Most pupils acquire the skills of reading and writing with comparative ease. The dyslexic child, because of his/her learning difficulties, will struggle to make progress when taught these skills by normal established methods. Teachers and parents will find it frustrating to observe how little progress is being made with these children and will be tempted to repeat lessons or go through programs more thoroughly when what is needed is a different approach."
From Dyslexia How to Win by Dawn Matthews
Dyslexics have what is described as "poor short term visual and auditory memories". This means that they cannot recall the look of or the sound of the sequence of letters in words. Therefore, they have to be able to work out how to spell every word as they come to them and be able to decode every word as it is read. They need, therefore, to be taught how to build words and need to know basic phonics and spelling rules. Here is an extract from Dyslexia a Guide for Parents to help you understand this:
"The use of visual and auditory memory is best demonstrated in spelling. In order to fully understand this try asking a number of your colleagues or friends to spell out loud a moderately difficult word, say "efficient". Once they have performed this task ask them "how they did it". Almost all good spellers will describe either:
‘seeing the word’ or
‘hearing the letters’
and some will talk of both. A person who is unable to either "visualize the word" or hear it spelt to them will have great difficulty in this task. He/she will also have great difficulty in many other tasks involving memory and may be dyslexic."
A Guide for Parents, Dawn Matthews
Such people are likely to be dyslexic.
Multi-sensory teaching
The following is a quote from Dyslexia How to Win,
For a dyslexic spelling never comes easily, however skilled or old (s)he is. I still have to sound out all my words and indeed rely heavily upon my computer’s spellchecker for irregularly spelt words. Every time I write or type out a word I still, after writing and typing a number of books, have to work out how to spell that word. Therefore, if I did not understand how words were spelt and know how to sound them out I would be truly stuck for words in this book.
Every time I press a keyboard key or form a letter upon a page I have to know the sound of that letter and the rules needed for the words so that I can work out how to type that word. In order to be able to do this and at the same time concentrate upon the content of what I’m writing, the sounding out of words has to be virtually instinctive.
It has been established that one of the best ways to teach spelling to a dyslexic is by using the multi-sensory approach and I always work this way with a dyslexic of any age.
For multi-sensory teaching to work best it is essential that all the senses be in use at the same time. When learning letters the following sensations must be carried out simultaneously:
- Feeling the shape of the letter
- Seeing the shape of the letter
- Hearing the sound of the letter as they say it
- Feeling themselves saying the sound of the letter
This teaching experience must be continued until all these sensations are automatically or instinctively linked in the pupil’s mind, not merely remembered when quizzed. To check that it is instinctive observe the pupil trying to write an unusual word with regular spelling like "splash" and watch to see whether (s)he mouths out or sounds out the individual letters.
It may be necessary to repeat the multi sensory experience of learning letters this way hundreds of times.
Consideration should be given to reducing boredom in this exercise when a child has to write and sound out the same letter so many times. Children could:
- Use different colors and types of writing implements;
- Vary the size of the letters;
- Vary the type of paper or jotter;
- Build up patterns using different letters;
If multi-sensory teaching of letters is to work quickly, you should organise a timetable for a pupil so that (s)he works a little every day.
Irregular words
Many of the common, little words in English are irregular in their spelling. That is to say they cannot be spelt by using simple phonics and spelling rules. This is a shame because it hinders children’s early acquisition of reading because the first words taught are often the hardest for a dyslexic to learn. These words have to be taught as one off words and often children learn them easiest through games. Here are some examples of common irregular words. The 200 most common can be found in Dyslexia – How to Win.
| 1. I | 2. the | 3. all | 4. be |
| 5. for | 6. her | 7. so | 8.before |
| 9. call | 10. come | 11. do | 12. give |
| 13. some | 14. like | 15. made | 16. me |
| 17. my | 18. now | 19. only | 20. other |
| 21. right | 22. write | 23. then | 24. two |
| 25. to | 26. what | 27. when | 28. where |
| 29. who | 30. which | 31. of | 32. one |
| 33. won | 34. they | 35. you | 36. your |
| 37. came | 38. could | 39. should | 40. would |
Speed of reading
This is taken from Dyslexia: A Guide for Teachers:
Because a dyslexic cannot scan ahead when reading he/she reads very slowly. The silent reading speed of even a well educated, adult dyslexic is frequently very much slower than the reading aloud speed of an ordinary person.
