dyslexic ds1 had a major meltdown tonight because he says "at 12 O'clock my brain starts to hurt and I can't spell anything" - wwyd next?

[gigglewitch]

Any suggestions welcome, am tempted to have a word with his teacher, also wondering if it's an energy thing (he's a bit anaemic, also has loads of food intolerances) He complains of a headache pretty much every evening, has done since the beginning of last week when they went back to school... help!!

I thought I read somewhere of some dyslexic children using a blue? piece of cellophane over the words and it helped. don't know if that's a fairy story as I can't remeber where I read it.

he uses cream paper at home, or pastel yellow, which appear to be "his" colours - your point is fab diff - hadn't even thought that he has white paper and they use a whiteboard in the classroom - both absolutely guaranteed to send him stressed.
huuuuge thankyou for that, I'll defo mention that one to the school.

and it's no fairytale diff, it's known as "overlays" and you can put whatever colour works best for the child over the page to take the contrast out of the black/white which tends to be too contrasty for the dyslexic child...

that's what I read. Glad I didn't imagine it

the sharp contrast of black and white could be what's giving him hedaches- it must be like watching tv with the contrast slightly too bright.

spot on. as I say, hadn't even thought of that one. And you are right, it is the most likely cause!

As that's probably the furthest time from after breakfast before he eats anything could he need a quick snack just to buck him up a bit? My Year 2's always moan of feeling hungry on the dot of 12.

Right, am doing a note for the teacher/TA's, with all of these things in - cream paper to work on, am going to send them some in case they haven't got it handy! - snacks are always in his bag, muesli bars and rasins and stuff, but he will need a prod to go and eat them, hmm what else ...

how did it go today?

I sent a most scribbly note in with him, hopefully outlining the main points, alongside a folder of cream paper... as my mum collected him today she says the teacher was "lovely" - very positive and says ds1 is working hard - although I suspect this isn't necessarily as good as it sounds as he is working too hard and stressing himself in the process! Apparently the teacher has said that he should do all his written work on the cream paper - a good start, bless her - and he is much calmer today. It's going to be a long haul but hopefully the key points have been made clear to his class teaher. Grr at me being a teacher as well!!!

p s thanks for asking, diff you sweetie!

one other thing that might help is encouraging ds to take frequent "eye rests". people with visual/visual processing difficulties are likely to suffer from eye fatigue, so if the glare from work surfaces and paper is causing him stress, it would be a good idea for him to close his eyes every 15 minutes or so for a short rest. if his teacher is aware of this, she can encourage him to take regular breaks.

ahhh, good thinking RR. That sounds like a great bit of advice - will tell him (and teacher)

hope this week is easier for him(and you)

Just carrying on from RR, is he seated near a window at all?