Pupil and School Support
Supporting Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a learning difference which mainly affects reading and writing skills as well as information processing. People with dyslexia may have difficulty processing and remembering information they see and hear. This can affect learning and literacy skills. Dyslexia can also impact on other areas such as organisational skills.
Choose from the following options to find out more about how your child or young person can be supported with dyslexia.
- The Assessment Through Teaching Approach
- The strengths and difficulties of Dyslexia
- Supporting your child with Dyslexia
- Working with education settings
The ‘Assessment Through Teaching Approach’
In June 2023, Pupil and School Support launched the ‘Assessment Through Teaching Approach’ for the identification of dyslexia, dyscalculia, and co-occurring specific learning difficulties. This method of identification uses a graduated approach. Following a period of assessment through teaching, an AMBDA qualified specialist assessor will complete an assessment and review the information to inform a decision. A report will be written detailing the results of the assessment and recommendations of further appropriate strategies and interventions.
For more information about the identification process, please read our guidance below
The Strengths and Difficulties of Dyslexia
People with dyslexia are often good at:
- Seeing the bigger picture – they can often work out how things work
- Problem solving – they often have to finds ways around any difficulties they may have
- Being creative, including art, drawing, making things and music
- Sport – physical activities
- Using technology and understanding how it works and how to make it work for them
- Being observant and making connections
- Discussion, explanation and talking to others
Children with dyslexia can find difficulty with:
- Getting dressed (not knowing what to do first) you can lay their clothes out in order to help them
- Organising themselves e.g. homework, equipment
- Not being sure of what they have to do for school work or homework
- Listening and following instructions, missing some steps out or appearing not to hear instructions
- Remembering information e.g. multiplication tables
- Reading and Spelling
- Copying
- Handwriting
Dyslexia can also affect other areas:
- Phonological processing; the ability to identify and say individual sounds in words. They may jumble sounds in words e.g. saying ‘hostipal’ for hospital or ‘pasgetti’ for spaghetti
- Sequencing; knowing what order to do things in. They may confuse months of the year, days of week or have difficulty with today, tomorrow, yesterday
- Working memory; being able to ‘hold on’ to information e.g. when doing sums in their head
- The ability to name familiar items quickly e.g. numbers, letters, objects – they may have word finding difficulties or mix up words e.g. say window for door
- Processing speed (their speed of working/thinking)
Supporting your Child with Dyslexia
There is no single ‘right’ way to support your child at home. Try to make the learning fun and as hands-on and interactive as you can, with regular breaks to reduce tiredness and aid concentration.
A child or young person with dyslexia needs a boost to their self-confidence before they can learn to overcome their difficulties. Your child may have already experienced failure and may feel that they don’t believe they are capable of learning. To re-establish self-confidence, we need to provide the opportunity to succeed and give praise for small achievements.
Most importantly, good mental health and wellbeing is crucial! Where there are difficulties around tasks at home, please talk to your child’s school around any support or adjustments that might help.
General Tips for Supporting at Home
- Make it fun!
- Little and often is best
- Be positive – give your child lots of praise
- If its not going well, stop and change the activity
- If your child has difficulties with writing, consider using other ways to record what they know such as comic strips, pictures, diagrams, audio recordings of a story or video of them acting
- In maths activities, getting your child to communicate what they are doing helps them learn, you don’t need to know all the answers!
- Make maths real – make models, cook, time activities in the garden. For example, how many jumps can you do in a minute?
- Keep activities short with a clear beginning, middle, and end
- Keep a routine – make a timetable. Be realistic
- Don’t expect them to work all day! Be guided by your child
- It’s ok to revisit things that you have done before, it helps children to remember what they have learnt
- Be guided by your child’s interests
- Remember, every day activities are opportunities for learning. For example, gardening and playing
- Use a ‘To do’ list or task chart so they can see what they need to do
- Encourage children to put things back in their place to avoid misplacing things to help them with their organisation skills
- Home should be a place your child can relax. Don’t let school or homework become stressful, imagine yourself in their position and try to be as patient as possible
- Always give plenty of praise and tell your child you know how hard they are working
- It is very important to build self-esteem and confidence. Find your child’s strengths and encourage them in activities they enjoy or are good at. For example, sport, art, music etc.
The following guidance lists ways you can support your child’s learning at home, including helping with their reading, spelling, writing, and memory.
Audio Books
Listening to audio books can help children keep an interest in stories even when they are reluctant to read. They help a child develop key skills such as listening and concentration, and are a good introduction to new words and ways of using language. Some audio book apps will highlight the text on screen as it is being read, which can help your child to identify words.
There are several websites that offer free audio books. RNIB Bookshare is a free service which offers audio books or books in a screen reader-friendly format. Ask your school or college whether they have registered. They often enjoy music/rhymes, TV/Films, e-books and listening to you read aloud.
Paired Reading
Paired reading is a good way to help your child to read and enjoy books. Allow your child to choose a book they want to read and let them start reading. When they make a mistake, give your child a few seconds to have a go but then say the word yourself – this keeps the flow going.
