How to support your dyslexic child. A guide for parents.

Dyslexia affects about a tenth of the population in the UK. This blog provides parents of children with dyslexia with some simple steps to support their child.

Supporting your dyslexic child

Dyslexia is the most common of all specific learning difficulties. Dyslexia is often characterised as a condition that causes difficulties in your child's ability to read fluently or spell accurately, but dyslexia affects more than just literacy skills. It also impacts how your child processes, stores, and retrieves information. This means that your child may have problems with their memory, their perceptions of time, organising their day and following directions.

There are some simple steps that all parents can take to support their dyslexic child:

BE AMBITIOUS ...  Provide your child with books that will challenge and stretch their reading with new and interesting stories, vocabulary and structure ... but make sure that you support them in this. Help them access these books by listening to them read aloud, joining in with enthusiasm and lots of encouragement, and supporting their reading using resources such as talking books. Be ambitious and "catch them being good", reinforcing them with praise each moment they achieve and improve.

BE ORGANISED ... Support your child in developing patterns and a routine for school and home life. Help them draft a weekly timetable and publish it somewhere central in the house (the fridge ... or the mirror!) Help your child to organise their schoolwork by getting them to write a list of the activities that need to be done, encouraging them to work independently and checking off against the list at the end of each day. Do not give your child long and complex lists or verbal instructions that are too difficult to remember.

BE SUPPORTIVE ... When doing their homework, ask your child to write down the question and the answer in full sentences. By writing down the question, your child will be prompted to identify and use words from the text with the correct spelling, and it will also help them better understand the correct sentence structure.

Understanding dyslexia and looking for ways to help your child is an important first step. You can do a lot... and you do not need everything all at once. Try one strategy at a time to see if it makes a difference.

Above all, be positive and encouraging. Your love and support make a big difference in your child's life.

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