How can I help my Dyslexic child thrive in a school environment?
Dyslexia is not something one grows out of. Pupils need to be helped to navigate their learning environments to retain self-confidence and to thrive academically.
Dyslexia is mostly associated with trouble in learning to read. It affects a child’s ability to recognise and manipulate the sounds in language. Children with Dyslexia have a hard time decoding new words or breaking them down into manageable chunks that can be sounded out separately before being blended and read as whole words. This difficulty then impacts their abilities in reading, writing and spelling.
Sometimes Dyslexic children compensate by memorising words, but, as they progress through their school careers, they’ll have trouble recognising new words and may even be slow to retrieve words they are familiar with.
Dyslexia is not a reflection of a child’s intelligence; it is defined as a gap between a pupil’s ability and achievement. Many Dyslexic pupils “keep up” academically in line with their chronological age and comparatively with their peers until the end of Pre-Prep, when it then becomes evident that they are making a significant effort to cope with the demands of schoolwork, and that they are spending a significant amount of extra energy in doing so. By Year 4, when they are expected to be able to read quickly and fluently, their difficulties become noticeable.
With help and applicable learning strategies, Dyslexic pupils can compensate for weaknesses in decoding and can learn to read, write and spell competently.
Knowing the signs and how to help children with this very common learning disability
Children each learn and develop at their own pace, and reading is no different from building on any other skill. It is common for children to find reading challenging at one point or another, but if learning to read becomes an ongoing struggle that leaves a child falling well behind their peers, it is possible that they have the learning disorder known as Dyslexia.
The social and emotional impacts of Dyslexia
How common is Dyslexia?
It is estimated that as many as one in five children have Dyslexia, and that up to 90% of children with learning disorders have it. Many children go undiagnosed as struggles in school are often incorrectly attributed to intelligence, level of effort or environmental factors. Although experts used to say that Dyslexia occurred more often in boys than in girls, current research indicates that it affects boys and girls equally.
Dyslexia affects a lot more than just reading and writing; it can also impact a child socially. A Dyslexic person who has word-finding difficulties can have trouble with expressive language, which can have a social impact, affecting social connection and friendships. Children with Dyslexia - particularly those who have yet to be diagnosed - often suffer from low self-esteem, as they worry that there is something wrong with them.
They are often accused of not trying hard enough to learn to read. To positively impact a Dyslexic child’s social and emotional needs they need to be helped to rediscover where their strengths and capabilities lie. This goes a long way to fostering self-belief and self-confidence again.
Teaching the Dyslexic child
Experts agree that the best practice for teaching children with Dyslexia is to teach them by engaging all their senses using a multisensory approach. This means using visuals, motion, body movement, hands-on, and auditory elements in their learning. Studies have shown that children with Dyslexia draw from various regions in their brains whilst engaging in reading, so it stands to reason that using teaching approaches that stimulate various regions in the brain would ensure success for these learners.
Children with Dyslexia have a difficult time learning to read and write in a typical classroom setting. Most teachers often gear their lessons to pupils with preferred auditory learning styles. This means the teacher relies mostly on talking to teach. Teachers lecture, explain and answer questions orally. The Dyslexic learner, however, struggles to process information using only their auditory modality. For this reason, Dyslexic pupils need to learn using an approach that simultaneously combines auditory, visual, and tactile learning strategies to teach skills and concepts.
Helpful strategies when teaching a child with Dyslexia
The time spent in education is a significant part of a child’s development. As a parent or teacher, supporting the educational growth of a Dyslexic learner is a wonderful opportunity. Nonetheless, it can be a challenging task, and it is important to remember that what makes a Dyslexic learner struggle is neither a lack of intelligence nor willingness. Dyslexic pupils have a learning difference. Often their learning can be a slow, difficult, and at times, impossible process. However, with compassionate guidance and well-equipped tried-and-tested strategies, Dyslexic pupils are capable of learning and becoming high-achievers.
1. Multisensory activities help Dyslexic children absorb and process information in a retainable manner and involve using senses like touch and movement alongside sight and hearing.
Most lessons in school depend on a pupil spending time memorising, drilling conceptual learning, or rote learning. Memorisation is not the way children with Dyslexia learn!
Incorporate multisensory and visual elements into learning. When new material is embedded into images, learning and recall become super-charged! Images are captured quickly, and those images are stored in the child’s visual memory. Children with Dyslexia learn by observing and love visual aids.