Wherever possible, try to allow the dyslexic extra time to read even the simplest of written instructions. Also give extra time for homework reading. Never give out reading books and ask for them to be read by the next week. It still takes me months to read a whole book, partly because of my slow reading speed and partly because of eyestrain that limits the periods of my reading to sometimes only half an hour.
- Find taped books if at all possible.
- Do not expect him/her to have finished when the rest of the class has finished.
- Pairing a dyslexic with a good reader can often help.
Dawn also says:
"Dyslexics usually find reading easier if they are not under a bright light. Often the harsh black print on white paper appears to move about and change in character for the dyslexic. Printing written material on blue or green paper often helps as does placing a transparent plastic overlay on top of the page. Different dyslexics prefer different colored overlays. You can get a rough idea of which is best for your child by placing text under a variety of different colored plastic folders. It you want the exact best color for your child or student then get him/her tested at an Irlen Clinic."
Famous dyslexic authors included Roald Dahl, Dame Agatha Christie, Jamie Oliver, Hans Christian Anderson, Gustave Flaubert, Sir Francis Bacon …
Many more helpful tips and suggestions can be found in all of Dawn’s books.
Hi I’m in the eastern suburbs of perth My daughter is 9 in year 4 and has ADHD – In year one Tylah was assesd for dyslexia Apparently she was on the boarder line?????…I have tried so many diferent avenues to help makes things easier for her she struggles big time.. we are getting there SLOWLY Have you heard of a reading program “READING FOR SURE” I put Tylah into tution where the tutor tuaght the RFS method…
My worry is for when Tylah goes to high school..How do I selected a high school that is right for her?? please if you can assist in any way that would be great
Sam
Hi SAM, i am 62 years old and suffered from Dyslexia all my life,
try and find what your daughter really loves, i still can’t spell its like a foreign language to me even thou i was born here. i had 3 business and did OK in life, i can understand how these kids feel
didn’t start reading until i was 25
i would love to help these kids i feel i do understand them
regards daphne
Hello,
I am a Teacher Assistant and I work with Dyslexia students, and they are really smart students.I have name people like Tom Cruise with dyslexia, and how he became very successful and I was hoping that you could e-mail me back were I could show them that an adult made it and had 3 business I think this will be great for the new school year. I will put your letter on our bulltin board.
Thanks,
Hi my name is Renee and I have recently moved to Sydney NSW from Singapore. My son who’s 8 was diagnosed with moderate dyslexia a year ago and was lucky enough to get great support from both the school he was in and a private tutor who also came into the school and taught him twice a week. The improvement was amazing and his self esteem soared. Now we have moved here and I am finding it so difficult to even find a tutor that specialises in dyslexia. I am so worried that he’s going to now revert backwards and fall behine and more importantly lose his self esteem. He is a bright boy with such an enquiring mind. Can anybody can help point me in the right direction or help me find a good tutor for him. We are living in the eastern suburbs. I have tried to contact SPELD here but to no avail.
Hi, My name is Tom and i’ m a dance student. I suffer from dyslexia and struggle to pick up the dance sequences in class. After reading your site, i know now their is still hope for me if i keep working hard. Thankyou. I’ve found that every bit of support helps. For instance, i am really embarrassed when i dont pick up the movement after it’s been shown three times, but a friend in the class is always offering to go over it with me when he has a spare moment.
Renee – I think I can help you! Check out my website and email me if you would your son to have Skype lessons. Or give me a ring on (02) 4967 5458 to have a talk to me.
Diane Philipson
We at learningdifficulties.com.au do not necessarily endorse any other program without first seeing it in operation and evaluating its effectiveness.
if anyone out there has been helped by this course could you please get in touch with us.
