Dyslexia: Parent Workshop

Kirsty Johnson (Specialist Dyslexia Teacher)

George Tomlinson Primary School

23/02/2017

Famous Dyslexics

Contents:

What is Dyslexia and what does it mean?

Reading and Writing: How to help my child

Homework Tips

Key Top Tips

Websites and resources

Definition: ‘dys’ means difficulty, ‘lexia’ means language

Dyslexia is a learning difference that primarily affects the skill involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling

Characteristic features of dyslexia are difficulties in phonological awareness, verbal memory and verbal processing speed

Dyslexia occurs across a range of intellectual abilities

It is best thought of as a continuum, not a distinct category, and there are no clear cut off points

Co-occurring difficulties may be seen in aspects of language, motor coordination , mental calculation, concentration and personal organisation, but these themselves are not markers of dyslexia

A good indication of the severity and persistence of dyslexic difficulties can be gained by examining how the individual has responded to well-founded intervention*

Rose, J, 2009, Identifying and Teaching Children and Young People with Dyslexia and Literacy Difficulties.

Dyslexia: What is it? What does it mean?

• Good spatial awareness and visualising skills

• Creative • Good oral skills • Aptitude for constructional or technical toys/ games • Lateral thinking and problem

solving • Imaginative

It is not surprising that many of these high achieving celebrities

and well known faces are dyslexic. Although dyslexia affects an

individual's ability to master skills such as reading, spelling and

writing, many compensate for this with outstanding creative or

oral skills and innovative thinking.

Reading Children learn to read through exposure to

books, enjoyment and phonics instruction.

Phonics is the structured, systematic teaching

of sounds that we use to read and write

words.

This takes place in school every day for 20

minutes, includes a taught session, practise

and includes songs, rhymes.

There are six phases where children learn:

The skills needed for reading AND knowledge

of the alphabet.

Children are expected to have a secure

knowledge of phonics and the alphabet by

the time they move in to Year 3. In years 2 to

6, children learn about comprehension and

strategies for spelling/ grammar.

Quick Glossary for parents…

Phonemes: the smallest units of sound that are found within a word

Grapheme: the spelling of the sound

Digraph: two letters that make one sound when read

Trigraph: three letters that make one sound

CVC: stands for consonant, vowel, consonant

Segmenting: breaking up a word into its sounds

Blending : putting the sounds together to read a word

Tricky words: words that cannot easily be decoded

pure sounds

What should I look out for?

This is related to their age of development as children acquire different levels of skills throughout their school life.

Difficulties identifying rhyme,

Confusing similar letters/sounds (m/n)

Has difficulty identifying sounds in words (vowels!)

Has difficulty blending sounds in reading

Has difficulty segmenting sounds for spelling

Has difficulty sequencing or manipulating sounds

Has difficulty with phonics and alphabetic principle

Speed of reading (including re-reading the word

Faulty strategies e.g. guessing the word, looking for other clues.

Visual complaints (words moving, blurring etc.- this is an indicator of a different difficulty)

What can I do to help my child read?

Share and enjoy books together- it is important to read to each other and discuss the books. Use of audio books.

Sharing and learning songs/ rhymes.

Appropriate books (Barrington Stokes)

Games:

Beginning/ Middle and End- identifying where sounds are hiding.

‘Hidden in the Treasure box’ segment and child blends to find item. Robot Talk

Finding rhyming words e.g. leg/peg or pig/leg- which rhyme?

Making reading a text into fun- to help a child identify certain sounds, get them to change words beginning/ sharing sounds with other words e.g. all those beginning with ‘m’ now become ‘mash’, and all those beginning with ‘s’ become ‘sausages’.

Competitions against themselves- ‘beat the clock’ to read words they know.

Ask questions about what they have read to check they have understood

This is the

answer- what is

the question?

Pass the

plot

Camouflage- Hide a

new word/

description into a

text/ poem and see if

the child can find it.

Writing and Spelling

Good reading and phonological knowledge directly affects ability to spell and write.

Children may have difficulty identifying the sounds they hear, deciding which sound to use (perhaps not good phonics and alphabet knowledge), may have difficulty sequencing, may have difficulties with memory which means they find it hard to remember what they have written/ what they were thinking: All crucial skills in spelling and writing.

Try playing games like:

Sound frames- make them into puzzles and play together.

‘I spy’- you can even use segmenting to help them- ‘I spy with my little eye a word with these sounds j-u-g’

Word searches

Encouraging your child to sound out sounds in shops, traffic signs etc- give them some responsibility.

Mnemonics, pictures of words, making a funny story/song

As they get older, get them to look at different words with similar spelling but different sounds e.g. enough and plough. Make a game into finding as many like that and discussing any rules/ ideas we might have for the differences.

s p oo n

Some examples….

MNEMONICS: (and humour!)

