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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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For kids with dyslexia, reading can be challenging. Spelling and writing can be challenging too. What classroom accommodations help level the playing field for students with dyslexia? Here's a look at some of the supports teachers can use to help students who struggle with reading, spelling, and writing.

Classroom materials and routines

Post visual schedules and also read them out loud.

Provide colored strips or bookmarks to help focus on a line of text when reading.

Hand out letter and number strips so the student can see how to write correctly.

Use large-print text for worksheets.

Use audiobooks like those available through services like Bookshare, a free online library for students with disabilities.

Allow the student to use a text reader like a Reading Pen or text-to-speech software.

Use speech-to-text software to help with writing.

Have on hand "hi-lo" books (books with high-interest topics for students reading below grade level).

Provide extra time for reading and writing.

Give the student multiple opportunities to read the same text.

Use reading buddies during worktime (as appropriate).

Partner up for studying - one student writes while the other speaks, or they share the writing.

Pre-teach new concepts and vocabulary.

Provide the student with typed notes or an outline of the lesson to help with taking notes.

Provide advance organizers to help the student follow along during a lesson.

Provide a glossary of content-related terms.

Use visual or audio support to help the student understand written materials in the lecture.

Give step-by-step directions and read written instructions out loud.

Simplify directions using key words for the most important ideas.

Highlight key words and ideas on worksheets for the student to read first.

Check in frequently to make sure the student understands and can repeat the directions.

Show examples of correct and completed work to serve as a model.

Provide a rubric that describes the elements of a successful assignment.

Help the student break assignments into smaller steps.

Give self-monitoring checklists and guiding questions for reading comprehension.

Arrange worksheet problems from easiest to hardest.

Completing tests and assignments

Grade the student on the content that needs to be mastered, not on things like spelling or reading fluency.

Allow understanding to be demonstrated in different ways, like oral reports, posters, and video presentations.

Provide different ways to respond to test questions, like saying the answers or circling an answer instead of filling in the blank.

Provide sentence starters that show how to begin a written response.

Provide extended time for taking tests.

Provide a quiet room for taking tests, if needed.

Do you have a student with dyslexia? Read a one-page fact sheet to learn more about this common learning difference.

About the author

About the author

Amanda Morin is the author of "The Everything Parent's Guide to Special Education" and the former director of thought leadership at Understood. As an expert and writer, she helped build Understood from its earliest days.

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What types of accommodations can help students with dyslexia? Here are some classroom accommodations to talk over with your child's school.

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The other big misconception is that dyslexia is fundamentally a learning disorder which is accompanied only by problems, rather than a different pattern of processing that can bring tremendous strengths in addition to the well-known challenges.

Wired:__ __What are the major strengths of having a dyslexic brain?

Brock: We outline four major strength profiles in the book, and fundamentally each of these profiles reflects a different but related way in which dyslexic brains are especially good at putting together big pictures, or seeing larger context, or imagining how processes will play out over time.

Some dyslexic individuals are especially good at spatial reasoning. Putting together three-dimensional spatial perspectives is easy for them. They may work in design, 3-D art, architecture, be engineers, builders, inventors, organic chemists or be exceptionally good at bagging your groceries.

Interconnected reasoning is another kind of strength. These connections can be relationships of likeness -- analogies for example -- or causal relationships, or the ability to shift perspective and view an object or event from multiple perspectives, or the ability to see the "gist" or big-picture context surrounding an event or idea. Many dyslexics work in highly interdisciplinary fields or fields that require combining perspectives and techniques gained from different disciplines or backgrounds. Or they're multiple specialists, or their work history is unusually varied. Often these individuals draw the comment that they can see connections that other people haven't seen before.

Most dyslexics tend to remember facts as experiences, examples or stories, rather than abstractions. We call this pattern narrative reasoning, which we consider the third strength. These kids have a very strong ability to learn from experience. It's very common for their families to describe these kids as the family elephant. They'll be the go-to person when someone wants to remember who gave what to sister for her birthday two years ago. They might be the family historian, but they can't remember the times tables or which direction the three goes.