Also i personally am always skeptical of any method that teaches everyone the same way as the point about dyslexia and dyspraxic etc is that each set learns differently from the norm and from each other and therefore need to be taught differently from each other.
Also the exact nature of the learning difficulty, the extent of any any auditory processing, or eye tracking or laterality problem has an effect on how the individual learns as does his background and experiences. i very rarely ever give 2 kids the same teaching program and my programs vary quite a lot from one dyslexic to another.
Thanks for your email
dawn
I am 57 years old . as a child i always new that i was diferent to the rest of the children in my class.I found trying to read the most stressfull so much so that when it came time for me to read out laloud i was alwas sick or had to go to the toilet so i was let out of the class , I was popular with all my school friend right throughout my years at school I was even voted Headgirl in my last year at school.Friend always cam to me for the answers to questions to homework. I couldnt understand why when i was asked a question i could alwasy give the correct answer,yet when it came to putting things down on papper i was so out of my depth that i felt that i was drounding in as sea ofjumbled up letters and numbers, but how could i know the answers to all the questions that the other children couldnt answer? with all my expreances as a child if came as no shock to me that my to sons while both of them are very clever the teaching staff faild them as the did not know how to teach my boys so i had a fight on my hands , Not to be deteared i took the bull by the horns and started my long battle with the great britsh education system ! we had statments done, extra time for exams ect , i am pleased to say that my older son has got his degree at Birmingham Univeristy with honnors. My younger son who i beleve to be extreamly clever he is working within the health system in P.I.C.U. he is constantly being asked to take his nursing degree but because he is so afraid of putting thing down on papper and because of bad experances at school when his teacher ripped his work up in front of the whole class he dosnt wont to feel that way again so he is staying in his comfort zone. why am i telling you all thi ,you might well ask , well my Daughter has come home from school with her daughter and she is most distressed as the teacher has told her that my grand daughter is a verry bright child and she reads very well and when she is telling a story thet she dos this with lots of feeling and emotion BUT her spelling is aufull…. she said that she thinks that my grandaughter has DYSLEXIA. My daughter askd how can she help her and the well meaning teacher has told her that she wont be able to grt any help as my grandaughter is good at reading… can anyone help us .. why more that 50 years down the line we are still met with such lack of understanding from the education system . i would like to hear from others who have or are still having the same problems ,or anyone who knows if Dyslexia is hereditary ? am ashamed to say that i am crying writing this as it has brought to the surface all my fears from my childhood . I dont want my Grandaughter to suffer in the same way as my sons and i have . can anyone help please.
Ghotit dyslexia on-line free writing assistance is designed to help to adults and kids with dyslexia to correct their spelling.
Please, read HOW TO USE instructions carefully.
Thank godness finally we have Australian Dyslexia Association helping the community,parents and educators about dyslexia.
There is teacher and tutor training available based on the proven Orton Gillingham approach.
The OG approach is structured,multisensory and flexible. Dyslexia occurs on a continuum and no two dyslexics are alike,therefoer no two dyslexics need exactly the same instruction.
The Australian Dyslexia Association does not endorse any one product or program but supports a Multisensory Structured Approach to the language teaching of those with dyslexia.
Hi Dot
I am very sorry for the delay in responding
thank you for your very detailed email. yes dyslexia is inherited. they have even managed to isolate the gene. on average a dyslexic parent can expect half of his/her children to be dyslexic. i have 3 and they are all dyslexic.
alas your story sounds very like my own. i became a teacher in order to help other kids with dyslexia and i think that the education system, especially here in australia, is getting worse for dyslexics rather than better.
in her autobiography, Susan Hampshire, the actress tells how she would let mice loose in the classroom when it was her turn to read aloud.
however in my book, dyslexia how to win, which you can buy from our parent site, i do explain exactly how to teach your kid to spell as well as read and my phonics book – a complete phonics course – will be published shortly and that should help as well. just remember that, although we fail at school, us dyslexics are actually the brightest set of people.
cheers
dawn
Hi! My name is Elena, I have 8 yrs old son, who I suspect is dyslexic. Do you know any organisations in Melbourne, that can properly assess him and help with reading and spelling?
