Meaning Blindness

Introduction

It may seem bizarre, but I have sat with children who can read text out loud, without a problem, but have no idea what they have just read.

Their decoding process is working fine, and they can turn the text into sound. But that process is not linking up with the semantic processes in the brain which give meaning to the sounds.

The Solution to Meaning Blindness

The normal solution to meaning blindness is speed reading. The idea is to push for automaticity in the reading process so that the brain has spare capacity to work on the meaning as well.

In Easyread we have a slightly different approach. We push the meaning link right from the beginning. So, for instance we have a shooting range where the child sees a word and has to shoot the corresponding target, which is moving. The doors to the range are closing as well and get progressively faster.

So, the reading element is very simple, but has to be transferred straight through to meaning in order to win the game.

I am sure you could rig up flash cards in the same way.

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