These individuals excel in fields where telling and understanding stories are important, like sales, counseling, trial law or even teaching. In addition, a large number of professional writers are dyslexic. For example, Philip Schultz, a Pulitzer Prize winning poet, recently wrote a wonderful piece for The New York Times about his new memoir, * My Dyslexia. *He shows the kind of profoundly clear and vivid memory of personal experiences even from very early in his life that we commonly see in dyslexic individuals.

The fourth ability we outline is the ability to reason well in dynamic settings when the facts are incomplete or changing. People strong in this area often work in the business field, in financial markets or in scientific fields that reconstruct past events, like geologists or paleontologists. These people are comfortable working with processes that are constantly changing, and in making predictions.

Wired: Do most dyslexic individuals demonstrate a particular strength, or do they show combinations?

Brock: Most dyslexics show combinations of these strengths. Probably 80 to 90 percent of the dyslexic individuals we've worked with show a narrative-type brain, and many of these individuals show strengths in dynamic reasoning. Interconnected reasoning is similarly common. Surprisingly, spatial reasoning, which is often viewed as the quintessential dyslexic skill, is a bit more hit or miss. In the book there is a great interview with Douglas Merrill, who was the Chief Information Officer at Google for several years and a tremendously impressive person. He said, "If I close my eyes right now I couldn't tell you which direction my door is." But he was very strong in all of the other mind strengths we describe.

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Q&A: The Unappreciated Benefits of Dyslexia

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Normally dyslexia is considered a handicap: a mental deficiency that makes reading, long-division and remembering whether letters and numbers face left or right difficult. Challenging this view, learning disabilities experts Brock and Fernette Eide argue that dyslexia is an alternative way brains can be wired -- one with many advantages.

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(This section is taken from the most scientifically valid and clinically accurate information available. A full and enriched discussion of the symptoms of dyslexia at different ages is discussed in the new 2nd Edition of Overcoming Dyslexia by Dr. Sally Shaywitz available at Amazon.)

What Is Dyslexia?

Reading is complex. It requires our brains to connect letters to sounds, put those sounds in the right order, and pull the words together into sentences and paragraphs we can read and comprehend.

People with dyslexia have trouble matching the letters they see on the page with the sounds those letters and combinations of letters make. And when they have trouble with that step, all the other steps are harder.

Dyslexic children and adults struggle to read fluently, spell words correctly and learn a second language, among other challenges. But these difficulties have no connection to their overall intelligence. In fact, dyslexia is an unexpected difficulty in reading in an individual who has the intelligence to be a much better reader. While people with dyslexia are slow readers, they often, paradoxically, are very fast and creative thinkers with strong reasoning abilities.

Dyslexia is also very common, affecting 20 percent of the population and representing 80- 90 percent of all those with learning disabilities. Scientific research shows differences in brain connectivity between dyslexic and typical reading children, providing a neurological basis for why reading fluently is a struggle for those with dyslexia.

Dyslexia can't be "cured" - it is lifelong. But with the right supports, dyslexic individuals can become highly successful students and adults.

History of Dyslexia

In 1896, a doctor in Sussex, England, published the first description of the learning disorder that would come to be known as developmental dyslexia. "Percy F. . . aged 14. . .has always been a bright and intelligent boy," wrote W. Pringle Morgan in the British Medical Journal, "quick at games, and in no way inferior to others of his age. His great difficulty has been and is now his inability to learn to read."

In that brief introduction, Morgan captured the paradox that has intrigued and frustrated scientists for a century since: the profound and persistent difficulties some very bright people face in learning to read.

© Sally Shaywitz, Overcoming Dyslexia, 2nd edition, pp.143- 24.

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(This section is taken from the most scientifically valid and clinically accurate information available. A full and enriched ...

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Overview

Dyslexia is a learning disorder that involves difficulty reading due to problems identifying speech sounds and learning how they relate to letters and words (decoding). Also called a reading disability, dyslexia is a result of individual differences in areas of the brain that process language.

Dyslexia is not due to problems with intelligence, hearing or vision. Most children with dyslexia can succeed in school with tutoring or a specialized education program. Emotional support also plays an important role.