Thank you
Hi I took my severely dyslexic child to a place and he is now believe it or not he is cured. He was struggling to spell his name correctly every time he wrote it. He wrote very little and what he did write you could not read. He hated reading etc. He know writes as good as and adult in terms f neatness, he enjoys reading now and is excited about learning so he can move to the next level.
All after 10 sessions. I am extremely impressed that he no longer has too struggle.
hii
im 14 and srtugle too read and write we think its dislexia ive but up with it for many years and dont no were to get help
Need some advice.
My 9yo daughter struggles with spelling and reading. We have done all the possible testing, behavioural optmetrist. IQ,(108) Academic and even the Dyslexia screening test. She is an extremly hard working and is no way disruptive in the class.
The dyslexia test had 2 out of the 11 fields with moderate indicator of dyslexia and the other reports said things like, “her unique set of thinking and reasoning abilities make her overall intellectual functioning difficult to summarise” and ,” her full scale IQ score does not provide an accurate estimation of her overall congitive ability due to the variance between her verbal and non verbal reasoning skills, yet still the proffesionals say nothing is wrong. As a mother you know something is not quite right.
I suppose what I am asking is, should i get my daughter tested again by different people. Has anyone had this same problem.
Any help would be great.
Hi,
Yes I get parent after parent with this same problem. There seem to be so few people who know how to test out here. Have you tried my tick yet? It may be that i could help you if the IQ test your daughter had was to WISC test. If so you could send me the subtest results and it may be that this indicates something.
Other than that the only thing I can suggest is going to a SPELD Foundation for re testing, but first show them what you have already got. There is a SPELD in melbourne and Queensland and Sydney.
If you live near Perth I can help you and i develop a personal teaching program along with assessment screening.
Cheers
Dawn
I find the website useful
I am 67 years and left school in second year faiiing in
english 10 in chemistry 10 in physics. After working for
11 years I went back to Tec. to do the School Certificate
at 4 nights per week for two years and passed with
Credits in Science but only a pass in English.
I find the best thing for spelling is a book on synamenins
or Thesaurus. You look up a word you think you can
spell and it will telll similar words corectly spelt.
People tell you to look up a word in the Dictionary they
no idea. Thanks for this sight Ralph
My 9 year old son reads above grade level and with a high fuency/lexile. He enjoys reading and reads fast. He reads daily. He reads 2 grade levels above with superior comprehension but we were told after testing he has a dyslexic quality underlying this reading. The decoding he uses reflects this. It is hard to understand this but where the trouble is without a doubt is spelling and writing. His spelling is very phonetic. What he hears he spells. He hates writing and though tests gifted he needed my constant backup to do okay or fine in school. He can’t produce. I want him to be able to spell. I am told to just not worry about spelling. I believe he can learn to spell. The funny thing is he can get A’s on the spelling test after he prepares but won’t know it after the test. What is the best way to teach spelling?
Hi I am a 36 year old male ,who alway’s stuggled at school .I want to do a part time TAFE course in horticulture,but feel i may have dyslexia and maybe wasting their time
Is there anyway i may be able to get help online before starting TAFE in Feb 2010
Hi Renee
I just saw your post. I hope you are still looking at this fantastic site. Please contact me. I will try to find someone to help you. It can be very frustrating to have to battle through the systems in a new city and country.
I live and work in Sydney so I might be able to help you.
mobile no 0414760663
Hi Karen,
If your son writes and spells the way words are spoken then he is not able to recall the look of a word, and this is dyslexic in nature.
He needs t be taught phonics and all words that do not obey phonics, like “once”, “who”, “what” etc. need to be drastically over-learnt. I Call these “stupid words” meaning the words are stupid rather than the kid.
I have written a fun phonics course, which can be bought down loadable from this site. This is what i use to teach kids who needs to sound out words. If this is used in combination with the fun dictionary, a freebee and the game for learning to write fun sentences, The kids do improve. There are lots and lots of more advice in my book Dyslexia-how to win. I wrote the book because I just do not have time to tell everything I know to every person one at a time.
