ADyslexicChildintheClassroom

Aguideforteachersandparents.
2000,PatriciaHodgeDip.spld(dyslexia)

Proficientreadingisanessentialtoolforlearningalargepartofthesubjectmattertaughtatschool.With
aneverincreasingemphasisoneducationandliteracy,moreandmorechildrenandadultsareneeding
helpinlearningtoread,spell,expresstheirthoughtsonpaperandacquireadequateuseofgrammar.

Adyslexicchildwhofindstheacquisitionoftheseliteracyskillsdifficultcanalsosufferalotofanguish
andtraumawhentheymayfeelmentallyabusedbytheirpeerswithintheschoolenvironment,because
theyhavealearningdifficulty.Muchcanbedonetoalleviatethisbyintegratingthechildintotheclass
environment(whichispredominantlyalearningenvironment)wherehe/shecanfeelcomfortableand
developconfidenceandselfesteem.

Classteachersmaybeparticularlyconfusedbythestudentwhoseconsistentunderachievementseems
duetowhatmaylooklikecarelessnessorlackofeffort.

Thesechildrencanbemadetofeelverydifferentfromtheirpeerssimplybecausetheymaybeunableto
followsimpleinstructions,whichforothersseemeasy.Itisaclassteacher'sresponsibilitytoprovidean
atmosphereconducivetolearningforallpupilswithintheirclass.

Classteachersneedtohaveanunderstandingoftheproblemsthatthedyslexicchildmayhavewithinthe
classroomsituation.Hopefully,withthisknowledge,agreatdealofmisunderstandingofachild's
behaviourcanbeprevented.Inapositiveandencouragingenvironment,adyslexicchildwillexperience
thefeelingofsuccessandselfvalue.

Ofparticularimportanceisanunderstandingoftheproblemsthatpoorauditoryshorttermmemorycan
cause,intermsofretaininginputfromtheteacher.

Examplesofpoorauditoryshorttermmemorycanbeadifficultyinrememberingthesoundsinspoken
wordslongenoughtomatchthese,insequence,withlettersforspelling.Oftenchildrenwithpoor
auditoryshorttermmemorycannotrememberevenashortlistofinstructions.

Thefollowingitemsshouldprovideusefulguidelinesforteachersandparentstofollowandsupport:

Intheclass:

Ofvaluetoallchildrenintheclassisanoutlineofwhatisgoingtobetaughtinthelesson,ending
thelessonwitharesumeofwhathasbeentaught.Inthiswayinformationismorelikelytogofrom
shorttermmemorytolongtermmemory.
Whenhomeworkisset,itisimportanttocheckthatthechildcorrectlywritesdownexactlywhatis
required.Trytoensurethattheappropriateworksheetsandbooksarewiththechildtotakehome.
Inthefrontofthepupils'homeworkbookgetthemtowritedownthetelephonenumbersofa
 coupleoffriends.Then,ifthereisanydoubtoverhomework,theycanringupandcheck,rather
thanworryorspendtimedoingthewrongwork.
Makesurethatmessagesanddaytodayclassroomactivitiesarewrittendown,andneversent
verbally.i.e.music,P.E.swimmingetc.
Makeadailychecklistforthepupiltorefertoeachevening.Encourageadailyroutinetohelp
developthechild'sownselfrelianceandresponsibilities.
Encouragegoodorganizationalskillsbytheuseoffoldersanddividerstokeepworkeasily
accessibleandinanorderlyfashion.
Breaktasksdownintosmalleasilyrememberedpiecesofinformation.
Ifvisualmemoryispoor,copyingmustbekepttoaminimum.Notesorhandoutsarefarmore
useful.
Seatthechildfairlyneartheclassteachersothattheteacherisavailabletohelpifnecessary,orhe
canbesupportedbyawellmotivatedandsympatheticclassmate.

Copyingfromtheblackboard:
Usedifferentcolourchalksforeachlineifthereisalotofwritteninformationontheboard,or
underlineeverysecondlinewithadifferentcolouredchalk.
Ensurethatthewritingiswellspaced.
Leavethewritingontheblackboardlongenoughtoensurethechilddoesn'trush,orthatthework
isnoterasedfromtheboardbeforethechildhasfinishedcopying.

