Possible Dyslexia , home schooling

[Stellarella123]

Help, my son age 9 is going through the process of being diagnosed with dyslexia, he really struggles with all learning, its especially difficult with the home schooling during this lockdown, i am seeing how frustrated he is getting, and upset, grinding the pencil into the paper, being cheeky and just not wanting to write or read, i have been doing online nessy with him, hes meant to do it independently but he takes so long to read the question he doesnt really know the actual question by the end and guesses, iv been reading the questions etc, and he has the understanding, although an attention span of about 5 mins, dont want to upset him and thats whats happening, but hes so behind with school i dont want him to be even more behind, i feel so sorry for him, just dont know what to do, any advice? Thanks!

[sleepismysuperpower1]

would it be possible for you to get a pen like this for him? you plug headphones into it and it will read the words out loud to him (it's made specifically for dyslexia). It made a massive difference to my 10yo niece who is severely dyslexic, as it meant that whilst she could work on her reading and writing skills at other times, she could do the work set in subjects such as maths, which she has the skills for but struggled to read the question. it might also be worth trying coloured overlays or coloured glasses as some believe this helps with the reading.
all the best x

[Stellarella123]

Thanks! Wev tried the coloured overlays and no difference, but il definitely get the pen, its just so difficult to know what to do, and i suppose iv had my eyes opened as to what he is doing at school,
Thanks again

[sleepismysuperpower1]

I would also try and go over high frequency words (one or two words daily, spelling outloud without seeing the card. If you look at the flashcard and say 'ok, how do you spell (word)?' without your dc seeing the card, that can help. then, once they have spelled it out, show them the card and spell it out again). you can print off here. there is also additional advice about teaching high frequency words homeschoolingwithdyslexia.com/how-to-teach-sight-words-dyslexia/here which might be helpful if the method above doesn't work for you. The quicker they can recognise high frequency words, the quicker their reading will be and it will become slightly easier too x

[rioandberlin]

Hi @Stellarella123,
I'm a home tutor and have several students around your son's age who have dyslexia and other learning difficulties.
I'd really recommend a comic book series called Dekko Comics. They're ideal for 8-12 year olds who have dyslexia or are reluctant readers. The comics are funny and quirky, but also cover school subjects like Maths, English and Science. They help dyslexic children with their dyslexia-friendly font, key words and colour coding, as well as breaking up concepts into visual stories.

The comics have just been made free online for the next 3-4 months to support families during Covid 19. You can see them here: dekkocomics.com/issue-list-home

Hope that helps!

[Puffthemagicdragongoestobed]

My son has autism and whilst not diagnosed he has some form of learning difficulty which affects his willingness to read a book or write a coherent text. He also cannot focus on anything for longer than 5 minutes.
What we have found useful during this lockdown is English with Holly on YouTube. Holly is a teacher/ tutor on maternity leave. Her lessons are quite short (just under 30 minutes) and cover some topic of the English language. She is very likeable and her lessons are very engaging. She encourages kids to learn and

[Puffthemagicdragongoestobed]

Pressed send too soon!
She encourages kids to learn and write in small steps. I usually watch her together with my son and then I help him with one of her assignments. For example, yesterday he created a worksheet on fronted adverbials.

[DaisyArtichoke7]

My child is dyslexic. I have noticed that reading and writing tasks are exhausting for him. He can manage about 10 minutes at at time so that is what we do. He does 10 minutes then has 5 or 10 minutes break either away from work entirely or he does some maths (which he enjoys) or drawing. I have also tried to find ways of making the work set by the teacher more manageable for him - eg finding a template on twinkl for a book review / writing frames and other worksheets so he covers the topic even if the written task set is difficult. His work rate is pretty slow so we wouldn't get through everything in a day without making some adjustments.

[DaisyArtichoke7]

I never realised until now just how exhausting the whole reading / writing thing was for him. He's 8. Now I understand. 5 or 10 minutes at a time is all he can manage and then he will look at his finger nails for 45 minutes rather than write another sentence. He does his work very slowly for 10 minutes at a time but it gets done.