Though there's no cure for dyslexia, early assessment and intervention result in the best outcome. Sometimes dyslexia goes undiagnosed for years and isn't recognized until adulthood, but it's never too late to seek help.

Symptoms

Signs of dyslexia can be difficult to recognize before your child enters school, but some early clues may indicate a problem. Once your child reaches school age, your child's teacher may be the first to notice a problem. Severity varies, but the condition often becomes apparent as a child starts learning to read.

Before school

Signs that a young child may be at risk of dyslexia include:

Late talking

Learning new words slowly

Problems forming words correctly, such as reversing sounds in words or confusing words that sound alike

Problems remembering or naming letters, numbers and colors

Difficulty learning nursery rhymes or playing rhyming games

School age

Once your child is in school, dyslexia symptoms may become more apparent, including:

Reading well below the expected level for age

Problems processing and understanding what is heard

Difficulty finding the right word or forming answers to questions

Problems remembering the sequence of things

Difficulty seeing (and occasionally hearing) similarities and differences in letters and words

Inability to sound out the pronunciation of an unfamiliar word

Difficulty spelling

Spending an unusually long time completing tasks that involve reading or writing

Avoiding activities that involve reading

Teens and adults

Dyslexia signs in teens and adults are a lot like those in children. Some common dyslexia symptoms in teens and adults include:

Difficulty reading, including reading aloud

Slow and labor-intensive reading and writing

Problems spelling

Avoiding activities that involve reading

Mispronouncing names or words, or problems retrieving words

Spending an unusually long time completing tasks that involve reading or writing

Difficulty summarizing a story

Trouble learning a foreign language

Difficulty doing math word problems

When to see a doctor

Though most children are ready to learn reading by kindergarten or first grade, children with dyslexia often have trouble learning to read by that time. Talk with your health care provider if your child's reading level is below what's expected for your child's age or if you notice other signs of dyslexia.

When dyslexia goes undiagnosed and untreated, childhood reading difficulties continue into adulthood.

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Causes

Dyslexia results from individual differences in the parts of the brain that enable reading. It tends to run in families. Dyslexia appears to be linked to certain genes that affect how the brain processes reading and language.

Risk factors

A family history of dyslexia or other reading or learning disabilities increases the risk of having dyslexia.

Complications

Dyslexia can lead to several problems, including:

Trouble learning. Because reading is a skill basic to most other school subjects, a child with dyslexia is at a disadvantage in most classes and may have trouble keeping up with peers.

Social problems. Left untreated, dyslexia may lead to low self-esteem, behavior problems, anxiety, aggression, and withdrawal from friends, parents and teachers.

Problems as adults. The inability to read and comprehend can prevent children from reaching their potential as they grow up. This can have negative long-term educational, social and economic impacts.

Children who have dyslexia are at increased risk of having attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and vice versa. ADHD can cause difficulty keeping attention. It can also cause hyperactivity and impulsive behavior, which can make dyslexia harder to treat.

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This learning disorder involves difficulty reading due to problems identifying speech sounds and learning how they relate to letters and words.

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Understanding Dyslexia

For some, the word "dyslexia" can be scary. Parents fear that if their child is labeled as dyslexic, their lives will change dramatically or, even worse, that their child will be viewed as "unteachable" or "stupid." There is nothing further from the truth. What is Dyslexia?

What is Dyslexia?

We know that dyslexia is neurological - a problem existing in the brain that affects reading and spelling development. It can also sometimes affect writing and language production. Dyslexia affects up to 1 in 10 people of any level of intelligence, but the experience of dyslexia isn't always the same. This short by Kelli Sandman-Hurley explains dyslexia and what it looks like to the people it challenges.

How is Dyslexia treated? Can it be cured?

Dyslexia is a life-long disorder - early diagnosis is crucial so a child can begin to receive the intervention therapy needed to help him/her meet the challenges ahead.

Children with dyslexia need systematic intensive reading intervention. They need to learn how to process information more fluently to help them express themselves more coherently in both speech and writing.

