In retrospect, Kim Snyder says, the signs were obvious: He son didn't speak until age 3 and even then only could pronounce parts of words, like "hay-hay" for Fairhaven Street where they lived.

At 4 1/2 , Will Snyder was diagnosed with a reading and language disorder or dyslexia. Its early recognition lead to quick intervention -- daily lessons with a tutor. Three years later, the 7-year-old now reads a year ahead of his grade level.

"He's a very confident, very ambitious little boy," Snyder says proudly. "He knows he has to learn differently, but now he knows he can succeed. He's not afraid."

An estimated 120,000 students will be diagnosed with dyslexia this year, but not all will be as lucky as Will. There are about 2.4 million schoolchildren (15 percent of the population) with some form of reading disorder.

Dyslexia is not a disease, but describes a different kind of "wiring" in the brain that makes it harder for a person to understand language, spoken or written.

Unfortunately, some children will not receive the kind of specialized teaching they require to learn reading, while many others won't be helped until they are far behind in school -- a delay that can cause them great emotional and psychological harm.

Snyder, a pediatric nurse living in Woodbine, was well aware of the warning signs of learning disorders. She knew the frustration her brother went through when his dyslexia wasn't diagnosed until fifth grade.

Even so, she wasn't convinced of Will's condition until a reading specialist made the diagnosis, and then she wasn't sure how to get help.

"It took a two-by-four to hit me in the head," she recalls. "I had to track down help."

As children return to their classrooms this week, parents need to ask an important question: Is my child learning to read satisfactorily?

For those who find that the answer is "no," the coming months could be critical to their child's development and future success in life. Is a slow-learning child simply maturing less quickly than his or her peers? Is he or she getting the proper instruction at home and school? Could the problem be dyslexia?

Parents whose children are found to be dyslexic face a host of challenges: What is the proper kind of instruction? Where should I go to get help? Is my child getting enough attention?

"The most important thing a parent can do for their child is to be a supportive and nurturing parent," says Dr. Bernadette Landolf-Fritsche, a child psychologist in Towson. "With dyslexia, the most important thing is to become an expert with what's going on with that child."

Treated properly, someone with dyslexia can usually be taught to read, but will perhaps be slower than average. It depends on the nature of the disorder -- the severity of dyslexia can vary widely.

Early identification of dyslexia is critical, but it's not always easy to catch. Dyslexia sometimes accompanies Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, for instance, and a child's reading problem may be masked by his disruptive behavior. Or a particularly bright child may hide his reading problems by

correctly guessing at words, figuring them out by context or the accompanying pictures in a book.

Suzanne Jacobson, an emergency room nurse in Frederick, believes her son Nathan was slow to be diagnosed because he has cerebral palsy. Specialists assumed he was having trouble picking up language because of his physical disability.

Today, the 9-year-old reads at a first-grade level even though he's bright and able to keep up with a fourth-grade curriculum in other subjects.

"The biggest mistake I made was that I thought I had time," said Jacobson who has enrolled her son in a tutoring program. "I knew something was going on, but the school's view was clouded. All they saw was the physical."

The warning signs of a reading disorder can appear early. A child may be a late-talker, have difficulty rhyming words, learning the alphabet or days of the week, have a small vocabulary or trouble following directions.

By kindergarten, the child may be slow to understand the connection between letters and sounds, commonly reverse letters such as b and d, transpose words like left and felt, or confuse basic words like run, eat and want.

"Most parents can tell when expectations are not being met," said Dr. Betty S. Levinson, a Silver Spring psychologist and nationally-recognized expert in learning disorders. "It's generally not that hard."

Educators often point out that whether the child is meeting expectations or not, it's important to cultivate a home environment where reading is encouraged. Reading aloud is considered key, but it's also helpful to promote conversation, rhyming games and to play with sounds from the moment a baby is born.

"Even if the child is dyslexic, it really can't hurt to expose them to sounds and reading -- unless, I suppose, you do it in some rigid, unpleasant way," said Dr. Regina Cicci, director of the University of Maryland's Language and Learning Disorders Clinic. "Being read to can't harm a single child."

Parents who continue to see a problem with a toddler may want to consult their pediatrician or pre-school teacher. Have they noticed a problem, too?

Since research suggests dyslexia is hereditary, parents should be aware of their own family history. Do they have difficulty reading? Do other relatives?

The next step is to have the child evaluated to determine the nature of his or her problem and potential eligibility for special-education services. If the child is school age, his or her school is often the place to begin.

