By nature I am a person who believes people, my students, my children can do anything they set their minds to. I know, It’s super cheesy but I do. This also includes dyslexics. There are amazing advantages to being dyslexic but there are also some real disadvantages that dyslexics struggle with. These tips will help you understand dyslexia and know what to expect. Here are 5 dyslexia tips that will help you successfully help your students.
Do not ask a dyslexic to read out loud without prior practice..
Dyslexics have a hard time reading. A dyslexic brain struggles with interpreting the relationship between sound and symbols. This means a dyslexic brain is constantly decoding words, letter by letter for every single word they read. This makes reading difficult. Instead, let them practice the text before you asked him to read it out loud. Let me add this as a side note, if you are still doing Popcorn reading, stop it! You know what popcorn reading is.. When a student reads and when they get to the end of the sentence they say “popcorn” and pick another student to read. This is a terrible practice for students who are struggling readers whether they are dyslexic or not. This activity can be a confidence killer for struggling readers and potentially embarrass them.
Dyslexics struggle with spelling, a lot
Dyslexics are generally bad spellers. Like for real, for real, Spelling can be a real challenge for dyslexics but, that doesn’t mean they can’t spell at all. They can sound words out and depending on their decoding abilities they can get close. Instead, let them look up words on their computer. Don’t harp on misspelled words, let them keep working and deal with misspellings later.
Dyslexics are daydreamers
This dyslexia tip is probably the most important of all. Although it looks like daydreaming to you, this is just the way dyslexics think. I found this very thing to be true with my own son. My 8-year-old who is also dyslexic tends to daze off into, I don’t know where. He tends to look out the window, or fiddle with an object in his hand, staring at it as if he’s never seen it before. After a few minutes, he will come back to me and tell me an amazing story or tell me about a cool invention that he’s thinking of building. So although this time looks like daydreaming and doesn’t look productive at all it is probably one of the most productive and important things that dyslexics do, they think.
Dyslexic are not organized but organization is critical to their success.
Dyslexics can be organized but they will definitely need your help to become that way. Dyslexics need routine and organization. For dyslexics, it is important that everything has a place. Make sure all materials are labeled so students can find them easily. Be sure your classroom is organized for not only dyslexic students but for all students. Make sure things are labeled so that students know exactly where materials are.
Dyslexics struggle to memorize anything
Dyslexics tend to have a weak working memory. Working memory is the ability to hold and manipulate information over a short period of time. See your working memory only stores things for a short amount of time let’s say days or several hours but for dyslexics, this can mean minutes. A dyslexic’s working memory capacity is really low. Listening, remembering, and following directions with multiple steps is hard for someone who is dyslexic. It’s kind of like waiting in a long line at Taco Bell and by the time you get to the front of the line you’ve forgotten what you wanted to order. Instead, write down a list of what you need them to do, this will allow them to do one task at a time and refer back to the list when they are ready for the next task.
Reading out loud, spelling, not daydreaming, being organized, and memorizing anything it’s hard for someone who is dyslexic. This doesn’t mean you don’t challenge those students but this does mean you need to give them the tools and teach them the strategies they need to become successful. These are just a few dyslexia tips but Hopefully, these dyslexia tips help you understand your dyslexic students a bit better.
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