Reading and spelling with Dyslexia
December 19th, 2006
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.
Entry Filed under: Dyslexia
13 Comments Add your own
1. sam | July 14th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
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
2. Daphne | July 25th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
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
3. cellis lias | August 9th, 2007 at 9:26 am
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,
4. Renee Barnett | March 10th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
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.
5. Tom Wood | May 15th, 2008 at 12:12 am
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.
6. Diane Philipson | July 11th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
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
7. Dawn Matthews | July 16th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
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
8. dot bowness | October 15th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
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.
9. Robert | October 18th, 2008 at 1:37 am
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.
10. Dyslexia | November 14th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
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.
11. Dawn Matthews | December 18th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
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
12. Elena | March 25th, 2009 at 11:58 am
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
13. fiona | May 14th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
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.
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