At this point, parents will face an important choice. They can simply approach the child's school and ask them to begin an evaluation process (more about that later), or first seek help from a private reading specialist.

For those who can afford the fee -- perhaps $300-$800 -- a private evaluation can be useful. Using 3-6 hours of tests, an evaluator can provide concrete evidence to a child's school about the nature of the youngster's reading problems and suggest the correct form of treatment.

Fran Levin Bowman of Bowman Educational Services in Columbia, a former Baltimore County public school reading teacher, believes reading disorders can be discerned as young as age 4, with a firm diagnosis by 5 or 6.

Bowman diagnosed Will Snyder in kindergarten. She now provides tutoring to the youngster and has helped put him ahead of his grade level in reading.

"Tutoring is not punishment, it's fun," said Bowman. "By picking up on dyslexia early, we can prevent it from ever being a problem."

How does one choose a specialist to perform an evaluation? The first step is generally to seek a referral. One source often recommended by reading educators is the International Dyslexia Association, a private, nonprofit advocacy group based in Baltimore.

Many public school officials say the private evaluation is not necessary and that most schools are able to pick up on reading problems. And, they point out, it is often the child's teacher, not his parents, who spot signs of learning disorders first.

At school, a two-step process will begin with an informal meeting of teacher, reading staff, perhaps a school psychologist, and the parents. They will discuss a child's progress and, if they believe it's warranted, seek a more formal evaluation.

That more formal screening is conducted by what is called an ARD, or Admission, Review and Dismissal committee. That committee will decide what tests and and potential special education should be offered to the child. If special services are recommended, an IEP, or Individualized Education Plan, will be developed for the child.

Here is another area where school authorities and reading specialists often have divergent views. Many private practitioners like Levinson and Bowman believe many schools do a poor job of identifying and treating reading disorders.

They advise parents to seek expert advice before entering an ARD meeting, either from an outside practitioner or from a nonprofit such as Parents' Place of Maryland, which provides free counseling services to parents of special-needs students statewide.

"Parents can, if they are tenacious, get schools to respond to their child's needs," said Janice B. Levitt, a private counselor who advocates for learning-disabled youngsters. "But they can't it alone."

Special education is expensive, and Levitt believes schools are often reluctant to diagnose a reading disorder because of budget constraints. What schools will often offer dyslexics -- the promise of extra monitoring or attention from their teacher -- isn't sufficient treatment, she said.

An advocate will be able to inform parents of their legal rights, such as the right to appeal an ARD decision. They can also help them find treatment that works, sometimes requiring a school to pay for outside services.

Children with dyslexia require a reading curriculum that is multisensory (seeing, hearing, touching, writing, and speaking), phonics-based, highly structured and systematic. There are many variations, and choosing a correct one for a child may depend on the nature of his or her learning disorder.

The other piece of advice reading experts commonly offer parents is not to think that a diagnosis of dyslexia is a reason to panic. Sometimes fear of a learning disorder can put parents in a state of denial that can lead to delayed treatment and far worse problems for their child. Other parents may mistakenly believe their child is lazy and urge him to "just work harder," only to see him continue to fail.

"Sometimes, it takes a parent a long time to understand," said Cicci of the University of Maryland's Language and Learning Disorders Clinic. "It isn't even necessarily denial. It just takes time."

Signs of a reading disorder

Few people with a reading and language disorder or dyslexia exhibit all the following signs, nor does a child necessarily have HTC dyslexia if he or she exhibits one or more of these signs. But experts say the following are potential indicators of a problem:

* Lack of awareness of sounds in words, rhymes or sequence of sounds and syllables in words

* Difficulty identifying words

* Difficulty spelling

* Has trouble getting the sequence of numbers or letters in words when read or written, such as sing-sign, left-felt, scared-sacred, 21-12

* Difficulty expressing thoughts in written form

* Delayed spoken language

* Imprecise or incomplete interpretation of language that is heard

* Difficulty in expressing thoughts orally

* Problems with reading comprehension

* Confusion about directions in space or time (right and left, up and down, early and late)

* Confusion about right- or left-handedness

* Difficulty with handwriting

* Difficulty in math, often related to the sequence of steps or directionality or language of mathematics

Source: International Dyslexia Association

Resources

For more information on reading disorders, contact:

* National Center for Learning Disabilities, 888-575-7373

L * Learning Disabilities Association of America, 412-341-1515

* The International Dyslexia Association, 410-296-0232 and 800-ABC-D123

* ERIC Clearinghouse for Disabilities and Gifted Education, 800-328-0272

* The Parents' Place, 410-712-0900

Pub Date: 8/30/98