Please help me find a phone for dyslexic DD

[Magentam]

I want to buy DD 12 a phone. It will be her first one.
I want to buy her a dumbphone due to her young age and she's happy with not having internet access or SM. She simply wants to text friends and call me. However, she has severely bad dyslexia and she won't cope with a Nokia type keyboard due to having to press multiple times to get the different letters to spell out a word. Too much processing and sequencing involved which her dyslexia causes difficulties with. I want to make life easier for her, not give her yet another obstacle to contend with.
I need to find her a phone that has a QWERTY keyboard, but that isn't a smartphone.
I have scoured the internet but all I can find is the new phone released by mumsnet which looks perfect but costs hundreds of pounds and I can't afford it, or a phone called 'The Phone' which can only be bought from France.
Does another QWERTY dumbphone exist?
*Edited to add: Am I doing her a disservice by not getting her a smartphone? Her dyslexia is very severe, to the point of being a significant disability for her. Smartphones have assistive tech which would be brilliant for her. But I so don't want to go down the SM and online phone safety issues that smartphones present for children. Very mindful of the smartphone free childhood campaign.

Hi, not directly answering your question, I don’t know about the easiest phones but I am dyslexic so sympathise with your daughter.

But would it be worth considering whether one that does good voice to text would actually help her rather than typing?

also my understanding, as an elderly 40year old, is that “the kids” are more likely to do voice notes to each other these days. And again that might suit your daughter rather than written texting?

sorry for not actually answering your question!

You could get her a smartphone but lock it down properly, prevent access to social media apps, turn off the internet, get a SIM plan with no data etc. It's totally doable if you spend a bit of time setting it up before you hand it over.

Would another option be to get a basic smartphone but use something like Google family link to lock it down so nothing can be installed without your permission. Assuming you can then remove everything apart from the ability to use it for calls and texts?

My DD has a smartphone but no data and fully secured using family link so in essence it's a camera that calls and texts! She is dyslexic, she's finding the way it brings up words predictively to be helpful.

I have just bought The Brick - which can disable apps you don’t want to be used with a physical device (you tap it). If you had The Brick you could turn any phone into The Phone - but keep apps that may be useful.

It can block websites too - I block mumsnet when I want to concentrate 🙂

https://getbrick.app/?srsltid=AfmBOorlhKsB_TpenbdVPEKwIM2yD6qA8cB-KFl5Nr2jyo7w3-IFRu-0

Have you looked at the phones designed for older people? They look like smart phones but have a such more simple interface

Have you heard of something called the Balance Phone? It’s £269 so quite expensive but it might do the trick for you. It works like a smart phone In terms of keyboards etc but there’s no access to social media, gambling, gaming, porn etc.

https://www.thebalancephone.com/products/balance-phone

good for teens!

I agree with this if you properly lock it down it can function pretty much like a dumb phone but you get the benefits of being able to take photos etc.

I'm using voice dictate at the moment on an Android and it's pretty decent

In fact I found it surprising how many people don't realize you can do this and that that is what many parents who are giving their children smartphones that are young age are doing. My daughter has no access to random strangers through her phone or to inappropriate sites and apps and we can monitor everything that she does in it

I agree with lock down a smartphone. My DS is dyslexic (reading age varies between 6 years 7 months and 10 years depending on assessment - he’s nearly 14). Having a locked down smart phone has really helped him - voice to text features, ease of typing and autosuggest etc. Restricting Whatsapp but setting up some family whatsapp groups is good as reading messages in a safe place can help with reading and understanding messaging protocols. However dont allow being invited to join other groups or the setting up of new groups. Have a its our phone, you can use, we check” rule from the start as it makes it easier to keep control when you do relax restrictions later.

Can you tell me how you've done this on WhatsApp please?

Go into Privacy Settings then Groups, change who can add me to groups to be just the people you want. I dont know if you can stop your child starting a group technically, but it does stop others adding. That feature was invaluable when DS was bullied by people adding him to groups they started to make fun of him.

Have you tried her with that type of keypad for a longer period of time?

I'm badly dyslexic and growing up in the late 90s early 2000s, all of my friends from our dyslexic compensation/training classes had those phones, because it was all that you could get.. we all managed? Some of us were very dyslexic, but I never remember the buttons being a big issue once you learn how to do it.

Just saying that perhaps she can do it, given time to learn.

This also comes in a subscription version if you have a Samsung, so £70 a year turns your phone into a Balance phone. I am out of contract and considering it.

You haven’t missed anything affordable QWERTY dumbphones just don’t really exist anymore.
Your concerns about a Nokia keypad with severe dyslexia are completely valid.
You’re not doing her a disservice by wanting to avoid social media and internet access.
At the same time, smartphones offer accessibility support that could genuinely help her.
For many parents, the kindest compromise is a cheap smartphone locked down to calls and texts only.

I agree with this. I'm very dyslexic and never remember having any issue with the old style phones growing up. Yes there might be a few more mistakes but no one expects perfect spelling in texts.

Personally I would be very reluctant to let my child use voice to text if they were dyslexic. Dyslexia does get a bit easier to live with if your constantly working on it. Kids have so few reasons to write for fun and texting their friends is a really good way for them to practice and get fun out of writing.

It’s very easy to lock down Android / iPhones with the right parental controls.

You can block all social media apps, block the internet browser, block YouTube etc. Then set it to black and white to make it less attractive generally.

That’s what we’ve done with DD who is also dyslexic but not as severe as yours.