How can I recognise symptoms of dyslexia ?

If the answer to most of the following questions is 'Yes' it would be wise to seek specialist advice:

All ages

• Is s/he bright in some ways with a 'block' in others?
• Is there anyone else in the family with similar difficulties?
• Does s/he have difficulty carrying out three instructions in sequence?
• Was s/he late in learning to talk, or in speaking clearly?

Ages 7-11

• Does s/he have particular difficulty with reading or spelling?
• Does s/he put figures or letters the wrong way e.g. 15 for 51, 6 for 9, b for d, was for saw?
• Does s/he read a word then fail to recognise it further down the page?
• Does s/he spell a word several different ways without recognising the correct version?
• Does s/he have a poor concentration span for reading and writing?
• Does s/he have difficulty understanding time and tense?
• Does s/he confuse left and right?
• Does s/he answer questions orally but have difficulty writing the answer?
• Is s/he unusually clumsy?
• Does s/he have trouble with sounds in words, e.g. poor sense of rhyme?

Ages 12 - adult

• Is s/he sometimes inaccurate in reading?
• Is her/his spelling poor?
• Does s/he have difficulty taking notes or copying?
• Does s/he have difficulty with planning and writing essays, letters or reports?

Advice for teachers on recognising the dyslexic child

• Does this child puzzle you?

• Is the standard of her/his work erratic?

• Does the standard of her/his reading and written work fall below your expectations of his ability?

• Is s/he unable to remember a list of instructions?

• Is s/he able to read a word on one line and unable to recognise it further down the page?

• Does s/he spell the same word in a variety of ways?

• Does s/he have difficulty copying from the blackboard?

• Does s/he confuse symbols, e.g. in maths +, x,?

• Does s/he use spoonerisms, e.g. Par Cark?

• Does s/he surprise you by the amount of efforts/he puts into his work and the little s/he has to show for it?

• Is s/he clumsy in some respects, but very good in others, e.g. in manipulating things like Lego?

• Is s/he the classroom clown?

• Is her/his concentration poor?

• Are her/his difficulties so severe thas/he needs specialist help? If so, can you set it in motion?

The DI's publications 'Some Hints for Teachers' and 'Helping the Young Child' have proved popular and are available from the DI Head Office or all DI Centres, price £1 each.

Building for Success

Teachers often ask how they can help a dyslexic child in class. Here are a few suggestions; some may seem too obvious to mention and others too difficult to implement. What can be done must depend on the circumstances and on the ingenuity of the individual teacher.

Please remember that the learning environment can make the difference between success or failure for a dyslexic pupil.  He has difficulties listening, learning, looking, sitting still, concentrating and finding things. The quieter and more organised the working environment, the greater the chance s/he has of success.

Do…

• praise wherever possible
• encourage
• find something that s/he is good at
• give less homework (e.g. shorter essays, or underline main points to learn)
• mark written work on content (not spelling) - tick what is right instead of crossing out what is wrong
• mark on oral responses when possible
• if reading long words, divide syllables with a pencil line
• help her/him to pronounce words correctly
• put her/him at front of the class so you can help
• make sure s/he has understood and remembered instructions
• let her/him work with an open text book
• put important words clearly on blackboard 
• give plenty of time to copy from blackboard - writing on alternate lines in different colours may help
• check whether s/he knows his alphabet, and that s/he can say the days of the week and months of the year in the right sequence; check whether s/he can tell the time
• send an exercise book home with her/him, with homework assignments written in, and a note of important things to bring tomorrow, e.g. swimming things
• have expectation of success.

Do not…

• make her/him read aloud in public if s/he is reluctant to do so
• ridicule or employ sarcasm
• correct all mistakes in written work - it's too discouraging
• give lists of spelling words to learn; two or three are as much as s/he will manage, and it is better if they are related, e.g. plate, cake, name
• make her/him write out work again
• compare with others
• make her/him change her/his writing (put loops if he doesn't, etc.).

Remember
 

A dyslexic person

• tires more quickly than a 'normal' person; far greater concentration is required
• may read a passage correctly yet not get the sense of it
• may have great difficulty with figures (e.g. learning tables), reading music or anything which entails interpreting symbols
• usually has difficulty learning foreign languages
• is inconsistent in performance
• may omit a word or words, or write a word twice
• suffers from constant nagging uncertainty
• cannot take good notes because s/he cannot listen and write at the same time
• may have great difficulty in finding her/his place again when s/he looks away from a book s/he is reading or a blackboard s/he is copying from
• reads slowly because of her/his difficulties, so is always under pressure of time
• will probably be personally disorganised -s/ he may also be clumsy and forgetful, no matter how hard s/he tries
• is likely to have difficulty following a string of instructions.

For teachers in primary school

1. Use a wooden alphabet to teach the names and sequence - capital first, then lower case - close eyes to feel the shape and remember its name and associated sound/sounds.

2. Use pictures and memory hooks to provide pictorial and memory hooks for sounds.
   

   Use the labels 'vowels' and 'consonants', and teach about the jobs they do.

   Teach joined-up writing from an early stage - practise this in the air, in sand, on a blackboard and in books.

   Develop a structure for the introduction at letter, word, sentence and text level for the whole class, for groups in the class and for individuals. Dyslexia learning resources such as Alpha and Omega (Hornsby) and Units of Sound (Dyslexia Institute) will help.

   Let children develop their own word bank/dictionary or cards or notebook where they can practise difficult, new or irregular words.

   Talk about letters, words and stories to create an interest in words and books.

   Use technical aids to individualise work - tape recorder and earphones, computers etc.

   Play games to reinforce learning.