Involve body movement in learning. Children with Dyslexia learn most easily through hands-on activities. They need manipulatives when solving Maths problems rather than relying on pencil and paper. When learning new concepts, for example, let them see, understand and implement what is happening instead of giving them facts or rules to memorise.
Hands-on learning heightens engagement. Examples of multi-sensory activities for school-based learning include:
Writing words and sentences with tactile materials, e.g. glitter glue, sand, pasta, LEGO, or beads.
Physical activities to practise spelling, e.g. hopscotch or jump-rope with children spelling out words when they jump to each square or over the rope. Let pupils work in pairs and take turns to dictate words and spell them.
Scavenger hunts for letters and words. Split pupils into teams and give them a word. Next, write letters onto post-it notes and hide them around the classroom. Each team must find the letters to construct the assigned word and then glue them together on a poster.
2. Use an explicit, systematic approach to teaching reading.
It is best not to assume that Dyslexic children will naturally fill gaps or make connections for themselves. They will learn to make connections for themselves, but in the beginning, teach reading and all new skills using a systematic approach.
3. When working in a one-to-one capacity, encourage Dyslexic children to read out loud.
This utilises the auditory pathway to the brain. Children with special needs such as Autism, Auditory Processing Disorder, Stuttering, and Dyslexia glean remarkable benefits from listening to themselves read aloud. If necessary, Auditory amplification devices, such as Toobaloo®, can help support this experience for them.
4. Teach children the art of visualising as they read.
If a child is struggling to read, the chances are that their entire focus is on trying to sound out words. When decoding becomes a child's focus, the idea that words carry meaning will escape them. They assume "reading" means calling out words. It is so important to teach children to stop every few lines to “make” a mental picture of what the words are saying. Like anything new, learning to visualise might be slow-going at first, but as a child continues this practice, is will soon become automatic.
5. Summarise and give the big picture first, then teach the details.
Dyslexic children need to see the whole picture first before they can be taught the details inside that global whole. This is often referred to as “Big Picture Thinking” or “Blue Sky Thinking”. An example in Reading is to show children all the ways one can spell the Long /a/ sound. In Maths, teaching children all the number combinations that make up number bonds to 10 will make it easier for them to recognise and apply these individual combinations when working with larger numbers.
6. Teach from whole to part.
For example, start by teaching the most basic sounds. Then teach whole words. After children can recognise these whole words, it is much simpler for them to break these words apart into their individual phonemes and phoneme clusters. Children will then be able to quickly detect words that are related by sound spelling known as “Spelling Families”, e.g. -ng, -nk, -ink, -ong words.
7. Use assistive technology and tools.
Pocket spell checkers: The Dyslexic pupil types in a word, often spelt phonetically, and the spell checker will return a correctly spelt match. This helps the child strengthen their confidence in both writing and spelling and will help them commit correct spellings to memory.
Line readers: A line reader magnifies and highlights the portion of text over which it is placed. This helps Dyslexic pupils move through a book or worksheet and keep their place more easily; especially if they experience “swimming” words where the surrounding “sea of text” is distracting.
Coloured keyboard: Keyboards with coloured overlays and larger letters make typing more accessible to Dyslexic pupils. Some come with multimedia hotkeys that enable the user to play, pause, stop, or rewind audio, which is useful as Dyslexic pupils often use text-to-speech software when reading and writing.
When purchasing assistive technology for a Dyslexic pupil, consider acquiring several for other pupils to share. This helps to lessen any feelings of isolation or difference that Dyslexic children may feel and prevents other pupils from feeling envious.
8. Helpful Arrangements.
Use cloze procedures. Give the Dyslexic pupil a sheet containing key information that you’ll be covering throughout the lesson, and blank out any key words. The Dyslexic pupil can then take notes just like the others without the stress of trying to copy everything before it is wiped off the board. This helps them focus and commit key information to memory.
Give Dyslexic pupils plenty of time to complete homework. If a piece of homework takes a day to complete, distribute it on a Friday so that the Dyslexic pupil has the whole weekend to work on it. Let their parents know what the homework schedule is for the month, so that they can pre-empt the learning of certain topics at home, in advance of this work being covered in class.
Mark based on effort and ideas. Dyslexic pupils may be less skilled than their peers at spelling and grammar, however, their thought processes, creativity and effort should be praised in favour of precision. Highlight any major spelling errors using a green pen; avoid marking in a demotivating red pen.
9. Educational Games.
The great thing about games that are designed for Dyslexic pupils is that they can easily be incorporated into lessons for the whole class, benefitting all pupils.
