Reading comprehension falls within the scope of a speech therapist, as good language development and vocabulary are needed to understand what is being read.

In babies, hearing sounds starts as early as in the womb. After birth, they begin to hear and understand. Hearing voices, listening to songs and rhymes stimulates comprehension.

To achieve good reading comprehension, the following conditions must be met:

1. Listening: The foundations of reading comprehension are laid as early as preschool age. Listening to stories, rhymes and verses stimulates listening comprehension. Listening requires concentration and focus and when a toddler or preschooler hears a story, they will remember the content.
2. Vocabulary: in addition to listening skills, vocabulary also affects reading comprehension. If a child does not know the meaning of some words in a text, it is difficult to understand the story.
3. Language development: When language development is slow or difficult, reading development, especially reading comprehension, can also lag behind and cause problems. Good language development is the basis for achieving reading comprehension.
4. Technical reading: (decoding). In group 3, the foundations are laid for fluent, technical reading. Fluent reading is a prerequisite for understanding a text. Difficulty with technical reading costs a lot of energy and can negatively affect text comprehension.
5. Reading strategies: Proper use of reading strategies is important. These are taught by teachers in schools and can be given extra practice with a speech therapist.

Reading comprehension and then study reading, is of great importance to correctly treat subjects in secondary/secondary education. Therefore, in primary education, it is very important that children develop reading comprehension well.
If, despite the necessary support at school, a child is still behind in reading comprehension, a speech therapist can provide support.

For a child diagnosed with TOS (language development disorder), ASD (autism spectrum disorder), ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) or dyslexia, it is often difficult to meet educational criteria. This can lead to delays in reading comprehension. By being guided in the right (speech therapy) way, they can catch up and then get back on track with classmates at school.