Dyslexia
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Advice for helping a dyslexic student
To the teachers :
I developed the following advice in response to the (often devastating) stories that my clients, old and young, have told me of their school experiences. Many teachers have not been trained to recognise dyslexia and confuse dyslexics and “slow learners”. Please keep in mind that dyslexia is
an unexplained condition, occurring in a child of average or above average intelligence, characterised by a significant delay in one or more areas of learning, particularly reading or writing.
It is as an former teacher of language and math, and more recently as a dyslexia therapist, that I offer these suggestions to improve the communication between the dyslexic student and his or her teacher. In my “Proposals”, I have tried to offer ideas for different types of work and grade levels.
Advice:
- If parents tell you that their child is dyslexic, try to do what you can to make his/her schoolwork more tolerable. This may require a more open attitude towards this child or a slight change in the usual way you do things in class.
As reading out loud is an impossible task for many dyslexics, it is not in class, surrounded by snickering classmates, that they are going to learn how to do it. It will probably only improve through reading with a family member, a tutor, or a qualified learning specialist.
Proposals :
- Tell them in advance what passage they will have to read so that they can practice the day before.
- Spare them the task completely (by making reading out loud optional for all, but rewarded with a grade).
- If the dyslexic must read out loud, don’t prolong the agony but don’t cut him/her off too abruptly either. Treat the effort with the respect it deserves. As much as possible, try to be sensitive to and encourage any little progress, particularly in those children who are having learning support.
Remember that all written work or reading assignments take much longer for dyslexics because they are using a medium with which they are not at ease.
Proposals :
- Copying from the board is very hard for dyslexics who, for fear of making a mistake, copy letter by letter rather than word by word. Since they are not really following the meaning of what they are writing, they can easily lose their place, with the results that one can imagine. Do not erase the board too quickly (specially when it is the next day’s homework assignment!).
- A printed copy of the work will help the dyslexic follow in class, and allow the parents to help him/her at home.
- Do not ask that instructions, or, in math, the problem itself be recopied: the page reference or problem number should be enough.
- Suggest that the dyslexic student begin his/her homework with the work that requires some thought and leave the copying part for the end.
- Check, at the beginning of an assignment, that the dyslexic student knows what he/she is supposed to be doing.
- Put the dyslexic student near a better student who will be able to help him/her or at least call you: dyslexics are so ashamed of their problems that they rarely ask for help. This is also a way to integrate the dyslexic student into the class.
-Taking notes is also virtually impossible for dyslexics. If possible, give a printed copy of the lesson to the dyslexic student or suggest that he/she make a photocopy of the notes of a student who is good at taking notes. This way the dyslexic can pay better attention in class and assimilate a good part of the lesson without having the stress of writing or the fear of missing something.
- Allow the use of pencils. You want to encourage dyslexics to reread their work, so it is important that they have a way to make corrections fairly neatly.
- Remember that the main thing is the work itself and not its neatness. The fine motor skills of many dyslexics are not good and they are perfectly aware of it. Comments like “Sloppy”or “Messy work!” are very demeaning and non-productive. To tear up a student’s paper in front of the whole class, is unacceptable.
- Stay in the perspective of the student by comparing his/her work only to his/her own previous work. Try to notice any improvement and mention it. Dyslexics tend to be very low in self-esteem and focus only on the negative.
Dictations and/or vocabulary lists can be a very useful exercise for dyslexics as long as they are given the chance to prepare for them properly, at their own ease. Make sure that you give the assignment early enough so that weaker students don’t have to learn too much per day. In the upper grades (where dictations are no longer prepared), once the passage has been read, you can ask that the students share in explaining what is happening in the story. Understanding the story will allow dyslexics to cut up the sounds into proper words. Because of their difficulties, dyslexics are generally so terrified at the idea of dictation that they have trouble distinguishing the sounds of words.
Proposals :
- Allow them more time so that they can re-read their work.
- Tell them to indicate how far they were able to check their work and grade them on this part only or at least base any criticism on this part (even if the grade must reflect the whole work).
- For corrections, try to remember that they are not making all these mistakes on purpose. Do not make excessive use of your red pen. Big fat exclamations points do not amuse the parents and can destroy a child’s self-esteem.
- For correction work, remember that copying is not terribly useful for dyslexics as they tend to do it letter by letter on the previous word which they don’t really “see” well anyway. Not only that, but this rather futile exercise requires an inordinate amount of time of them that would be better spent doing useful homework. If you insist that they copy words over, limit the number of times that they must copy the words and choose only useful, important words.
Dyslexia is real and affects 8 to 10% of the school population.
