Intervention for Language and Literacy 
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  • Language skills are the key to academic success. Difficulty in one area of language may lead to difficulties in other areas of language, including reading, spelling, and writing. Intervention becomes necessary when learning and/or communication does not take place in a timely or successful manner. Language is in every subject we learn. There is a language of math, of science, and every other subject area. Reading comprehension increases as one's cognitive-linguistic skills grow and structures are learned and employed. Structured Word Inquiry is becoming well known among private schools in California, Australia, and Canada as the key to literacy for all. One public school district in the U.S. now employs Structured Word Inquiry successfully. With a focus on meaning, structure, and jobs of letters memorization is a thing of the past in reading, spelling, and writing instruction. Morphology and Etymology govern phonology. It is important to begin with the big picture before working down to the details. Grapheme-phoneme correspondence is taught as the final step rather than the first. Phonology is often the most difficult piece of written language, or orthography. Students with language-based learning disabilities need an approach that targets the big picture by focusing on meaning and structure so they can then understand the phonology. 

Work Experience

Shawna Pope-Jefferson has been a speech-language pathologist for 20 years. The beginning of her work experience in Chicago afforded her the opportunity to work in early intervention,  schools, nursing homes and hospitals. Upon returning to Southern Illinois she gained experience in traumatic brain injury before moving on to teach in higher education. She was a senior lecturer and clinical supervisor at SIU-C for 9 years before moving into private practice. During her career in higher education she began to focus on language and literacy disorders. It is in this study in which she found her passion.  She has attended continuing education seminars on dyslexia and language-based learning disabilities and has attended numerous courses with the pioneers of Structured Word Inquiry for the past 3 1/2 years. She has about 200 hours in coursework and several hundred more in self-study and practice with clients. 
    - Member of the American Speech, Language and
    Hearing Assoc.
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Big Picture Therapy

Language is all connected. It is made up of interdependent skills. Language and Literacy skills are best learned when taught together using a multi-sensory approach.  Language takes place within context. It is always important to focus on the larger skills being acquired while targeting the smaller structures. 

The traditional methods of teaching reading and spelling (phonics and whole language)  are problematic on many levels. As a result, One in four students do not learn how to read, spell, and write. The English spelling system is logical and predictable.  Every word has a story. Spelling does not represent sounds in English, it represents meaning. We use IPA symbols to represent speech sounds ( phonemes). The main point is that spelling needs to be taught, not memorized, and accurate spelling leads to accurate reading.  

Speech and language Services

 Services are available to clients aged 4 through adulthood. Services include the assessment and treatment of speech, language, and literacy disorders. 
Expressive and Receptive Aphasia services are also available. 
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All children with speech, language and literacy disorders are unique and require individualized instruction. Multiple tools are used to tailor therapy to your or your child's needs. 

Early intervention is important to prevent failure. The sooner the better, but it is never too late. In kindergarten through the third grade children learn to read and then in the fourth grade they read to learn. Building the necessary language skills to make text accessible is essential to students doing well in school. Decreased reading comprehension, spelling, writing, and fluency despite intervention is  a sign that there are related foundational language skills that still need to be targeted. Language and literacy skills continue to grow throughout our lifetime .  

Videos on How English Words Work