His reading sounds good. that is great. Make sure he comprehends well.
He sounds as though he is a very bright boy. Make sure you concentrate on his strengths and do not over focus on what he is poor at.
Good luck
Dawn
I need help! I am a sixth grade teacher who has a dyslexic student, or so the parents have told me. This is my dilema, he reads really well and seems to have great comprehension. His spelling….yikes. I don’t even know where to begin. Even the phonetic awareness is unusual. Any suggestions?
what would you charge per hour for tutor someone with this problem
Hi, I am 54 years old, live in the UK and have suffered from dyslexia all my life and has been passed down to my children and grandchildren. When I was young there was no ‘lable’ for people such as myself who struggled daily with reading, writing and arithmetic we were just ‘dumb or stupid’. I can clearly remember homework nights being reduced to floods of tears as my mother screamed in my ear to “read what’s on the page!” And many of my school days were spent not in the classroom but out in the outside toilets – unblocking them and scrubbing the sinks! By age 15 I left school but I had a great desire to become a nurse. However I had no qualifications so went to a pre-nursing college were there was a tutor who had an amazing ability to get me to understand arithmetic and English and I walked out of the college 2 1/2 years later with 6 O Level certificates! I did go into nursing and I passed with flying colours – I was second in my class! I continued to do well in my career and climbed to the position of Matron. As the years went by I volunteered to help children to read and found I could pick out a dyslexic child very easily but what was even better was the fact that I could teach that child without difficulty. From this I went abroad and taught English as a second language and again my own dyslexia helped me help the children with dyslexia.
Now I am back home and I am helping my 8 year old graddaughter who has dyslexia too. She is a very bright very smart child and I know she will do well in life. The saddest part for me is that all these years down the line the education authorities have made poor headway in helping dyslexic children quoting reasons such as lack of funding for their poor assistance. And there are still ‘uneducated’ teachers who refuse to accept there is such a thing as dyslexia. So for a lot of people with learning difficulties, sadly it is still an uphill struggle.
I class my life as successful and I like the way my brain works now that I have sussed out how to get it to work in my favour! So for all sufferers and parents of sufferers – keep working at your own pace – you will get there – you’re not dumb or stupid – quite the opposite in fact – and although you may have to work harder it will all fall into place in the end.
I . have a daughter she is 8 going on 9, her problem is that she cannot spell words properly, her father and grandmother had the same problem she’ has as i say spelling and reading problem .It’s hard concentrating sometimes for her ‘sometimes if she is going to say a word instead she say’s something else.For test if her teacher don’t read out the questions for her she’s at lost .Her teacher says she knows her work especially she’s good in maths but reading is her hardest part.When she revise her work she soon forgets easily .Please advice me what i can do.
Hello,
My son has just graduated as a Design Communication Specialist, however he is not motivated to go out there and get a job in his field because he has had to deal with his dyslexia and it is a necessary tool to read and write in his job. i am looking for someone who can help him overcome his problem and give him some confidence. He is 30 years old, and I am getting worried that he is overly depressed and might do something to himself. please please help me or email me to cheetah56@bigpond.com if you have any info that can assist me. We live in Quakers Hill, NSW. Thanks.
Hi Carmeline
I would be pleased to help your son. I am a special education teacher with experience helping adults and children with dyslexia. Please ring me on 0414760663 if you need assistance. I am in Sydney working in Bexley Nth near the station.
Hi, I have a nine year old son who finds reading and writing very difficult. He has struggled to be organised, to be able to find objects, has very slow processing but emotionally he is very intelligent and his general knowledge and intuition is good. We have recently swapped from a school that uses thrass (too hard to rote learn) to the spalding technique. Because he can see the big picture and because spalding uses rules to remember phonograms and spelling its become much easier for him. He has been there for only 6 months and has improved. We are going to try the Allison Lawson Centre for the ten week course. They say they can cure visual dyslexia. I am a bit dubious but willing to try anything. It is like he cant see the words when he is reading and loses concentration very quickly. When he looks out the car window he misses things so perhaps he does have something going on with his vision. We will let you know if your interested
Hi thanks for al the ppl who has shared experience, I am a special educator, working with children with dyslexia. The comments of parents and teachers boosting me to work better.