The diagnosis may be the first time a parent realizes the seriousness of the problem, but the child has known something is different for a long time. Therefore, it is equally important that the parents be prepared for the possibility of emotional issues that will need to be dealt with by a professional. Building self-esteem and self-awareness is part of learning how to deal with dyslexia.

What Can You Do?

If you suspect that your child has dyslexia or has been recently diagnosed, remediation is the next step. At Child Success Center, we offer individualized Educational Therapy to help your child find success. We use results driven reading programs like Lindamood Bell, Wilson, and Orton Gillingham to create personalized intervention strategies for each child. We also tackle processing, fluency, writing, and emotional well-being. Our goal is to work as a team with your family, your child's teachers, and other professionals to give your child a positive learning experience. Our intensive has proven to help students gain one grade level in reading in just six weeks!

What are some early indicators of Dyslexia?

It is a myth that the only determining factor of dyslexia is letter reversal (the most pronounced being "b" and "d"). While children diagnosed as dyslexic can reverse their "b's" and "d's" and their "p's" and "q's," there are many other elements of this diagnosis.

A child has trouble with learning to read. They cannot remember their letters or the letters and the sounds that they make. Or a child might be able to remember the letter sounds but cannot progress past having to sound out every three letter word. For example, when a child begins reading, they have to sound out letter by letter each sound in the words "cat," "map," and "bat" before pronouncing the whole word. Lastly, a child might be introduced to sight words (words that cannot be sounded out) and has trouble remembering them.

A child might have trouble with the phonology. Phonology is the sounds of language. When presented with a word consisting of two or more syllables, a child might reverse the syllables when trying to pronounce the word or give up and guess.

A child might have been slow to talk, and then when the child did start talking, she commonly mispronounced words. These children might also find rhyming challenging or might not be able to distinguish words that rhyme.

A child might reach some of their milestones later than other children. Some of these include crawling, walking, and riding a bike.

A child can have trouble with spelling. This child might spell the same word a multitude of ways or spell it right once and then different ways on the same page. The child might also know how to spell a word correctly one day and forget the next day.

A child can have trouble concentrating. Learning can be exhausting and homework appears to be the worst punishment ever afflicted on the child.

A child can have trouble with the sequencing of ideas. He might forget the middle part of directions or have trouble telling jokes or stories.

How is Dyslexia Identified?

Screening for dyslexia should be done by a qualified professional. Teachers, learning specialists, and educational therapists can serve as initial identifiers. There are several formal assessments that an educational psychologist or neuro-psychologist can do in order to diagnose dyslexia. A diagnostic study can help to identify factors that indicate a learning challenge or disability. If a child is diagnosed with dyslexia, it is possible he may also have other learning challenges or disabilities. Attention Deficit is a disorder that is often found simultaneously with dyslexia. Children with dyslexia can also have math challenges. The only way to know for sure is to seek help from a qualified professional.

Our CSC team of educational therapists are here to help you and your child demystify the world of dyslexia!
Dyslexia Fact Sheets (printable)
Books on Dyslexia

- Taking Dyslexia to School by Lauren Moynihan

- I have Dyslexia: What does that mean? by Shelley Ball

- You're Smarter than you think: A kid's guide to multiple intelligences by Thomas Armstrong, PhD

- Your Fantastic Elastic Brain by JoAnn Deak, PhD

- "If you're so smart, how come you can't spell Mississippi?" by Barbara Esham,

- "Thank you Mr. Falker" by Patricia Polacco

- Overcoming Dyslexia by Dr. Sally Shaywit

- The Dyslexic Advantage, Eide, Brock & Fernette, 2012
>The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity - Information and Resources for Parents and Educators

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For some, the word "dyslexia" can be scary. Parents fear that if their child is labeled as dyslexic, their lives will change dramatically or, even worse, that their child will be viewed as "unteachable" or "stupid." There is nothing further from the truth. What is Dyslexia?

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What Is Dyslexia?

Dyslexia (pronounced: dis-LEK-see-uh) is a type of learning disability. A person with a learning disability has trouble processing words or numbers. There are several kinds of learning disabilities - dyslexia is the term used when people have trouble learning to read, even though they are smart and are motivated to learn.

What Causes Dyslexia?

