Many children have difficultly when learning to read. Around 10 million children have difficulties learning to read, but 90 to 95 per cent of reading impaired children can develop strong reading skills if they receive appropriate guidance and assistance as early on as possible.

Learning disabilities is a very broad term and refers to people that have difficulty learning particular skills or academic areas. It is important to remember that learning disabilities are not related to intelligence. In relation to children the most common issues are things like Dyslexia, Attention deficit disorder (ADD and ADHD), Autism and Asperger's Syndrome.

The best thing parents and teachers can do is keep a close eye on the child and if there are any changes, or either suspects that something is wrong you need to act immediately. One of the main concerns for parents and teachers alike is these learning difficulties' are hard to pin down, and a formal diagnosis can be difficult. So as the parent or teacher of the child, you know them best and can pick up on any emotional or developmental changes.

Reading difficulties can be placed on a continuum, varying in severity. It can be common for some children, with mild cases, to go right through school without ever knowing.

There are some tried and tested ways to test if your child might have a reading or learning difficulty. This is specifically for young children, who are in the very early stages of reading development. This is referred to as Decoding. If you child has trouble sounding our words, reads aloud slowly, ignores punctuation, reads without verbal or visual expression or often confuses letters and the sound they make it could mean they have decoding difficulties.

The next stage of reading development is comprehension. Your child must have master decoding to be able to move onto this next stage which involves understanding and remembering what has been read.

The final stage of reading education is, Retention. This requires both decoding and comprehending what is written.

So if your child has a learning difficulty you need to identify exactly what this difficulty is. Knowing your 'enemy' is the best defense. The more you arm yourself with knowledge and information as to what specific difficultly your child has, the better equipped you will be to provide the correct method and instruction to increase your child's reading ability. Even if you just start by researching online - understanding what your child's feels and why they are experiencing this puts you in a far stronger position. Examine the way readers your child processes words and identifying the knowledge and skills needed to become a proficient reader.

You will find both online, through your doctor and your school a wealth of information on the HUGE amount of different education methods to help your child to learn to read. The key with all of these is to accommodate a student's weaknesses and build upon his or her strength.