   Give as much practice in reading, writing and spelling as possible to develop automatic skills, and remember - dyslexic children need more practice than most children.

For teachers in secondary school

1. Leave notes on the board as long as possible - the dyslexic child takes longer to copy.

2. Tidy blackboard presentation and use of several different chalk colours for different sections will help accurate copying.

3. Photocopied summary notes help enormously - hand out at the end of the lesson so that they listen instead of trying to read them! (Or refer to them and encourage everyone to highlight the main points.)

4. Encourage use of the word processor for course work, and provide opportunities for keyboard practice.

5. Mark positively - more ticks for the good bits.

6. Introduce the teaching of good study skills - this should help all pupils.

7. Encourage pupils to be aware of and evaluate the strategies they use for study. (This can be done effectively in a study skills programme.)

8. Provide a list of key vocabulary for your subject, introduce the Simultaneous Oral Spelling technique and insist that those words are practised. (Excuse another homework if necessary.)

9. Well before the exams, get the group to check that they have a complete set of notes. Offer a 'surgery' when they can come to ask you about omissions, or bits they cannot understand, or can't read their own writing!

10. Always seek opportunities to praise.

Study Skills: Learning

It is not a good idea to try learning for long stretches of time without a break.

The most effective time is 20-40 minutes, followed by a 5 minute break. Generally, 25 minutes work then 5 minutes break works very well.

• in pictures?
• in words?

Try to discover whether you remember information better if you receive it:

• by listening
• by reading
• by looking at pictures or diagrams
• by writing it down
• by joining in, e.g. asking questions, making notes by a combination of the above.

Most people learn best by using more than one sense (eg. by hearing and seeing and writing).

Most people learn best by active involvement. Just looking at the material to be learned is as much use as putting a book on your head in the hope that it will sink in!

Try these examples:

1. You have reading to do, with a test tomorrow: Skim the text, then read it, noting the main points. Then use the main points to make spider notes, developing secondary points from the main ones. Check with the text to see if you got it right. Next morning, spend 2 minutes looking at your main points again to refresh your memory.

2. Learning formulae, etc. by heart.

   • Write them down, then say each one aloud, cover it up and try to write it again. If easy material, do them in groups of up to 7 at a time. Chant each one in a rhythm, as you would do when remembering a telephone number.

   • Write chemical formulae on small cards, with the names on the back. Spread them out on the table, and use to test yourself

3. Learning for exams.

   • Plan in advance. Make a list of topics within each subject

   • Fit topics into one or more 25- minute "time chunks"

   • Use the techniques suggested under (1) to revise each topic.

   • Have another look at your key words notes or spider notes the next day, then after a week, and again just before the exam to keep the information in your memory.

Early symptoms in pre-school children

Does your child show any of the following traits?

• Is good at some things but has surprising difficulty with others.

• Is unable to remember two or more instructions in sequence.

• Is clumsy in some respect but good at manipulating things like Lego.

• Is uncertain of which hand to use for eating.

• Still has difficulty in dressing.
  e.g. (a) clothes in the wrong order.
        (b) coping with buttons or laces.

• Confuses names of objects.

• Uses spoonerisms such as Par Cark.

• Finds difficulty in remembering nursery rhymes.

• Has difficulty in clapping or moving in rhythm.

Talking & listening with pre-school children

•  Talk naturally to your child before he can respond and show delight when s/he starts to make sounds and copy words.

• Try to explain what you are doing and keep up a running commentary while you are bathing, washing, dressing your child etc, throughout the day.

• Continue to encourage speech with all activities and, as an aid to memory for sequential activities, use:

  (a) threading beads
  (b) laying the table
  (c) tying laces (try velcro)

• Name her/his toys as you give them to her/ him, and encourage her/him to repeat the names. Later you can add refinements e.g. car will become red car, teddy will become big teddy or little teddy.

• Name objects when you go out walking or for a drive in the car.

• When you watch television talk afterwards about the stories you have seen , perhaps telling daddy or granny about them.

• Nursery rhymes are fun - encourage your child to join in. Rhyming is often a difficulty so make up some of your own rhymes and nonsense words.

• Rhythm is important in words. Try using longer words, breaking up the syllables; start with two beats and gradually work up to four or five.

• "Grandmother goes to market" is much more fun if you click your fingers and keep it rhythmic. If you play Simon Says (the old version not the electronic one) get your child to repeat "Simon says do this/that".

• When you ask your child to run any errands ask him to repeat what you have said. Gradually you will be able to increase the number of instructions.

• Address her/him by name first when giving instructions.

Reading with pre-school children

• Reading stories, picture books and fairy tales should be a fun experience for both you and your child.

• To begin with make yourselves cosy. Start with picture books and just talk generally about what is happening.

• Make it exciting to look under the flaps to find Spot or whoever. Try to get your child to guess who s/he is going to find.

• When you come to reading a proper story, start by looking at the pictures and asking your child what s/he thinks is going to happen. Then suggest listening to find out if s/he is right - discuss it afterwards.

• Try substituting a rhyming word to see if s/he is listening. Praise her/him if s/he notices and tell her/him what good ears s/ he has.

• If s/he is not enjoying a book, stop reading and find an alternative, so helping her/him to be selective.

• If s/he always insists on the same book and you cannot bear it again, say you will read another first and then her/his favourite, so widening her/his experience.

• Do continue reading aloud to your child long after s/he can read it her/himself.

• Of course there are times when you will get overanxious but do enjoy playing for the sake of playing. If you end up in giggles, rolling round the floor, so much the better.

  These points will help your child to enjoy books and reading.