If the book is too hard for your child, read the words together. Read at your child’s pace. Let your child decide on a signal they can give you when they want to carry on reading on their own. If they make a mistake, say the word and then carry on reading together. You can switch from reading together to your child reading alone. Try to do this for 10 minutes every day – share the book together rather than ‘hear’ your child read.
At the end of a page or section, talk about what you’ve read together. Ask what might happen next and whether it reminds your child of another story or film.
Reading at Home
Here are some tips on how to support your child’s reading at home:
- Be a positive reading role model, let your child see you reading. Encourage other people in your house to read and try to enjoy reading.
- Read to your child – discuss the story and characters afterwards.
- Share reading – when your child is reading, read the difficult words together.
- Play word games e.g. matching pairs, memory games and sequencing activities (e.g. cooking dinner, getting ready for bed, “what do we need to do first?”, “What comes next?”.
Using Technology
Reading pens
Reading pens can be useful as they are easy to carry around, but they tend to be better for small pieces of text, or individual words.
E-Readers
Many dyslexic people have found that reading apps for mobile phones, and e-readers, such as a Kindle, enable them to read for pleasure. An ordinary page of text can be split into several pages, and you can adjust the font type, size and spacing, and the brightness of the screen.
Screen readers
Screen readers are a type of software that will read text out loud so they don’t need an adult to help them. This is more suited to the older learner. Many are now available as free apps for smartphones and tablets, and have been included on some e-readers as standard.
Alphabet Arc
An Alphabet Arc is a multi-sensory tool that involves setting out 3D wooden, plastic or magnetic letters in an arc. The curved layout and use of colours support visual memory.
Activities carried out with these letters help to develop knowledge of letter sounds and names, alphabetical order, Sequencing skills, and blending and segmenting skills for reading and spelling.
How to get started
Your child should be sitting in the middle of the arc with MN directly in front of them.
Setting out the Alphabet Arc
There are different ways of doing this. At first, start by putting them out in order from a to z. You could also try setting out just the first half or just the second half. You could use a mat underneath to help at first if they find this difficult.
Your child should name each letter out loud as they put the letters out.
Ask your child to touch and name each letter in alphabetical order. Use a timer to speed up responses but ensure that the letter is being touched as it is said – this is essential for multisensory input.
SOS Spelling
SOS stands for Simultaneous Oral Spelling. SOS is a multi-sensory learning method. When the child uses the SOS method, they are using all sensory channels to learn how to spell new words.
How to get started
Set aside 10 minutes each day for helping your child with spelling. The list of words you want them to learn should be short – no more than 5 words. You should practise spelling the same list of words for 3 days in a row. It is a very easy method to use but you must ensure you don’t miss out any of the 6 steps.
It is important to follow the same routine every time you practice a word. You can use the task card on the last page of the leaflet to help you to remember the 6 steps.
Spelling Games
Use flashcards or play matching games to let your child see the words lots of times – the more times they see the word, the better they will be able to read and spell it.
Find smaller words in the bigger word, for example ‘there is a hen in when’
Write words in different coloured pens to make a rainbow or in shaving foam, flour or sand over and over again to help your child remember them
Touch Typing
If you have access to a computer, you might want to consider using this to teach your child to touch type. It reduces the need for handwriting which can often be challenging for those with dyslexia.
When typing you become used to the pattern of letters. This muscle memory helps with common letter combinations.
Once touch typing becomes an automatic skill, it is much easier to concentrate on the creative aspects of writing. Use programmes that are games-based to introduce your child to touch typing.
Resources
Writing Activities
Keep to short timed sessions so your child is able to maintain concentration without becoming bored or uncomfortable.
Whenever possible make it fun and multi-sensory.
Help your child to get ideas down on paper.
- Bullet points – they can build on these to make them into sentences and paragraphs
- Timeline – to help with putting ideas into the right order
- Write ideas on Post-It notes – great for ‘hands-on’ learners and these can be ‘moved around’ to organise ideas
- Mobile phone – record ideas verbally and write or type up afterwards
- Mind maps are a great way of generating ideas and organising information in a visual way
- These can then be used to organise and structure writing and organise assignment work or projects
Supporting Memory Difficulties
Lots of young people with dyslexia have memory difficulties. This video explains why they might have memory difficulties and how you can support your child with remembering things they have learnt. It is important to repeat learning and think about different ways you can remember new learning.
Below are some simple strategies to help with memory difficulties.
Chunking
Place all similar pieces of information into one group – for example, if your child is studying the geography of a country get him/her to make a chunk of all the facts relating to climate. Students should be able to chunk at least four items together so they need to find at least four items that have a strong connection.
Visualise
Remembering information will be easier if they can use all their senses when learning. This means creating a visual image in their mind and for some learners this is very important. Using a picture or a symbol can help to strengthen the memory.
Make Connections
It is important that children with dyslexia make connections when learning. This makes learning meaningful and helps with understanding. An effective learner is one who is able to make these connections. The main connection is between previous learning and new learning. Encourage your child to think about whether there is anything about the new learning that is familiar? What is familiar and why? This will help your child to connect between the previous and new learning and make learning more effective.