[gonelululemoncrazy]

Hi, my eldest is dyslexic and he also has ADHD. I've found having a well structured day really helps, but I do need to check on him regularly to ensure he stays focussed. I think the main thing is to try and stay patient and positive, which is easier said than done.

[1990shopefulftm]

I m dyslexic and dyspraxic, I d say even as an adult YouTube videos are much easier to digest on topics than reading, there's loads out there for science, history and such.

[turkeyboots]

Nessy is an online dyslexia support system for reading and writing. DS won't/can't write much but spelling has improved with Nessy. And he loves a computer game so it's sneaking learning into him!

[PlanDeRaccordement]

My 18yo is severely dyslexic. I would highly recommend you pay for a psychiatrist that specialises in learning disabilities to do a full battery of tests on your child. The tests not only diagnose dyslexia but also will determine the best support for your child’s learning as there are many different types of dyslexia that all need different tailored support. And it’s integrated support too. No one thing does the job, it’s the sum of several interventions that work.
Otherwise you are just using common things like coloured overlays, texts, pens, etc in a hit or miss approach.
The psychiatrist report and recommendation is then what the school uses as a guideline for the support they offer your child. For example, my DCs report required oral testing instead of written testing. It required flash cards instead of worksheets, etc. It saves you many many battles with school special education people who think that a one size fits all approach works for every dyslexic and if it doesn’t work on your child sees that as proof your child is both dyslexic and stupid instead of understanding that support for dyslexia is usually a customised or bespoke approach based on each child’s type of dyslexia and their strengths.

[Stellarella123]

Thankyou all for the help and advice, i really appreciate it, i would love to pay for psychologist but unfortunately in this pandemic i am receiving to money at all as im self employed, i hope when i get back on my feet i can save some money to have this done, over the last few days his SFL teacher has set some new goals on nessy and he has been enjoying them, more games with audio questions and spelling so no reading questions, he has been much happier, and iv been reading him a story, hoping to build his confidence again,

[BigSplash]

Hi, I'm a teacher and my son is dyslexic. He used Touch-type Read and Spell (TTRS) from the age of 9 or 10 to learn to touch type. It had a massive impact on his spelling and reading too. They currently have a discount on annual subscriptions to help people during school closures.
Definitely worth looking into www.readandspell.com/home-course

[Mendeleev]

Hello.
I’m also mum to a dyslexic 11 year old. I am using this time to focus only on literacy and maths with my son.
I am working through a reading programme called Reading Reflex (Phonographix) and also doing Toe by Toe (highly recommended) with him. I then print off an interesting reading comprehension from Twinkl which we do together, focusing on the skills. Plus whatever maths I choose from Twinkl.
That’s it really. No pressure, no arguments!
I am using this time to do the intervention that he hasn’t been getting at school and it’s working out well.
Good luck!

[Amortentia]

I’m dyslexic and would agree that it can be exhausting, you really need breaks from reading a writing more than a non-dyslexic. There is a lot of support out there and it improves as you get older.

You should think about moving him on to using a computer for all written work, this can be supported by the school. This takes the stress of trying to spell words that you think are simple that are maddening and frustrating for him. There is also software that can read back his written work, this really helps a dyslexic understand where they are making mistakes. I’m an academic and often I think I’ve written something and when I hear it back it is completely different.

The thing is, if you’re dyslexic it’s not just about spelling, how you think and approach things is very different to non-dyslexics. This can be a gift when you work in certain fields but it’s difficult to manage mainstream schools and passing written exams. You need to encourage your child to focus on the benefits and accept that yes, some thing are a pain but there are lots of benefits to being dyslexic and in many ways your brain allows you to think better and in a more dynamic way than non-dyslexics.

[gonelululemoncrazy]

re TTRS they are currently giving free access for NHS families.

[Yurona]

I have a severely dyslexic and dyspraxic 7 year old. We do toe by toe daily, and read daily, and he writes some sentences daily.
However, for science, RE etc, we’ve been using “shortcuts”, such as me reading the question to him, him creating wordclouds and Word nets rather than having to write a page. They key here is that he can get his ideas across, for the time being we keep the reading/writing seperate from content to keep frustration at bay (although he now starts to read questions, and is very proud if he manages to do that independently)