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"[Dyslexia] occurs in at least 15 percent of the population...if you have 20 students in your class, probably three of them have markers of dyslexia."

How to Spot Dyslexia and What to Do Next
Lisa Brooks, 2019
https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/spot-dyslexia/

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How to Spot Dyslexia, and What to Do Next | Cult of Pedagogy

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Learn the traits that might indicate dyslexia in students and what you can do inside and outside the classroom to better support these students.

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"It's really a difficulty in the phonological component of language, and that means children have difficulty with the sounds in words."

How to Spot Dyslexia and What to Do Next
Lisa Brooks, 2019
https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/spot-dyslexia/

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4 Strategies to Support Students with Dyslexia

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4 Strategies to Support Students with Dyslexia

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Direct Instruction Phonics
"[W]e need a code-based approach, which really means direct instruction in phonics. ...the 3-cueing system is not what a student with dyslexia needs...So we really need to help them learn the code." (Brooks, 2019)

Overlearning
"For students with dyslexia to be successful, they need a lot more practice with skills that other students only need to be exposed to a few times...So we need to remember that they're not trying to be difficult, it's just they need a lot of practice." (Brooks, 2019)

Multi-sensory Delivery
"Students with dyslexia can learn more quickly if instruction is delivered using more than one sense simultaneously."

"When the student is writing or completing a dictation, we have them repeat the word, segment it into sounds, and they might use some kind of manipulatives to represent the sounds in the word, name the letters, and then they write the letters while saying the letter out loud.."

"For older students, who may be more self-conscious about using these strategies, Brooks recommends more discreet approaches, such as tapping out a word's syllables with their fingers."

Sounds, Music, and Rhyming Games
"Any games or songs that incorporate rhyming, repetition, and matching syllables to rhythms can give students with dyslexia extra practice with these skills."

How to Spot Dyslexia and What to Do Next
Lisa Brooks, 2019
https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/spot-dyslexia/

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Reading and writing challenges don't match other strengths
"if you find yourself surprised by a student's difficulties in reading and writing because they seem strong in other areas, that's one potential sign that the child may have dyslexia."

The student struggles with the sounds of language
If they struggle with any of the following, they may have characteristics of dyslexia.

1. Identifying the first sound in a word

2. Blending sounds into words or segmenting words into sounds

3. Pronouncing multisyllabic words like "specific"

4. Rhyming

5. Rote memory tasks like remembering songs or the days of the week

6. Correctly repeating words back to you after you say them

7. Not representing all sounds in a word when spelling it.

How to Spot Dyslexia and What to Do Next
Lisa Brooks, 2019
https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/spot-dyslexia/

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"Dyslexia is generally defined as a disorder that involves difficulty learning to read associated with specific problems in word identification."

(Hook, Carreker)

Teaching Students with Dyslexia: How to Recognize Early Warning Signs, Provide Effective Intervention, and Unlock Student Achievement
Pamela Hook & Suzanne Carreker
https://creeracord.files.wordpress.com/2020/10/dyslexia-white-paper-lexia.pdf

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Startling Statistics About Dyslexia Diagnosis

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Startling Statistics About Dyslexia Diagnosis

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"'A principal, teacher, or other professional at my child's school has stated to me...'

83% They don't use the term dyslexia
52% Dyslexia is a medical term
26% Dyslexia isn't real."

"Dyslexia affects 1/5 people."

(Dyslexia Buddy Network, 2015)

If we can't acknowledge as a widespread education community that dyslexia is certainly a problem that affects many students, how can we truly support them in the classroom and give them the proper tools to learn effectively. These statistics truly startled me that so many educators and admins are ignorant to the problems dyslexia cause.

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What I Wish Teachers Knew About Dyslexia

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The Dyslexia Buddy Network & Embracing Dyslexia Present: What I Wish Teachers Knew About Dyslexia. This film was also created to give our kids a voice. Visit: DyslexiaBuddyNetwork.com & EmbracingDyslexia.com

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Dyslexia In the Classrooom: What Every Teacher Needs to Know

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Dyslexia In the Classrooom: What Every Teacher Needs to Know

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"Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with
accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically
result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other
cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include
problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede the growth of vocabulary
and background knowledge."

This reading gives some great overviews of Dyslexia and how it can be a challenge in the classroom but also offers ways to teach students with dyslexia and tips on managing their learning effectively.