There are hundreds of educational apps and games available for Dyslexic pupils. High Speed Training and Dyslexic.com have a selection of apps which are available. Nessy.com, Dyslexiagames.com and Simplex Spelling provide some excellent digital and physical games for classroom use:
Nessy.com - Offers a range of PC games that help learners understand the sounds that make up words (an area where Dyslexic pupils particularly struggle.) Their colourful, cartoony style is appealing and engaging to younger children.
Dyslexiagames.com - The workbooks here are full of puzzles, 3D drawings, and reading activities tailored to visual thinking, the Dyslexic learner’s strength.
Simplex Spelling - An excellent choice for iPad use. These games help build on a pupil’s understanding of phonics and how words are constructed.
10. Working with Parents.
a. Meeting regularly with the parents of individual Dyslexic pupils is important for discussing their child’s progress and the strategies you’re applying to promote learning both at home and at school.
b. Encouraging organised conversations between parents of all Dyslexic children is an important opportunity to share knowledge and best practice, and to find learning methods that might successfully aid their children. No two Dyslexic pupils are alike; there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach. This open-door policy helps abolish feelings of isolation and difference and encourages a united philosophy in mutual support of one-another and one-another’s children.
Teaching methods that work for the Dyslexic child
There are many tried-and-true practices that teachers and parents can use to better support children with Dyslexia.
The Orton–Gillingham Method
This popular method has long been used to teach children with Dyslexia how to read. By focusing on the connection between letters and their sounds, children can assign more meaning to the language and develop better overall comprehension. It also uses a multisensory approach, which means that sight, sound, touch and movement all work in tandem when learning words.
The Structured Literacy Approach
This deliberate teaching method involves techniques such as clapping syllables to help the child better segment words into their components, or phonemes. It also focuses on connecting sounds to their symbols (letters) in two ways: visually, through reading, and auditorily, through spelling. This approach uses a systematic and cumulative progression to learning, meaning that lessons logically connect and build on each other.
A Compassionate Teacher
The importance of compassion when teaching a child who struggles with Dyslexia cannot be overemphasised! This condition has been shown to affect a child's self-esteem, confidence and mental health, which feeds into how they feel about committing to, and engaging in, other aspects of their lives. Whatever method you choose to practise, be sure that you are cognisant of how you can increase the child's sense of self-worth. Praise them often for their hard work, don't put them on the spot in front of their peers, and give them the opportunity to answer questions aloud when possible.
Teaching a child with Dyslexia may look different to working with a child who does not have a learning disability. However, the specific approach and teaching methods adopted to teach and support Dyslexic pupils benefit all pupils too. Teaching Dyslexic pupils no longer needs to be considered a separate challenge.
10 Tips for teaching Dyslexic pupils
1. Praise gives power; criticism kills.
A person with Dyslexia needs a boost to their self-confidence before they can learn to overcome their difficulties. They have already experienced failure and deep down they often don’t believe they are capable of learning. To re-establish self-confidence, create opportunities for success and give praise for small achievements.
2. Don’t ask a Dyslexic pupil to read aloud in front of a wider group.
Words are likely to be misread or skipped, causing embarrassment.
3. Don’t punish for forgetting books or sports kit.
Most Dyslexic pupils struggle with personal organisation. Offer positive strategies such as having one place to put things away.
4. Don’t use the word ‘lazy’.
Pupils with Dyslexia work harder to produce a smaller amount. They have trouble staying focused when reading, writing or listening.
5. Expect less written work.
A person with Dyslexia may be verbally strong but will struggle to put their ideas into writing. Allow more time for reading, listening and understanding.
6. Prepare a printout of homework and stick it into their book.
Provide numbered steps for homework access, e.g. 1. Do this. 2. Do that, etc.
7. Do not ask them to copy text from a board or book.
Give a printout. Suggest these pupils highlight key information and draw thumbnail pictures in the margin to represent the most important points.
8. Accept homework created on a computer.
Physical handwriting can be laborious for most pupils with Dyslexia. Word processors make life so much easier! Allow them to use the Spell Checker facility and to get help with grammar and punctuation. This shifts the focus to the quality of their written content rather than trying to decipher what has literally been written down.
9. Discuss a task requirement to make sure it is understood.
Visualising the activity or linking it to a funny action may help someone with Dyslexia remember it better.
10. Provide the opportunity to answer questions orally.
Often pupils with Dyslexia are better able to demonstrate their understanding with a spoken response, rather than a written answer.
If you’re looking to better understand Dyslexia, we offer an informative Dyslexia workshop.