Reading rehabilitation is based on an interventionist approach rooted in recent research showing that effective reading involves two distinct pathways: the lexical (addressing) route and the sublexical (assembling) route. These pathways are crucial in addressing word identification difficulties in children with dyslexia or specific reading challenges.
The intervention approach unfolds in three phases: data collection to accurately identify the child’s reading difficulties and type of dyslexia; intervention targeting reading processes; and individualized rehabilitation aimed at recognizing written words.
A severe reading challenge, characterized by a deficit in word identification, requires an individualized approach. The reading rehabilitation program involves re-education sessions at a minimum frequency of two sessions per week, lasting at least 60 minutes each, over a six-week period (a total of 12 sessions). Reassessment of progress determines whether rehabilitation should continue or if other interventions are needed.
The primary goal of our service is to develop a high level of automaticity in written word recognition. This frees the child from the burden of laborious decoding, allowing them to achieve reading comprehension equivalent to their oral comprehension. Specific objectives include the development of grapheme-phoneme correspondences, the establishment of an orthographic representation of words in the internal lexicon, and encouragement to use the visual code to access the semantic representation of words.