(IDA 2017)

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"attention, organization, and executive function (e.g., beginning and completing homework assignments, maintaining focus on tasks, keeping track of supplies and materials), left/right confusion, concepts related to time and space, math (memorizing math facts and reading/understanding word problems), handwriting, learning foreign languages or English as a second language, and social skills (making or keeping friends).

(Hook, Carreker)

Teaching Students with Dyslexia: How to Recognize Early Warning Signs, Provide Effective Intervention, and Unlock Student Achievement
Pamela Hook & Suzanne Carreker
https://creeracord.files.wordpress.com/2020/10/dyslexia-white-paper-lexia.pdf

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"Dyslexia is an inherited condition that makes it extremely difficult to read, write, and spell in your native language - despite at least average intelligence."

(Dyslexia Buddy Network, 2015)

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What I Wish Teachers Knew About Dyslexia

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The Dyslexia Buddy Network & Embracing Dyslexia Present: What I Wish Teachers Knew About Dyslexia. This film was also created to give our kids a voice. Visit: DyslexiaBuddyNetwork.com & EmbracingDyslexia.com

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"Dyslexia can affect spoken language, written language and language comprehension."

"Dyslexics require extra time and effort to process language information."

"Dyslexia is a unique mindset that is often gifted and productive, but learns differently than other minds."

I really like the idea about "[d]yslexia is a unique mindset" because it lifts up students with dyslexia and shares that it is not a negative point but rather a point of extra strength because students need to be able learn in different ways.
(Dyslexia Buddy Network, 2015)

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What I Wish Teachers Knew About Dyslexia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Dyslexia Buddy Network & Embracing Dyslexia Present: What I Wish Teachers Knew About Dyslexia. This film was also created to give our kids a voice. Visit: DyslexiaBuddyNetwork.com & EmbracingDyslexia.com

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Accommodating Students with Dyslexia in All Classroom Settings

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Accommodating Students with Dyslexia in All Classroom Settings

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Some easy tips for accommodating students with dyslexia are:
- Using a tape recorder
- Clarify or simplify written directions
- Present a small amount of work
- Block out extraneous stimuli
- Highlight essential information
- Provide additional practice activities
- Provide a glossary in content areas
- Develop reading guides

(Mercer, C. 2002)

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Accommodating Students with Dyslexia in All Classroom Settings

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The International Dyslexia Association prepared this fact sheet describing reasonable accommodations involving materials, interactive instruction, and student performance to help children with learning problems in general education and special education classrooms.

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How to help a child with Dyslexia at home

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How to help a child with Dyslexia at home

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Tips for guardians about how to support students with Dyslexia in their own home and being a positive support system.

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Parents want their children to do well at school and have the opportunity to reach their full potential. Learning at home can play an important part in this when a child has dyslexia. Reading together and finding kids' computer programs and apps that support literacy skills development are a good first step. Some parents may want to work directly with their children on phonics, spelling, and homework. Others may be a bit more reluctant to take on the role of teacher. It does take a special set of skills, and it's not for everyone. Nevertheless, there is still plenty you can do to support learning at home, even if you don't directly tutor your child.

What is dyslexia?

If you haven't received a diagnosis, you may be wondering, is my child dyslexic? Not every parent knows for sure. A child with dyslexia often struggles with reading. Perhaps you have more than one child with a reading difficulty. Perhaps you or your partner or someone else in your extended family struggled to learn to read. It's possible that dyslexia is the cause.

Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty that affects 10% of the population, and it can run in families. It can be mild, moderate, or severe. When a child has a specific learning difficulty like dyslexia, it does not mean they are less intelligent than their peers, they just process and learn in a different way. Dyslexia is most commonly associated with difficulties in reading and spelling. However, it can also affect an individual's ability to process and remember information, particularly at speed.

Dyslexia-friendly learning

Dyslexia isn't an illness, but it is something a child has for life. Nonetheless, with the right approach to learning the challenges associated with dyslexia can be overcome. There are also some positives. For example, some dyslexia-related strengths include enhanced spatial reasoning, creativity, and out-of-the-box thinking.

