Dyslexic help

[frazzled123]

My son is in Y10 and was assessed as having "dyslexic tendencies" in Y4 at primary school. In Y9 we discovered he also suffered from visual stress and he now wears tinted glasses to help with his reading, which have helped. An ongoing problem, which continually rears it's head at parent's evenings, is that he has poor reading comprehension skills, which obviously cross over into all subjects, not just in English. His school are one that start GCSE coursework in Y9, and do it over a spread of three years, and so he is already facing the challenge of having to do essays, controlled assessments etc. As he is only very low down on the "list" of special needs, he is receiving very little support from the school . How can we help him with his comprehension skills? Does anyone know of a (preferably) free resource?

A one-to-one tutor after school would be good if you can afford it.

I know of an expensive, but very good, program - www.readingplus.com

Should be far more effective, and far cheaper, than a tutor.

enjoying reading, find something he likes reading and provide time/books, Are you still reading with him? A lot of boysa at this age group enjoy Harry Potter, complicated stories with much to discuss, and to assess comprehension in. There is also Alex Rider, etc. Alternativly non fiction. SAS survival guide is a book many reluctant teenage readers enjoyed. Reading with him yourslef, and discussing what he has read is the best way to improve comprehension.

Thanks for your advice. Will have a look at readingplus website. As regards to reading, he is currently reading the "Cherub" books, which I have to say are the only books he's even vaguely enjoyed. It's a constant uphill battle as he doesn't want to read them, but will ask if there's a word/passage he doesn't understand. Will have a look at the SAS survival guide too - thanks!

My 11 year old son sounds similar. He wears tinted lenses and is a very reluctant reader (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Big Nate, YuGiOh comic books are about it). But, he will listen to almost anything (adult classics) if it's an audio book. I have also discovered lots of interesting and useful things on You Tube. Recently he had to do a project on Picasso so I went straight on You Tube and found a really good BBC documentary etc. Not sure if these ideas would help with reading comprehension but they might reinforce things that he has to learn.

We had very similar issues with our son. He wore tinted glasses for a while. Audio books made a huge difference for us. It gave our boy confidence that he could 'comprehend' information....and really does it matter if it is read or listened to? He still at 18 greatly enjoys 'talking books' and although it does not address the school issues specifically, it will help him develop and gain knowledge about the world around him. It can also help him understand that it is not that he lacks ability ...it is just that he learns in a different way. There are several programs around that you could look into (although) they do cost, but it may help him deal with some of the underlying issues dyslexics face. Among others, we found Davis Dyslexia very helpful along with the Sunflower Method. Starting with talking books and auditory guides may be a way to start building his confidence- if he is happy to listen to them. All the best!

That's really interesting - never even gave audio books a thought - even wondering if he could download them to his ipod? Great idea - thanks so much!

Yes, I think you can download them to itunes and then to your ipod.

travellingmom, do you have any more information on the "auditory guides"? They sound interesting. My son is really interested in lots of things but hardly ever reads.

The full Kindle can read out any book to you.

But the cheaper model (without a keyboard) can't.

I have a specialist dyslexia tutor for my 2 eldest sons. Not cheap but they have made great progress. There are different methods for teaching dyslexics that schools don't usually provide. If you get a tutor make sure it is a specialist one. The Dyslexia Association has some info on this but their own tutors are very expensive so shop around.