Studies show that phonology (the relationship between sounds and their meaning) is impaired in individuals with Dyslexia.  There may not be any definitive masters among those who look for an ideal answer in the interrelated disorders that impact speech, voice recognition and dyslexia. There is help and info that may take us all a step closer to some mastery in preventing/overcoming dyslexia. A training exercise is being made available online to parents, parent teacher organizations and schools. It has been used with great success in leading reading remediation/learning skill development clinics. The primary exercise set, Sound Analysis (SA), has 41 levels and can be completed in ten minutes each school day for four to six weeks. It manipulates 17 core sounds to build innate auditory processing skills. Also coming on the scene is a normed evaluation, the PASS (Phonemic Awareness Skill Set) Assessment, is being introduced this week as a screening tool for core auditory processing skills. Now a parent or educator can easily examine a child’s skill base for reading readiness. It also includes measurement for a learned skill, word attack.

Both PA and SA are currently available at no cost from the nonprofit, Cognitive First, as a part of the CogRead Literacy Campaign. Building a stronger phonemic awareness skill set in k-1 children is a key element in equipping more children to succeed in phonics and meet 3rd grade reading proficiency standards. Supportive research and application information from Dr. Joseph Torgesen, the community of Kennewick, Washington, and various background studies from the National Science Foundation and Virginia State University as well as the US Department of Health can be found at CogRead.org.