Does : dad only eats sweets

Said: save animals in danger

Two: two wet oranges

Build: u+i build a house

Because: Big elephants can always understand

small elephants

Drawing a picture can also help- allow the learner

to make up their own.

Turn the whole word into a picture!

Words within words:

Hospital

Terrible

Holiday

It helps to draw

pictures here too…

Sep a rat e

Could,

would,

should:

“o u lucky

duck”

Mnemonics for

word families

Say words as they

are spelt:

Wed- nes-day

Pe-o-ple

Fri-end

Beli-eve

Multisensory approaches

The more senses a learner uses as he learns, the deeper the learning experience

will be

Kara Tointon Don't Call Me Stupid

Use foam letters and build words, use cornflour, shaving foam, rainbow writing,

movement

SEE

DO

Multisensory approaches to learn spelling:

Neuro-linguistic Programming

Clapping method

Simultaneous Oral Spelling (or ‘Spelling Shields’)

Mneumonics, investigations of meaning and origin

also help learners remember the rules to spelling

new words

Flip-it! Rapid recall (Other games like snap,

visualisation, bingo)

Reversals:

Look at similarities and differences in shape of letters

(what do they look similar to?)

B and d-

Use the corners of your exercise books

Clues- What we see, and use actions

Stories and rhymes: “First the bat, then the ball”

“the girl has a curl”

Handwriting is important…. Teaching

children to write using cursive/ joined up

letters can improve spelling and reduce

letter/number reversals…. It has also been

shown to improve organisation and

memory!

http://www.teachhandwriting.co.uk/continuous-

cursive-letters-beginners.html

Homework top tips! (Dyslexia Association)

Establish a routine- it is important for children with Dyslexia to practise skills more often than others, ensure they engage in reading for at least 20 minutes a day- it is ok if this is following along to audio books, being read to or playing reading games.

Monitor their work: They may get frustrated if they are finding the homework difficult- sometimes just reading the instructions can take a lot of effort.

As they get older, introduce them to using the computer (See BDA for BDATech) learning to touch type and using Dyslexia friendly apps are helpful (e.g. Dragon- speech to text software, BBC Dance Mat)

Organisation and independence:

Help them find strategies to manage the workload- create a homework plan and chunk up the activities.

Colour code work, organise different topics into different folders

Place all items needed for the next day ready by the door.

Study Skills:

Discussing effective ways to approach homework and more difficult tasks- use mind maps, colour coding for notes, highlighting, diagrams to help them understand new concepts and plan their ideas.

Flash cards and actions to learn new concepts (in all subject areas)

Multisensory approaches and applying memory strategies

Discuss strategies for activities like reading and spelling that work for them.

Minimise as many distractions as possible- think about where and when they do their homework.

‘Stuckness’ routines- help your child learn strategies for overcoming being stuck, help them think through all the different ways they could complete the task correctly (doesn’t always have to be written) and who they can ask for help.

Speak to the class teacher/ SENCo regularly. If the quantity or type of homework is making your child frustrated or to lose confidence, then it is important to discuss how to reduce/ adjust homework for them and engage their strengths.

Key Message

With the right support, encouragement and praise, your child can and will achieve in education. Skills, knowledge and abilities are not fixed- our brains have the capacity to learn and change all the time.

TOP TIPS:

Be patient. Wait for a response after a question, they need time to process and think- count to 5 before prompting them.

If they are becoming frustrated- stop. Think of ways to reduce difficulties, talk to teachers and reassure your child.

Give praise for effort and learning often. “I like the way you tried to you use sounds to help you!”, “Well done, I can see you have made a diagram to help you.”

Break down what you say into more simple language.

Give them cues: “Three things to remember…” and be prepared to repeat yourself (Try to think of things from their perspective before you react)

Useful websites and resources

BBC www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures

The School Run www.theschoolrun.com/what-magic-e

Primary Tools http://primarytools.co.uk/pages/phonics.html

Phonics Play www.phonicsplay.co.uk/

Letters and Sounds www.letters-and-sounds.com/phase-2-games.html

Family Learning www.familylearning.org.uk/phonics_games.html

Nessy: Reading and writing https://www.nessy.com/uk/

Barrington Stokes http://www.barringtonstoke.co.uk/

Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre https://www.helenarkell.org.uk/

British Dyslexia Association http://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/parent/resources-of-parents

Dyslexia Action http://www.dyslexiaaction.org.uk/

Word searches: http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/WordSearchSetupForm.asp

Handwriting: http://www.teachhandwriting.co.uk/continuous-cursive-letters-beginners.html

Dance Mat Touch Typing: http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z3c6tfr

Resources:

• Multisensory activities: play doh, pipe

cleaners, glitter, water, paints…

anything!

• Puzzles pieces to write on, chalk boards,

grids to stand or move counters on to

• Wooden alphabet letters/magnetic

letters