Some suggestions for helping pupils with Dyslexia
These pupils are likely to have some difficulties in the following areas
General
- With reading.
- With spelling and writing.
- With concentrating and paying attention for long time.
- With organizing themselves and their belongings.
- Will tire quickly due to concentration and effort required.
- Will be inconsistent and erratic in their work. If they can spell a word one-day, it does not mean they will be able to the next day.
- Possibly with clumsiness.
Specific
- May find copying from board or book difficult.
- May have a poor sense of time and not know the day or date.
- Unlikely to be able to sequence the months of the year.
- Will have a short-term memory and may be unable to remember a sequence of instructions or carry out more than one instruction at a time.
- May get lost or be late.
- May not be able to bring the right things on the right day.
- May have difficulty 'finding the word'
- May have difficulty with such words as 'before', 'behind', 'the beginning'.
- May find reading aloud very difficult and embarrassing.
These pupils cannot help having any of these difficulties and in all other respects will appear quite 'normal', even brighter than average orally. Their difficulties do not result from a medical problem, a lack of intelligence or an impoverished environment: it is simple a question of their brain cells being organised in a different way! Dyslexia is constitutional in origin and hereditary.
Some ways in which we can help the child.
- Be patient and understanding.
- Speak slowly, clearly and calmly.
- Seat the pupil near the front and if possible next to a good quick worker who may be willing to help him.
- Try to use worksheets whenever possible instead of the board or dictation.
- Make worksheets clear and bold with less writing and more diagrams.
- If use of the board is essential, make handwriting very clear and well spaced (print is best) and be concise. Make sure that he has completely copied everything before you wipe the board clean.
- Write down for them or have another pupil write down any message for home or homework.
- Give instructions for classroom tasks in short, clear easily remembered chunks and be prepared to repeat them.
- Allow the pupil to go straight to the nub of the exercise rather than first, for example, 'copy the chart out of the book', which may prevent him from getting to the nub of the exercise.
- Allow him to record his work or present his work in ways other than written, eg. On tape, by diagram or picture, or on a word processor, by having someone else physically write it.
- Allow him more time to complete his own work.
- Allow him to talk himself through tasks (this aids memory, learning, and helps to keep him on task.)
- Try to use varied criteria for marking in order to emphasize the positive eg. content, effort, -improvement since last time.
- Try to accept unfinished work without negative comments.
- Expect lots of crossing out.
- Never have him read aloud (unless he volunteers).
- Don't correct all spelling errors! It's pointless as they cannot learn from these corrections.
- Covering the page in red ink - it tends to demoralize very quickly.
- Selecting words and asking the child to write them out several times.
- Giving lists of unsimilar words to learn.
- Tell the whole class the spelling rule.
- Use the 'say the whole word, name each letter as you write it' method and do it several times.
The keywords are CLARITY, REPETITION. ORDER AND STRUCTURE.
Remember that some of these ideas and options are not only good for children with dyslexia and may be useful to other children.
- Generally untidy presentation.
- Many alterations or crossings out.
- Avoids writing whenever possible because it is so difficult and demanding.
- Poor pencil control: fluency lacking.
- Omits words from sentences.
- Repetition of a word or words.
- Confusion over punctuation.
- Capitals left out or in the wrong places.
- I's not dotted, t's not crossed, I's crossed.
- Badly formed letters - or if shape is correct, formed in an unconventional way even - though correct information has been taught.
- Erratic letter size. Problems with spacing.
- Difficulty in keeping on a line.
- Each line of writing starts further from the margin.
- Difficulty copying from the blackboard.
- Holds pen too tightly so the whole arm tires.
- Difficulty learning mathematical tables.
- Older pupils may perform much better when using a calculator i.e. the understanding or numerical concepts is better than the ability to cope with written symbols.
- A weakness in Auditory Sequential Memory Test 11 The Aston Index.
- A weakness in Visual Sequential Memory Test 10 & 13 The Aston Index.
- Difficulty retaining messages.
- Difficulty in saying the months of the year and days of the week in order.
- Difficulty reciting the alphabet or using a dictionary.
- Late in learning to tell the time.
- Difficulty understanding time intervals and time concepts e.g. yesterday, tomorrow.
- Poor gross-motor skills - may be noticeable in P.E. awkward gait, general clumsiness.
- Poor fine-motor skills - difficulty with cutting.- tying shoe laces, fastening buttons.
- Poor concentration. Tires quickly.
- Restless, unable to sit still.
- Easily distracted.
- Lack of motivation.
- Poor response to remedial teaching.
- Performance varies considerably from day to day e.g. reads much more fluently on some days.
- Generally disorganized e.g. getting books etc., ready for a lesson, untidy desk, forgets P.E. kit.
- Laterality problems i.e. confuse left and right or use the right side for some activities and the left for others.
The latter condition is sometimes referred to as cross-laterality. It is believed by some people to be associated with reading problems since it may interfere in the left to right process demanded by reading, as well as the left to right attach on words demanded by phonic analysis.
PARENTS REPORT
- Reluctance to attend school.
- Seems very frustrated at times - may continue to have temper tantrums.
- Complains of minor ailments on school days e.g. tummy ache.
- Clumsy in early years - 'tends to fall over own feet'.
- Late talking and speech may have then been unclear.
- Disorganized at home e.g. can't get clothes or books ready for school.
- Can not follow instructions.
- Always loosing things.
- Another member of the family has similar difficulties.
Educational Psychologist
JRB/MN