Hi, I am 39 years old, married for 16 years,mother of 2 beautiful children. Well, my story is, after being out from school for so long, finished high school 22 years ago, last year in January I went back to college to get the Associate Degree in Nursing. Well I can say I am almost half way there, but the worst is yet to come, as I was told. I feel like I am struggling with remembering after studying or taking any tests. I don’t want to stop now,I don’t want to give up my dream (to be a nurse). I know I will do good as a nurse, because my passion is to help and care for others.The thing is, I can learn anything by training, have no problem with that, I still remember my 1-st job, I didn’t do any school for that, I was only trained and did just fine. Many times I feel like I learn easier if I see it, I guess I am a visual learner. I fear that I will have problem passing the science courses but afraid to ask for help. Not to long ago I had something happened to me while I was in class. I remember when I left my house I felt a crushing headache and this weird feeling in my stomach. Well it ended in the class because I throw up it was so embarrassing, and when they asked what was wrong, I only said I probably ate something, I was to ashamed to tell about my problem. This is still going on with me, at first I thought it will pass but not. I still feel the same symptoms before each class but so relieved after. Should I talk to someone at the disability service and get help? I just don’t want to be called stupid,etc. English is my third language maybe that has something to do with it. Please help me. What should I do? I would really appreciate if you would email me back also, I want to make sure I will get your answer and help. Thank you.
Worried student.
Hi Erika,
Yes you should ask for help as colleges are really quite good at providing help for dyslexics.
there is also a lot of software that can help you now. for example you can get audio recorders on laptops, they are actually built in on macs that will record the lectures. You can easily also get free voice overs. Dyslexic Centre Australia tell the best ones on there site http://www.dyslexiccentreaustralia.org.au on the top menu bar. again macs have built in ones and we give you the instructions for getting it going on our site.
you are also allowed extra time for exams, and ask to be allowed notes during exams as you will always have them when a nurse.
If you do not have an assessment as dyslexic then I can do that by Skpye if you want.
you are doing really well and dyslexics make excellent nurses as they have enhanced interpersonal skills.
hope this helped
Dawn
I have a 16 year old boy who moved to Japan two years ago. He has no motivation to study, he forgets things easily, his grades especially in math and essay writing is falling. He is a very well behaved guy with friends, he is obedient but hates studying or doing his assignments. He wants to graduate High school and get frustrated easily when he can’t study but he refuses help from me. He says he’s doing fine but his grades show he isn’t. I am really worried, I want some help and get tested clinically to recognize his problem but in Japan I don’t know where to go. I enrolled him in this school that was listed as qualified to help students like him but it’s getting nowhere. I am scared he’ll drop out of school if I don’t help him. I am so desperate I am thinking about going to the US if help is available there, though I don’t know where or who to turn to. I feel helpless, please help
Sue
I would definitely talk to the people at the disability section of TAFE. It might also be a good idea to get some targeted help for your anxiety. Your GP would be able to refer you to someone. It is always good to tackle this as early as possible because I have seen my children and friends suffer far too long. Few of us realise how common crippling anxiety attacks really are.
I have a 11year old son who has ADHD, dyslexia and an IQ of 139. He can read (tutoring did that for him…) but now, how can we help him write? We got back all the standard testing for mat, reading, spelling… from last year’ standard tests, he scored in the 97% in everything BUT spelling where he fell to 57%… Any tips or trick to help him? (we also have 3 more children, all have ADHD or ADD and one more probably has dyslexia, we looking into it…)Thanks for helping!
Writing is harder than reading. This is because there are more ways of spelling each English sound than there are of pronouncing each spelling pattern. I know it sounds crazy but it does make sense!
