How can students with Dyslexia and ADHD prepare for the SAT?

by Michael Toohey, M.Ed.

Read.

Read often.

And then read some more.

I know it’s not the answer many students want to hear.

But it’s the right answer.

I get it. Reading is tough. Focusing is tough. 

Especially with a learning disability.

And that’s exactly why you need to practice.

Listen. I tore my knee up a few years ago. I had 3 surgeries.

My knee was weak and sore and swollen.

You know what I had to do to make it better?

I had to exercise it! Physical therapy made it stronger.

It’s the same for students with learning disabilities.

15 minutes each day is all it takes.

One article per day from sources such as The Economist, Scientific American,  New Yorker Magazine.

Read for comprehension.

If you see a word you don’t know, then look it up. 

Don’t just skip over the text to get it done and say you “read” it. (You weren’t reading — you were just looking at some words!)

And you know what happens after you read academic writing for 15 minutes per day for a month?

You boost your vocabulary.

You start to understand it.

After 6 months?

You understand everything you read!

I tell students all the time: “Academic language is like a foreign language. You’ve got to practice it to learn it.”

It’s true. And, like a foreign language, it becomes natural with practice. 

Easy, really.

So commit to reading one article each day, and you will see your reading comprehension — and your SAT Verbal score — improve dramatically as a result.