Dyslexia is not a disease. It's a condition a person is born with, and it often runs in families. People with dyslexia are not stupid or lazy. Most have average or above-average intelligence, and they work very hard to overcome their reading problems.

Dyslexia happens because of a difference in the way the brain processes information. Pictures of the brain show that when people with dyslexia read, they use different parts of the brain than people without dyslexia. These pictures also show that the brains of people with dyslexia don't work efficiently during reading. So that's why reading seems like such slow, hard work.

What Happens in Dyslexia?

Most people think that dyslexia causes people to reverse letters and numbers and see words backwards. But reversals happen as a normal part of development, and are seen in many kids until first or second grade.

The main problem in dyslexia is trouble recognizing phonemes (pronounced: FO-neems). These are the basic sounds of speech (the "b" sound in "bat" is a phoneme, for example). So it's a struggle to make the connection between the sound and the letter symbol for that sound, and to blend sounds into words.

This makes it hard to recognize short, familiar words or to sound out longer words. It takes a lot of time for a person with dyslexia to sound out a word. Because word reading takes more time and focus, the meaning of the word often is lost, and reading comprehension is poor.

It's not surprising that people with dyslexia have trouble spelling. They also might have trouble expressing themselves in writing and even speaking. Dyslexia is a language processing disorder, so it can affect all forms of language, spoken or written.

Some people have milder forms of dyslexia, so they may have less trouble in these other areas of spoken and written language. Some people work around their dyslexia, but it takes a lot of effort and extra work. Dyslexia isn't something that goes away on its own or that a person outgrows. Fortunately, with proper help, most people with dyslexia learn to read. They often find different ways to learn and use those strategies all their lives.

What's It Like to Have Dyslexia?

If you have dyslexia, you might have trouble reading even simple words you've seen many times. You probably will read slowly and feel that you have to work extra hard when reading. You might mix up the letters in a word - for example, reading the word "now" as "won" or "left" as "felt." Words may also blend together and spaces are lost.

You might have trouble remembering what you've read. You may remember more easily when the same information is read to you or you hear it. Word problems in math may be especially hard, even if you've mastered the basics of arithmetic. If you're doing a presentation in front of the class, you might have trouble finding the right words or names for various objects. Spelling and writing usually are very hard for people with dyslexia.

How Is Dyslexia Diagnosed?

People with dyslexia often find ways to work around their disability, so no one will know they're having trouble. This may save some embarrassment, but getting help could make school and reading easier. Most people are diagnosed as kids, but it's not unusual for teens or even adults to be diagnosed.

A teen's parents or teachers might suspect dyslexia if they notice many of these problems:

poor reading skills, despite having normal intelligence

poor spelling and writing skills

trouble finishing assignments and tests within time limits

difficulty remembering the right names for things

trouble memorizing written lists and phone numbers

problems with directions (telling right from left or up from down) or reading maps

trouble getting through foreign language classes

Having one of these problems doesn't mean a person has dyslexia. But someone who shows a few of these signs should be tested for the condition.

Dyslexia can only be formally diagnosed through a comprehensive evaluation by a reading specialist or psychologist, either at school or in the community.

Managing Dyslexia

Most students with dyslexia work with a specially trained teacher, tutor, or reading specialist to learn how to read, spell, and manage the condition. Some might work with an academic therapist - also called an education therapist or an academic language therapist - who is trained to work with students with dyslexia.

In the United States, federal laws entitle kids and teens with reading and other language-based learning differences - collectively known as "specific learning disabilities" - to special help in public schools, such as specialized instruction, extra time for tests or homework, or help with taking notes. States vary in how these laws are implemented. Ask your parent, teacher, or learning disability services coordinator how to get these services if you need them.

Emotional support is very important. People with dyslexia often get frustrated because no matter how hard they try, they can't seem to keep up with other students. They might feel that they're not as smart as their peers, and may cover up their problems by acting up in class or being the class clown. They may try to get other students to do their work for them. They may pretend that they don't care about their grades or that they think school is dumb.