A multi-sensory method of phonics with “memory tricks” and a knowledge of word origins and morphology or the bits and pieces which are added on to the root word are all needed to write properly. Tuition has to be an ongoing process. There are unfortunately no quick fixes for dyslexia.
It also sounds like he would benefit from dictating his answers so that his ideas can get put down on paper properly. Testing at school and other places should have room for alternative assessment methods. Text recognition software can sometimes help but it needs hours of practice ( and great diction) for it to work. I hope this is helpful.
My name is Latish and I am writing for my boy friend raul gonzalez he is trying to find a program that can help him read and write we a family if you can help please contact him at his email address and if you can give me a number for New York or New Jersey than you.
hi, im 34 years old, and struggled so hard in high school! i felt that i tryed so hard. i was always studying! but never seemed to pass an exam! today as an adult i still feel stupid. my parents had me diagnosed with dyslexia when i was 7. i remember going to a place in sydney, and doing some special exersices. i also had a tudor when i was in high school, but that made no difference. today im thinking of going to tafe to do a coarse in animal studies, but am so scarred that i will fail! what to do? when i turned 16, i went to go for my L’s! i failed over 30 times. read that book so many times, and still failed. i cryed the last time i failed and then asked the lady at the counter if they had anything, apart from the book . she came back to me with a pack that had a picture book and audio tapes. she told me to listen to the tapes before i went to sleep. so i did! guess what! next day passed my test with no mistakes! as an adult i have no problem with reading now! some of my spelling is not too good. how do i go thru tafe, and pass?????
I am interested in the Alison Lawson Clinic for my child. I have taken him there and they have diagnosed him with Visual Dyslexia. I will try anything to help, but would like to find out if anyone has had the successes they talk about or if anyone has any comments on this type of therapy.
Thanks
Sue
I am in my third year of homeschooling my now 10 year old; homeschooled because of her severe learning difficulties. We spent most of that first year going to specialised speech path. clinics and occupational therapists which were little help, and alot of work on her behalf, she spent many months back at basics sounding out the sounds of letters, sounding out words etc.. three years on and there is little improvement. I found it interesting that you meantioned ‘holding’ the letters (I guess I could find wooden letter blocks) and sounding it out- creating the picture of the letter in her mind. Do you still recommend this even at age 10? Her reading recently has improved because she has found something she enjoys- the ‘captain underpants’ series- however there is alot of incorrect spelling in these books; should I be worried, or rejoice in that she is reading? I have also read that Dyslexics should learn to read before they are encouraged to spell and write as this should become a natural progession… am I hindering her reading progress by getting her to do spelling and (creative) writing? This lifes journey of developing and encouraging a childs educational needs can at times lead to self doubt, especially when waiting for the ‘leaps and bounds’ of progressive learning to arrive. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. We live on the Gold Coast. Qld. Thanks.B.
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Hi,
My 8yr old daughter Molly has been diagnosed with Auditory processing, Dyslexia and recently fitted for Irlens lenses.
She attends a small Catholic school which have been great so far with supporting her, i am finding this year tho her teacher is not so supportive, she seems to be very old school and thinks its all a bit of an exuse for my daughter Molly to slack off, despite herspecialist reports and reading & spelling levesl being extrelemy low. I am concerned about her self asteem getting a real beating with this teacher and i have looked high & low for a specialist tutor or Aid to help Molly in school, could you please tell me if you know a specialist tutor in Melbourne.
Thank you.
It has been so interesting to read these comments. I have been homeschooling my almost-12 year old son for 6 years. He has had learning difficulties. We have done occupational therapy -good for his low muscle tone. We have done speech therapy -was helpful with his speech, but I left when she starting on other things which I didn’t think we’re going to,work, or was not willing to pay for. We had a WISC II test which said his verbal comprehension etc was good but other was very low. Visual perception was in fourth percentile, processing speed was below the first percentile!!! They wanted to do for testing for autism but I know he is not so I left it.
He also got glasses at six, bifocals at about 8, which helped make it a bit easier -not as tiring – for him to look at text. They gave us exercise but they were very hard and we did not see much improvement. But looking back i think it helped a bit.
