Dyslexia Tips

[MyBonnyLiesOverTheOcean2020]

My daughter is in year 9 and was recently diagnosed with dyslexia. We're still trying to get our heads around what dyslexia means especially wrt working memory. Can I ask what is the best advice you have had since diagnosis? I've heard that technology can be very beneficial. Thanks.

Has she been awarded extra time in exams?

Yes flip

My DD has quite severe dyslexia - with lowest score in working memory.

School suspected since she was 6 years-old and had her tested at 7 and again at 10 (identical scores each time). Her main issues are spelling, a reluctance to read, and some organisational issues if she's expected to retain a lot of information (ie send her to get 3 things from her room and I'll be lucky if she remembers one of them).

We did years of toe-by-toe etc (it didn't really help), and laminated sheets of high frequency words (somewhat useful) on her desk.

The game changer has been teaching her to touch-type and moving to a laptop for everything. We're also looking into speech to text options and then focusing on editing skills.

She qualifies for the maximum level of access arrangements on current scores, but due to Covid there hasn't been any interaction with the school SEN department, although I know she has been taken off to sit some tests along with other dyslexic children in her year.

The sooner you move to getting things established as the 'normal way of working' the easier it is all round. DD is the only child in her class with a laptop and there were a few comments on day 1 about 'why does x have tech, it's not fair' but nothing since.

That's good about the Extra Time! Have you met the SENCO to discuss how they're planning to help her? Dyslexia's such a wide spectrum, so a lot will depend on what works for her. Working memory's a pain though as it makes exams hard. We were told that for most kids they'd go over things twice and be able to remember them, whereas for DS he needed to go over things at least 7 times to stand a chance. I used to help him by just being aware of what was ahead - eg end of term tests and helping him work out a plan for revising, etc. A little revision often and over a longer time period seemed to work for him and decrease the stress levels. If he left revision until his friends started he used to panic as it was too late.

Beware of school interventions as ime schools can tend to think one thing fits all dyslexics - my son's a bit atypical, but mostly their suggestions weren't right for him and actively made things worse!

We did touch type course which has helped and a very useful skill to have going forward (look up English Type Junior I think). I've insisted on a human reader for exams - we keep getting fobbed off with a reader pen and that doesn't work for us (we've tried it many times in exams and in class), however yet to try computer reader version. Definitely extra time for exams. And lots of repetition with study/exam revision. What is the school doing about support?