Family and friends can help people with dyslexia by understanding that they aren't stupid or lazy, and that they are trying as hard as they can. It's important to recognize and appreciate each person's strengths, whether they're in sports, drama, art, creative problem solving, or something else.

People with dyslexia shouldn't feel limited in their academic or career choices. Most colleges make special accommodations for students with dyslexia, offering them trained tutors, learning aids, computer software, recorded reading assignments, and special arrangements for exams.

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Dyslexia is a learning disability in which people have difficulty learning to read, even though they are smart enough and are motivated to learn. Learn more about dyslexia and how to deal with it.

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Dyslexia is a learning disability in reading. People with dyslexia have trouble reading at a good pace and without mistakes. They may also have a hard time with reading comprehension, spelling, and writing. But these challenges aren't a problem with intelligence.

Snapshot: What dyslexia is

Dyslexia is a common condition that makes it hard to work with language. Some experts believe that between 5 and 10 percent of people have it. Others say as many as 17 percent of people show signs of reading challenges.

People with dyslexia don't outgrow it. But there are teaching approaches and strategies that can help them improve their reading skills and manage the challenges. People of any age can be tested for dyslexia, although the tests are different for adults than for kids.

People with dyslexia typically have trouble reading fluently. They often read slowly and make mistakes. That can impact how well they comprehend what they read. But when other people read to them, they often have no problem understanding the text.

Dyslexia can create difficulty with other skills, too. These include:

It's important to know that while dyslexia impacts learning, it's not a problem of intelligence. People with dyslexia are just as smart as their peers. There are countless stories about people thriving with dyslexia, including actors, entrepreneurs, and elected officials.

Dyslexia signs and symptoms

Dyslexia impacts people in different ways. So, symptoms might not look the same from one person to another.

A key sign of dyslexia is trouble decoding words. This is the ability to match letters to sounds. Kids can also struggle with a more basic skill called phonemic awareness. This is the ability to recognize the sounds in words. Trouble with phonemic awareness can show up as early as preschool.

In some people, dyslexia isn't picked up until later on, when they have trouble with more complex skills. These can include grammar, reading comprehension, reading fluency, sentence structure, and more in-depth writing.

Some of the signs of dyslexia have to do with emotions and behavior. People with dyslexia might avoid reading, both out loud and to themselves. They may even get anxious or frustrated when reading. This can happen even after they've mastered the basics of reading.

Dyslexia doesn't just affect learning. It can also impact everyday skills and activities. These include social interaction, memory, and dealing with stress.

Possible causes of dyslexia

Researchers haven't yet pinpointed exactly what causes dyslexia. But they do know that genes and brain differences play a role. Here are some of the possible causes of dyslexia:

Genes and heredity: Dyslexia often runs in families. About 40 percent of siblings of people with dyslexia also struggle with reading. As many as 49 percent of parents of kids with dyslexia have it, too. Scientists have also found genes linked to problems with reading and processing language.

Brain anatomy and activity: Brain imaging studies have shown brain differences between people with and without dyslexia. These differences happen in areas of the brain involved with key reading skills. Those skills are knowing how sounds are represented in words, and recognizing what written words look like.

But the brain can change. Studies show that brain activity in people with dyslexia changes after they get proper instruction or tutoring. And scientists are learning more all the time.

How dyslexia is diagnosed

Having a diagnosis (schools call it an identification) can lead to supports and services at school, and accommodations at college and work.

There are a few types of professionals who can assess people for dyslexia. These include school psychologists, clinical psychologists, and neuropsychologists. An evaluator will give a series of tests for dyslexia. They'll test in other areas as well to see exactly where any weaknesses and strengths lie.

School evaluations are free. But private ones can be very expensive. In some cases, there are ways to get them for free or at a low cost. Local universities often have programs in psychology that have clinics where students do their training.

Teaching hospitals may have research projects where people can get evaluations for free. Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA) has local chapters in every state. They may be able to help with finding free or low-cost options.

About the author

About the author

The Understood Team is made up of passionate writers and editors. Many of them have kids who learn and think differently.

Reviewed by

Reviewed by

Guinevere Eden, PhD is a professor at Georgetown University and director of its Center for the Study of Learning.

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