Material That Sparks Personal Interest

In two studies of successful adult dyslexics, Fink (1995, 1998) found in almost every case that her subjects had been avid readers in a subject of passionate personal interest as children and young adolescents, even though they had not mastered the mechanics of reading. In the case of a significant minority of her subjects, difficulties with reading and writing mechanics persisted into adulthood; yet in many cases these dyslexic adults not only read extensively but also write extensively in their professional lives.

The accessibility of hugely varied content is facilitated by CD ROM libraries and the vast resources of the World Wide Web. Using digital media and networks, teachers can individualize subject matter for reading and writing to an extent not possible with print resources alone. As Fink's research suggests, passionate interest in a particular subject is a strong motivator. With online text sources such as On-Line Books Page {http://www.cs.cmu.edu/books.html}, and Project Gutenberg {http://www.promo.net/pg/} or {http://www.gutenberg.net}, it is now practical for teachers to individualize reading and writing subject matter content to a very great extent.

Critically important for success is careful selection and structuring of access to material. Simply "turning students loose" on the Internet and hoping they will find interesting and relevant material would not yield the desired results. A good way to structure access and help students stay focused is to create a home page with links to relevant material by subject area. Existing "library" sites do just this and can be used as is or used as a model for teachers to create their own resource links (for example, Internet Public Library http://www.ipl.org/youth/)