How do I help a child with severe reading and writing problems?

My son was defiant in not wanting to learn to read. We now know he is bipolar and was just a square peg in a round hole.
The key for him was to find something that was easy to read and was fascinating enough to hold his interest.
For him it was Goose Bumps Books.
He’s 29 now and a very eloquent writer.
I just wish there were goose bump math books. He never really got that although he IS a natural musician.

What year are you in your teacher training? You should be taking a class on literacy and reading soon. For the most severe problems, you probably won’t be taking a class unless you are getting a reading specialist license. Then you’ll have several different classes addressing specific learning problems.

There are many different reasons someone may have reading or writing problems. Seriously—there are tons of them. I used to work in a boarding school specifically for kids with reading and/or processing disorders. There isn’t one quick cure all for a severe reading problem. And the worst cases are going to get sent to reading specialists.

The best advice I can give if you are really interested is get a reading specialist credential. Then you will learn all sorts of techniques. You will also be in very high demand in the US, as there is a national shortage of reading specialists.

Two things I found help a great deal.
1.Boost their self esteem. Many don’t try or won’t because they think the struggle makes them automatically stupid. It also doesn’t help if he has parents or other teachers that put him or her down.

2. Find out what they love to do or know about and get books that will help with that. Like Judi said, Goose Bumps books were also great for my son and daughter. They liked reading but didn’t learn to love it until they encountered goosebump books. I couldn’t buy the books fast enough. They became avid readers after that.
My brother struggled all though his years in school. He always felt dumb and didn’t want to learn. Now he is grown and became interested in computers and has taught himself all he wanted to know through reading and trial and error. His spelling and writing skills has improved dramatically. Doing something you love can be motivating.

I don’t think either of the examples stated would count as severe reading difficulties. I’ve known kids who were seniors in high school and Goosebumps would have been WAY over their heads. I have met kids that age who couldn’t read Amelia Bedelia, even.

My suggesstion is you need to get at the root of why they have reading problems. Do they have dyslexia? No interest in the subject matter? ADD? Difficulty with comprehension? The children need to be professionally evaluated, or at minimum asked why they are having trouble.

At one point I helped 4th graders who were below grade level in spelling and reading and I truly believe spending time with them helped them immensely. The teacher told me how pleased she was with their improvement. It was 4 children and I would help them with their workbook assignements. If they could not figure out an answer I gave it to them (that didn’t happen too often, mostly they worked things through with my help if they had a question). All the children improved their grades improve on tests.

I never liked reading, my comprehension was about average and my reading was very slow. I still read much slower than most adults from what I can tell. Reading for me as a kid was a lonely, boring, unfulfilling process. I still feel like that when I am not interested in the material, or if the reading is extensive.

My dad, he didn’t learn to read until 3rd grade. He hated school and teachers and was defiant. In 3rd grade he discovered comic books and kind of taught himself to read. Still, from the teacher’s point of view he wasn’t doing his work or reading much. But, the truth is from the comic book and then on reading was like a new world to him he loves books and reading and in his retirement went into the book business. He reads incredibly fast.