Tips for dyslexic DS at secondary school

[Dyslexia12345]

My DS got his secondary school allocation yesterday, so I’m starting to think how I can make the transition smooth for him.

He was diagnosed with dyslexia last year, with a particular weakness in verbal processing speed. He tends to be a bit forgetful and have no concept of time passing. We’ve considered whether an ADHD assessment is worthwhile, but think there’s a good chance that the symptoms are actually caused by his dyslexia.

Does anyone have any tips for things they have put in place at home to support their child? I’m particularly thinking of organisational techniques. While there are various websites that touch on this, it would be useful to know what actually works in practice.

My school bag and bedroom were the places that paper went to be forgotten, so I don’t have tips of my own to share with him.

I heard a great concept on here when DS was starting secondary which is about providing ‘scaffolding’ and how some kids need more and for longer than others.

DS isn’t dyslexic but DD is - and they both have terrible organisation!!

I provided a LOT of scaffolding so make sure you have ALL the log in details for all the many platforms for homework / behaviour points / timetables etc

Many paper copies of timetable up in bedroom, kitchen and permanently in blazer pocket. Small supply by door in case of last minute panics!

Nightly check in what homework, when due, what are you going to do tonight, when are you going to do the rest. Write that down if helpful.

Nightly timetable check and prep kit.

We have a large plastic box in his room that has all school stuff in so it doesn’t get lost in normal drawers eg PE kit / socks / folders.

Lots of spare pens / pencils / sharpeners ordered in bulk!

Reviewed all school clubs with him to decide what he wanted to do then added to timetable in kitchen

Big A5 plastic wallet to keep books / papers in so they don’t get crumpled. I started out with one for each day of the week but that only lasted a few months and now he just uses one and replaces the books each night for the next day.

At first, we did this with him every night and final checks every morning.

Slowly we needed to do less.

Now he’s Yr9 and pretty self sufficient.

We use a timer which helps show time disappearing. You can get them off Amazon for around £10. This has really helped with the time blindness for my child. We help set it, but she knows it’s time to put shoes on and leave when it goes off.

at the moment I cannot imagine being able to go off to work and DD get herself to school. We have a good routine of get dressed, breakfast, teeth, hair, sit and wait. Go!

also places for bag and papers etc which she is good at using. I guess this is our scaffolding!

I’d also get in touch with the SENCo at the school. He may need some support in school and he may also need extra arrangements for exams. For public exams, things like use of a word processor, extra time, reader, scribe, breaks, all have to be a student’s normal way of working, so it would be helpful to see if any of those is useful to him when it comes to applying for special arrangements.

That’s really helpful, thank you.

@saywhatdidhesayi love the idea of that timer for DD! Can it be programmed for different things eg morning and evening routines? Do you have a link / what should I google?

We also generally did lots of reassurance that if he got points or in trouble for forgetting stuff etc it wasn’t the end of the world and we all forget stuff sometimes. He still gives himself a very hard time when he loses something so we wanted to try to take some of the pressure off but not sure that worked!

That’s a good point. DS is very keen to follow rules, so trying to reduce his anxiety about that will be key

@FusionChefGeoffif you google ‘time timer’ they come up. We have the analogue version, but that actually works really well! You can get an app of the same name on your phone and there is also a watch you can buy. That is a ‘time timer watch’. However the digital version presents slightly differently visually so we have had most success with the simple one where you just turn a dial.

It’s too basic to pre programme but my DD must like it as she asks us to set it now and said it’s helpful to see time pass. We noticed we could say ten minutes or two hours but it means nothing to her. She now asks for the timer to be set or asks how long and does it herself.

Lots of scaffolding for longer than other students.
Checklists for checking contents when packing bag.
2 pencil cases, one for school bag and one for home.
Plastic folders for putting paperwork into.

I like this idea, after spending far too many mornings trying to work out why putting a sock on has taken DS half an hour.

Ive ordered this (different brand) version to try it out https://amzn.eu/d/0g16owgt I like the idea of the visible numbers with the circle counting down at the same time.

Ill try introducing it now so that if it works, it will be second nature to him by September

There’s an SEN evening at the school before the end of this academic year, so I’m hoping that will explain how we put things in place for him. His primary school have been excellent, even before his diagnosis. I’m a bit worried that he’s more likely to be lost in the crowd at secondary.

get the coloured paper test done at the optician. They test for differences in paper colour and how that affects reading speed etc.

Our school will accommodate printing on different colour paper where possible but only if DD has this prescription. You can also buy coloured overlays.

We did this after his dyslexia test, although I was reluctant at first with the reports that it was unproven. He uses overlays and glasses depending on what he’s doing and it’s made a huge difference. I still don’t understand how it can work, but I’m convinced that it does!