On the whole, dyslexic kids learn most easily when information is delivered in a multisensory way, in small incremental chunks, at the child's preferred pace, with opportunities for repetition, and plenty of positive reinforcement. However, a significant part of finding the "right approach" is understanding it is unique for every individual. It's important for parents to keep in mind no two children with dyslexia will struggle in the same way.

Strategies for helping a child with dyslexia at home

To parents who are supporting learning at home, we say: Good for you. You can only do your best in supporting your child's learning, so don't beat yourself up if you feel stymied in how much you can help. What's most important is for your child to know they are loved and supported outside of school.

Here are some additional things parents can try:

1. Get them to work independently.
Encourage your child to ask his or her own questions andtackle work independently - and consider that you might follow up afterward. Did you use your plan? Can you rewrite this so it's less messy? Is this your best work? Can you explain this to me, or show me how to do it?

2. Help them build a positive self-image.
In the fairly recent past, dyslexia was not well understood, and many children were unfairly labeled as thick, stupid, lazy, not trying hard enough, or being willfully uncooperative. None of it is true. Dyslexic children can have good and bad days, and remembering one day over the other can give the impression that they are being willful or lazy. In fact, they may be having to try much harder than other kids to keep up with school work, which can be tiring and can eat away at self-esteem. Remind them of their strengths and help them keep things in perspective when they're having a bad day. Read more about learning difficulties andhow parents can foster positive self-esteem in this article.

3. Set up a study space.
Each child's learning style is different. Some will be happy at the kitchen table with a buzz of activity going on around them; others will need peace and quiet to get anything done - learn more about helping children withattention difficulties and auditory processing disorder. Make sure they know they have a dedicated space to retreat to when they need it.

4. Establish some ground rules.
If you have a target for work to be completed, or have agreed one with your child's teacher, don't let him or her turn on the television or be distracted by a phone. Avoidpower struggles, and don't tolerate conflict. Parents are in charge. Clearly set out your expectations. Choosing not to finish work is choosing not to enjoy certain privileges. Be consistent. Make it clear you mean what you say, even if it takes a few days for the message to sink in.

When school is closed

Many parents are struggling with the prospect of homeschooling their child with dyslexia while schools are physically closed. If your kids are at home and there are expectations of school work to be done, having a structure to your day is very important, especially during periods of self-isolation. Decide together how the days are going to be spent. Routine can help give clarity to expectations and help everybody to be more productive. When will you wake up? When will you finish your work for school?

A structured morning might include your child working on an assignment for 45 minutes, followed by independent reading for half an hour, then a break, then work on a different assignment. They might benefit from seeing you work on a project of your own too.

Do half an hour's exercise of some kind, then prepare lunch together, and make a batch of cookies or cheese twists or a recipe which can help with fractions, weights, measures, etc. Planting some seeds in a pot or window box can involve aspects of biology, counting, measuring.

At what temperature does water boil? What's the weather like today? How do you make ice cubes? Learning doesn't have to be formal and can be a lot of fun. Parents know their children and can make it age-appropriate. Learning can just happen without anyone noticing, especially if your child is curious.

Storage and resource materials

Every child should have their own designated storage space for all those bits of paper, half-completed assignments, models, study guides, local library cards, etc. Keep them together in one place. A plastic crate works well. Parents should be resigned to the fact that their children will go on losing pencils, erasers and other supplies, and keep extra on hand.

Kids with dyslexia who struggle with writing will often grip a pencil too tightly and break the point. Get pencil grips to make the shaft of the pencil thicker and easier to hold, and invest in a pencil sharpener or two. Markers will be handy to underline and color code text. Some large envelopes might be needed for larger assignments.

Some parents might find a use for a timer or stopwatch. Graph paper for arithmetic will help keep columns straight (as will lined paper turned sideways), and a ruler will help your kid not to lose track of their place on a page of text.

Some children with dyslexia (and those who may have Irlen Syndrome) will be sensitive to light, particularly to the glare that they experience from a white piece of paper or computer screen background. You might want to try out colored acetate sheets as overlays to see if cutting down on the glare helps. You can also get them a definitive test for light sensitivity by a trained optician.

Put together a 'Remember Book'

A 'Remember Book' is a kind of reference binder that helps establish good study habits from a young age. It assists your child with dyslexia in remembering procedures, sequences of operation, rules, and strategies, and helps them with keeping significant items together in a coherent order.

