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Abstract

Axioms exist in the field of reading instruction that can discourage the development of novel approaches. It is felt that rapid success in teaching the learning disabled to read and write only can take place when the instruction deals with the frustration-produced anxiety that results from an accumulation of failure. Nonassumptive teaching, rather than a diagnostic-prescriptive approach, is proposed as a method to remove frustration-produced anxiety. A novel approach to the teaching of both reading and writing that is nonassumptive is presented here. The approach is called Vertical Word Processing and involves controlling the vowel from the simplest word constructions to the most difficult of orthographic constructions. The teaching strategies discussed are based on a model of the English language that views most words as regular (categorical)—some more regular (categorical) than others.

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