Reading Intervention for Naming Speed Deficits

Article: Wolf, M., Miller, L., & Donnelly, K. (2000). Retrieval, automaticity, vocabulary,elaboration, orthography (RAVE-O): A comprehensive, fluency-based reading intervention program. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 33, 375 – 386.

RAVE-O is an intervention approach provided in combination with a phonologically-based treatment. The program is designed for children with reading disabilities that are secondary to underlying deficits in naming speed. There are three overarching goals for the RAVE-O program. (1) Children will develop fluency in word identification, word attack and comprehension skills. (2) Lexical and sublexical processing will become more automatic through activities aimed at component perceptual and word-retrieval skills. In these activities, orthographic patterns and meanings are associated with a variety of core words. Finally, (3) children will develop awareness of newly acquired strategies and a sense of control over their reading abilities.

Wolf, Miller and Donnelly (2000) review the structure and utility of RAVE-O for speech-language pathologists in a school setting. Considerable detail about the program, activities, and materials are provided. However, the authors do not provide empirical evidence that supports the efficacy of the program (see Case Study Review and Discussion of the Double-Deficit Hypothesis).

Blogger: Tyler Levee. Tyler is a collaborator of Katherine Harder's in the Language and Working Memory Laboratory. He is studying how attention mediates working memory in children identified with poor language or working memory skills. He is a fixture in the LWM lab and hasn't been home for weeks. This is his final year in the speech language pathology stream of Communication Disorders at UWO.