He or she may need help with setting up and maintaining a filing system for the different kinds of information. You could color code with card dividers in a ring binder, or use plastic wallets. However, as we move more and more to technological solutions, your young learner might prefer working with something like Google Docs, where you could share information in a series of files stored in the Cloud.

Help them learn vocabulary

Children with dyslexia will benefit from developing and sorting out lists of terms in each subject they struggle with. These problematic words will likely be unique to them. A great way of helping them learn and recall tricky words is to create custom spellings lists. Parents can make them into flashcards, use them in activities, and get children to produce them in meaningful ways. Any exercise that gives them multisensory practice involving the eyes, ears, and sense of touch will be appropriate.

TOP TIP: Touch-type Read and Spell is a dyslexia-friendly typing program you can use to create custom word lists. Your child will hear the words you input, see them written, and be taught how to type and spell them. You can enter simple definitions as well, and even open up a free-writing session where they then type these words as part of a creative piece. Print their writing out and put it on the fridge and see how proud they are of their achievement. Learn more in this article on using typing to learn spelling words.

Introduce mnemonic devices

Mnemonic devices are one strategy that can help a child remember the spelling of words. They work best when a child designs his or her own, perhaps with their parents' help. You can have fun with these too. An example might be as follows: You know that your child has always had difficulty differentiating between "bear" and "bare." You could suggest that his/her chosen strategy be to illustrate the word "bear" with a drawing that includes a bear, a bee, and a honey pot. This would evoke the association of "be..." with "bear." Picturing this image when needing to retrieve the spelling of the word adds a multisensory dimension.

Here's another for a teenager who is off to take a driving test or needs to follow directions on a map. Suggest they draw a red spot on their right hand with a washable marker and they can think of red for right to help them differentiate between their left and right. How about the common confusion between lowercase "b" and "d"? One strategy is to remember that the bat comes before the ball. First, draw the bat - the downward stroke - then the round shape of the ball.

Troubleshoot problematic symbols

Sometimes visual processing difficulties can co-occur and might be part of a child's dyslexia. If your child has difficulty differentiating between the different symbols used in mathematics, help them prepare a sheet for these symbols (if they haven't been given one at school). On the left-hand side, list five big symbols in a column. On the right, describe each one. For example, you may want + for addition; sum; sum total; all together, - for subtract; minus; take away; less; fewer than, x for multiply; product; bring together; times, / for divide, missing, = for equals; total; sum total; end result (2). Learn more about helping a child who is struggling with mathematics.

Read, read, read

Encouraging reading is one of the best ways you can support your child with dyslexia. Encourage your child to read, reread, and read some more from a very young age. If kids have difficulty reading, they may well try to avoid it and become reluctant readers. The gap in performance between them and their classmates will only continue to widen, and their self-esteem and self-confidence can suffer.

Reading is a great way to improve language skills. With little kids, parents can start reading to them as soon as possible - even before they are born! Snuggle up and look at the pages of a storybook together. Point as you go. Read to them, even if you have to grit your teeth to read the same story for the ninety-third time if that's the book they like best.

Here are some tips to get more out of reading together:

Stop in the middle of a line and see if they can provide the next word you are pointing to. After ninety-two previous read-throughs, they might be doing this from memory, which is absolutely fine.

As you go through the book, discuss how the pictures they are seeing give clues to words on the page. This is a strategy they can apply for themselves later when trying to understand (i.e., decode) text.

With older kids, help them find reading material on subjects that interest them. The planets? Dinosaurs? Huge numbers of reluctant readers were inspired to read so they could follow the exciting adventures of Harry Potter.

Try alternative reading material. One mother used a toy store catalog to motivate her child. Not only did it work, but the child used information on products as a stepping stone to other learning, including writing a wish list of toys he wanted for his birthday, considering how much money he needed to purchase toys and how much was in his piggy bank, looking at the size of certain toys and measuring the amount of space they would take up in his room, etc.

Let your child see you reading. It's so important for parents to model regular reading habits.

Turn the sound off on the television and turn on the captions, so reading becomes a significant part of watching an exciting movie.

Private tutors

You may not have been trained as a teacher, but you know your child and can be there to ensure he or she gets the necessary support. One way might be through hiring a private tutor. Tutors often have a particular set of qualities and skills and have been trained in techniques, methods, and strategies to aid with the learning process. It helps if they enjoy what they do, and love seeing their students thrive. You can even find remote tutors who will work with your child through video chat sessions. What's important is that the tutor is qualified to work with children who have dyslexia and understands the dyslexic child's unique learning style. Learn more about how to find the right tutor for your child.

