn
in school.
 Reading and writing can be hard, but help is available.

3. What is the relationship between
reading and writing?
 Research has found that when children read
extensively they become better writers.
Reading a variety of genres helps children
learn text structures and language that they
can then transfer to their own writing. In
addition, reading provides young people with
prior knowledge that they can use in their
stories.

4. BENEFITS OF
READING AND
WRITING SKILLS
DANIEL KETCHUM

5.  Children who read tend to do better at school and
professionally. However, according to the 2007 National
Endowment for the Arts study, "To Read or Not to Read,"
reading skills among American children have reached
disturbingly low levels, which has "civic, social, and economic
implications." The rise in technology means increased
demands for higher literacy and consequences are grievous
for those who fall short, according to "Preventing Reading
Difficulties in Young Children."

6. Critical Thinking
 The growth of digital media as a source of information has reduced the
ability of children to critically evaluate the information they are exposed to,
says Professor Patricia Greenfield, director of the Children's Digital Media
Center at UCLA. Critical thinking skills are crucial in helping students
achieve more than a cursory understanding of any topic and helps them
form their own opinions. Reading requires a person to think and process
information in a way that watching television may not. The more you read,
the deeper your understanding becomes of what you are reading and its
application. Greenfield tells parents to encourage their children to read and
should read to their children. Developing writing skills can help you
strengthen your ability to make reasoned arguments on a variety of
subjects, which is useful in school and on the job.

7. Improved Communication Skills
 Improving your reading and writing skills also goes
hand in hand with developing your communication
skills. The more you read and write, the more you
broaden your vocabulary and are able to articulate
concepts accurately and more effectively to others.
Increasing your ability to communicate also helps
make you a better worker or student.

8. More Opportunities
 Studies show that people with advanced reading and writing skills have
more opportunities in school and professionally than those who do not
develop these skills. According to the 2007 NEA study, nearly two-thirds of
employers ranked reading skills as "very important" for high school
graduates, and more than a third found that their applicants were deficient
in their reading ability. Children who are avid readers will often find school
more appealing. People who graduate from college will find more work
and career opportunities than those who graduated only high school or
dropped out. Literary readers are more likely "to engage in positive civic
and individual activities--such as volunteering, attending sports or cultural
events, and exercising" than non-readers, according to the NEA study.