How to support DD- likely dyslexia

[DailyEnergyCrisis]

Hi there

DD is 7 and in year 2. She’s currently going through the process of diagnosis for dyslexia.

she particularly struggles with remembering sequences (eg days of the week) and instructions (eg at school in group teaching, she can’t remember what she’s just been asked to do by the time she’s moved from the carpet to her table).

Shes diligent, independent, hardworking and motivated. Are there any tools, tips, suggestions of how to help her remember important information?

Thanks 🙂

What support is DD currently receiving from the school? For example, they could give written instructions, visual reminders, break down instructions giving one step at a time, check DD has taken in the instruction after carpet time.

Does DD have any sensory needs? Some people find it easier to process and remember instructions when their sensory needs are better met.

Working memory activities are good, games like matching pairs etc. things which require you to use your memory.

Avoid unnecessary regurgitation, e.g. ask the school to give her a copy of something rather than copy down unnecessarily (or only copy a small part to maintain skills).

Checklists etc are good to help aid organisation.

This is really helpful, thank you. I hadn’t really considered that the school could actually help with these things- assumed they were too underresourced, but I think some of these could really help so I’ll talk to her teacher about it.
I’ve spoken to the SEN coordinator a few times but she’s said DD is already in various interventions (spelling, phonics, maths) and she kind of indicated that they were offering all the support they could at the moment. But the report school wrote for the educational psychologist we’re using to assess DD seemed to say she pretty much couldn’t access whole group teaching due to her inability to process information and instructions.

Thank you, really helpful. We play memory games (it’s slow and painful 🤣)

checklists are a good idea. I’ve just ordered a weekly planner for her so she can see when she’s at various clubs and get her stuff organised.

I don’t know if she does have sensory needs. She jiggles/messes about a lot with stuff when she’s doing her homework or reading, she seems to need to do that sometimes- so maybe she does have unmet needs.

Parents often have to push for support at school, but they can provide it. If the school need more funding to meet DD’s needs they can apply for high needs top up funding and you could also consider applying for an EHCNA if her needs are beyond school’s SEN Support level.

If you think DD has sensory needs it might be worth trying something like a wobble cushion, sensory bands on chair legs, a peanut ball, noise cancelling headphones.