More about dyslexia

If you haven't had a definitive diagnosis, either in the form of a teaching assessment, or an in-depth assessment by an Educational Psychologist, you might use this checklist of symptoms as a guide.

-Is your child articulate when talking but struggles to read and write? Is the quality of their verbal vocabulary reflected in their writing?
-Do they avoid using long words because of the difficulty of spelling them?
-Do they have trouble recognizing letters of the alphabet?
-Do they only recognize one part of a word, or are they slow to see the word?
-Do they recognize similarities and differences between words?
-Do they reverse letters or numbers? Note, reversals are a classic sign of dyslexia but are also common in young children who are learning to read and write.
-Do they ignore punctuation?
-Do they read out loud slowly, and without cadence?
-Can they read individual words but struggle to get the meaning of the sentence?
-Do they struggle to tell left from right?
-Do they have difficulty learning nursery or other rhymes?
-Did they struggle to learn to tell the time?
-Do they have problems with, or confuse abstract symbols?
-Are they disorganized?
-Is their work messy?

Top Tip: You might find your child's writing hard to read (and so might they!) Learning to touch type is recommended for kids with dyslexia as it's a skill that makes writing more readable (especially when you use a dyslexia-friendly font) and can also help with spelling. That's because typing transfers spelling into a sequence of key-presses, which are remembered using muscle memory. Learn more about dyslexia and typing.

Touch-type Read and Spell

Touch-type Read and Spell was originally developed to help children with dyslexia improve their reading and spelling skills while teaching them to type. It's a unique way of learning typing as within a few minutes the child is writing whole words - fed wed red led. It builds confidence through small and manageable modules, which include repetition of high-frequency sight words to help with reading. It also delivers phonics lessons without the child noticing, through the introduction of targeted groups of words they must type. All of this is done in a multisensory way. Learners see and hear the words, then touch the keys.

An interesting thing happens as a child with dyslexia begins to master the keyboard. They start to learn the finger patterns involved in words, and it's as if the fingers develop a memory of their own. Without having to give conscious thought to spelling, a child can write a word. As they get further into the course, they are mastering and remembering more and more words, while building up accuracy and speed, and most importantly, confidence.

TTRS is great for children, teenagers, and even adults - so it's something the whole family can benefit from. Parents can start a child around the age of seven, once the hands are mature enough to sit comfortably on a keyboard.

Sources
1. Chase, C., Chin, D., Oppezzo, M. & Schwartz, D. (2009). Teachable agents and the protege effect: Increasing the effort. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 18, 334-352.
2. pbs.org/wgbh/misunderstoodminds/readingdiffs.html
Many thanks to Grace Taylor for providing access to a series of training materials and presentations that informed the bulk of the research that went into this blog.

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How to help a child with dyslexia at home

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Parents want their children to do well at school and have the opportunity to reach their full potential. Learning at home can play an important part in this when a child has dyslexia. Reading together and finding kids' computer programs and apps that support literacy skills development are a good first step.

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Beyond the Classroom: How Can I Help My Child with Dyslexia?

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Beyond the Classroom: How Can I Help My Child with Dyslexia?

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Parents can help their children develop survival skills by:

1. Recognizing Abilities

2. Teaching Persistence

3. Promoting Self Advocacy

4. Encouraging Teamwork

5. Assuming Responsibility

6. Providing Humor

7. Finding the Positives

(IDA 2016)

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Beyond the Classroom: How Can I Help My Child With Dyslexia? - International Dyslexia Association

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by: Linda Siegel, retired professor from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver Canada. Linda is the author of Understanding Dyslexia and Other

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How to Help a Child with Dyslexia At Home

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How to Help a Child with Dyslexia At Home

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1. Provide Structure and Routine
2. Develop Your Child's curiosity about words
3. Use a structured literacy curriculum
4. Think outside-of-the-box when it comes to reading practice
5. Use assistive technology to your advantage

(Jensen 2020)

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How To Help A Child With Dyslexia At Home

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Transforming your home into an online classroom can be a challenge. Learn the simple ways parents can help their dyslexic children at home.