The things that have helped for us???? We did Tomatis listening therapy with him early on and this made his auditory processing the strongest of his skills. I am glad we did what we did, though this seemed like an endless money pit and we didnt do all they wanted us to. It got rid of his hearing loss.
I read to him everyday for at least and hour or two. This has been good for just general learning and also verbal comprehension.
We have tried several phonics programs. AVKO, an American dyslexia foundation sells one, which also has a spelling program this was a bit useful. Alphabet island phonics was very useful as it has a story around the letters and sounds. My son always remembers things in a context or story. Her son was a late reader so the lady who wrote it is good at providing help. Also we have used The Phonics Road, a homeschool version of the Spalding method. This was fantastic and has rule tunes for all the spelling rules. Even though my son can’t sing he can say the rule tunes. He has learned all his sounds and spelling rules through this. Even though it took a LOT longer than the book said. He could spell words that there was no way he could read normally.
The middle of this year he was still trying to read CVC words ( cat mat fit lot but etc…) we were doing a lot of simple word lists by dictation. The dictation did help. At least to get him more confident with his vowel sounds.
Then we found the Alison Lawson Centre ( we went to the one in Canberra). As I knew, they have said he is a visual learner but his eyes weren’t working together, and not tracking. I knew all this, but did to know what to do. Their program has been great !!!!!!! We are in our last week. It takes a lot of work, I did extra work with my son too. But in ten weeks we are now reading at a year 2 level and he remembers the words he reads. After the first time!!!!!! His memory has improved so much!!!! He sees words and chooses to read them and sound them out. He can concentrate for longer. He is excited about the future. His spatial awareness has improved a lot.
( he has always had good hand writing, but this took MANY hours of working on his pencil grip and letter formation. Like i mean YEARS!, we used to use a sloped board, but now don’t need to. Doing Pilates has also helped with his muscle strength. I have always insisted on writing well even if it is not much. ).
I hope this helps some people here, because I know your pain. We have often thought our son could never leave home ( he has also been bad at remembering and following instructions) . After so many tears, so many hours in prayer and so much hard work, I feel like we are coming out the other side. We still have a long way to go. But my son said to me that he can’t wait for therapy to be done so we can do our math work again and do lots more spelling words. He knows he can read now!!! We will continue with The Phonics Road. Using the alphabet island book with word lists in it as a back up.
There are also Alison Lawson Centes in Sydney, Melbourne and Gold Coast as well I know. I know they can do it intensively if you travel to use it. It is SOOOO worth the money and time.
Also i think some schools in sydney have just started using the techniques of Barbara Arrowsmith ( The Woman Who Changed Her Brain) . This would be good to follow up if you are there. I think they plan to extend the program to other areas of australia.
Keep doing whatever you can, never give up on your child always hope and try everything you can. If it doesn’t work, keep going.
I have been frustrated with my son, yes, and he has been so frustrated too. We have a lot of ‘hard’ days. And a few good days. Hold onto those. But at the end of the day, love them and forgive them and work on. Keeping your relationship with them STRONG. This was a clue for us. Your loving relationship with them will override their difficulties and give them security that they are loved no matter what! That will enable them to build the perseverance that is needed to spend the time and energy to get through. Ad NEVER stop reading to them! No matter what their age. Curl up with a good book. Don’t let it strip their love of books, that will continue the motivation. Curl up with them and READ! …..it fosters relationship, a love of books, improves comprehension and vocabulary and knowledge. It makes the whole world ok again! Spend MORE time with them and work n it TOGETHER. Struggle together, because then they know they are not in it alone.
And when you have struggled together, prayed together, been frustrated ….and finally come through, you can share the JOY together. I feel like my joy with my son is so much more immense because I have struggled with him all the way along. I know WE can do anything!!!!!! And I know he is developing a character of persistence, perseverance and tenacity, and maturity that could not have developed without him going through a struggle and coming out the other side.
KEEP ON GOING!!!!!!