Imagination
It is a good idea to get them to use imaginative images or connections as these can stamp a personal identity on the information to be remembered. By using their own images children can make it personal and this can help them to remember.
Repetition
It is unusual to remember information first time around. But rote repetition is not always effective. When getting children to repeat information try to suggest a range of different ways. They can do this by using memory cards, visuals, headings, summaries, notes and discussion. All these can be used for repeating the same information. Children with dyslexia need a lot of over-learning before they can consolidate new material.
Discussion
For some learners with dyslexia, discussion is the only way in which they can remember and understand information. Discussion can make the information more meaningful and can help them experiment with ideas and views. It is this experimentation that helps the, to extend their thinking and learning. For some children discussion can be like thinking aloud and this should be encouraged.
Overlearning and Chunking
Children with dyslexia often require additional time to develop automaticity in any skill, but particularly in literacy. This means that they need more practice and repetition to be able to complete reading and spelling tasks automatically, without lots of thought and effort.
Automaticity can be acquired through overlearning and breaking learning into small bite-sized chunks. It is important that this is not seen as rote repetition of the material to be learned, but make sure that overlearning provides a good opportunity to use a range of materials and a variety of techniques. There are a considerable number of games and ‘fun type’ activities available that can help to vary the learning experiences and promote automaticity These are available in the leaflet linked below.
Routines
Children find it reassuring to have a routine and this can be important for children with dyslexia. It may be helpful to continue with your usual pattern, for example working during the week and having time off from school work at the weekend.
It may also be useful to set up an area in your house for doing school work if possible and have a clear structure to the day, including frequent break times.
Visual Planning
Create a timetable for the day and where possible use a visual planner. A visual structure will be helpful for many children with dyslexia. These visuals will help them understand where they are in the week and the tasks they have to complete.
Older children may prefer to use tick lists, post it notes or white boards to structure the day or to sequence small work tasks.
Multi-sensory Learning
This way of learning makes links between the visual (seeing), auditory (hearing), kinaesthetic (movement) and tactile (touching/feeling) senses. A link involves using at least two of the senses at any one time. It gives learners a way to do, play, act and discover and will help your child to make meaningful links in their learning.
Visual Learning Techniques
- Pictures
- Mind maps
- Posters
- Charts and diagrams
- Symbols
- Videos
- Posi-it notes
Auditory Learning Techniques
- Recording ideas
- Saying ideas to someone else
- Discussion
- Music, raps and rhymes
- Clapping rhythms
- Audio books
- Clips from videos/DVDs
Kinaesthetic/Tactile Techniques
- Practical/creative activities
- Create pictures, diagrams and mind maps
- Experiments
- Note-taking
- Making models
- Movement and dance
Keep it Fun
It doesn’t have to just be about reading and spelling. Take the opportunity to plan a variety of activities for your child. Exercise, life skills, board games, creative activities and online socialising with family and friends are equally important and provide opportunities to learn and ensure well-being.
Include reading into everyday activities by encouraging your child to read information on items such as board games/toys, food packaging, street signs, supermarket signs and recipes etc.
Give plenty of praise and let your child know that you realise how hard they are trying. Be ready to give help when they need it. Try giving hints at first to help, such as “what is the first sound?” Always stop for a break when your child is showing signs that they have had enough.
Using technology
Thoughtful use of technology can be very effective for children who have dyslexia. Strategies include:
- Using tablet devices, word processors and AlphaSmarts to provide an alternative way to record information.
- Using dyslexia friendly font for activity sheets and reading materials including large font size, comic sans, sassoon and coloured backgrounds
- Using electronic spell checkers and word banks through literacy programmes, such as Clicker Apps.
- Reading pens can be useful as they are easy to carry around, but they tend to be better for small pieces of text, or individual words.
- E-readers such as Kindle can help to children with dyslexia to read for pleasure because they can change the size and colour of the text to help them to read.
Working with Education Settings
PSS work with schools and settings to support dyslexia in the following ways:
- Promote a shared understanding, current perspectives, and definitions of dyslexia and dyscalculia
- Clarify the roles and responsibilities of all concerned, whilst promoting the active participation of children and young people and their parents or carers in the learning process
- Signpost sources of information
- Reflect and advise on adapting classroom practice, approaches and access strategies, intervention, and dyslexia/dyscalculia friendly learning environments
- Deliver training on appropriate targeted and specialist interventions
- Identify pupils strengths and areas for development
- Explore an identification of dyslexia and dyscalculia in line with the ‘Assessment Through Teaching Approach’ guidance
Outcomes of PSS involvement
- Increased staff confidence to support pupils
- Increased awareness of dyslexia and dyscalculia and associated difficulties
- Knowledge of a range of practical strategies
- Developing and embedding dyslexia and dyscalculia friendly practice
- Understanding of the assessment process – see Assessment Through Teaching Guidance
- Removal of barriers to learning
Packages of support
- Raising awareness for school staff
- Practical strategies training for school staff
- Parent workshop
- Online training short course
- Supporting schools with applying for BDA dyslexia friendly quality mark