Reading:

Astructuredreadingschemethatinvolvesrepetitionandintroducesnewwordsslowlyisextremely
important.Thisallowsthechildtodevelopconfidenceandselfesteemwhenreading.
Don'taskpupilstoreadabookatalevelbeyondtheircurrentskills,thiswillinstantlydemotivate
them.Motivationisfarbetterwhendemandsarenottoohigh,andthechildcanactuallyenjoythe
book.Ifhehastolabourovereverywordhewillforgetthemeaningofwhatheisreading.
Savethedyslexicchildtheordealofhavingto'readaloudinclass'.Reservethisforaquiettime
withtheclassteacher.Alternatively,perhapsgivethechildadvancedtimetoreadpreselected
readingmaterial,tobepracticedathomethedaybefore.Thiswillhelpensurethatthechildisseen
tobeabletoreadoutloud,alongwithotherchildren
Realbooksshouldalsobeavailableforpairedreadingwithanadult,whichwilloftengenerate
enthusiasmforbooks.Storytapescanbeofgreatbenefitfortheenjoymentandenhancementof
vocabulary.Nochildshouldbedeniedthepleasureofgainingaccesstothemeaningofprinteven
ifhecannotdecodeitfully.
Rememberreadingshouldbefun.

Spelling:
Manyofthenormalclassroomtechniquesusedtoteachspellingsdonothelpthedyslexicchild.
Allpupilsintheclasscanbenefitfromstructuredandsystematicexposuretorulesandpatterns
thatunderpinalanguage.
Spellingrulescanbegiventothewholeclass.Wordsforclassspellingtestsareoftentopicbased
ratherthangroupedforstructure.Ifthereareoneortwodyslexicsintheclass,ashortlistof
structurebasedwordsfortheirweeklyspellingtest,willbefarmorehelpfulthanrandomwords.
Threeorfourirregularwordscanbeincludedeachweek,eventuallythisshouldbeseentoimprove
theirfreewritingskills.
Allchildrenshouldbeencouragedtoproofread,whichcanbeusefulforinitialcorrectionof
 spellings.Dyslexicsseemtobeunabletocorrecttheirspellingsspontaneouslyastheywrite,but
theycanbetrainedtolookoutforerrorsthatareparticulartothem.
Remember,poorspellingisnotanindicationoflowintelligence.

Maths:
Mathshasitsownlanguage,andthiscanbetherootofmanyproblems.Whilstsomedyslexic
studentsaregoodatmaths,ithasbeenestimatedthataround90%ofdyslexicchildrenhave
problemsinatleastsomeareasofmaths.Generalmathematicalterminologywordsneedtobe
clearlyunderstoodbeforetheycanbeusedincalculations,e.g.add,plus,sumof,increaseand
total,alldescribeasinglemathematicalprocess.Otherrelateddifficultiescouldbewith
visual/perceptualskills,directionalconfusion,sequencing,wordskillsandmemory.Dyslexic
studentsmayhavespecialdifficultieswithaspectsofmathsthatrequiremanystepsorplacea
heavyloadontheshorttermmemory,e.g.longdivisionoralgebra.
Thevalueoflearningtheskillsofestimationcannotbetoostronglystressedforthedyslexicchild.
Useandencouragetheuseofestimation.Thechildshouldbetaughttoformthehabitofchecking
hisanswersagainstthequestionwhenhehasfinishedthecalculation,i.e.istheanswerpossible,
sensibleorludicrous?
Whenusingmentalarithmeticallowthedyslexicchildtojotdownthekeynumberandthe
appropriatemathematicalsignfromthequestion.
Encouragepupilstoverbalizeandtotalktheirwaythrougheachstepoftheproblem.Many
childrenfindthisveryhelpful.
Teachthepupilhowtousethetimestablesquareandencouragehimtosayhisworkingsoutashe
usesit.
Encourageadyslexicchildtouseacalculator.Makesurehefullyunderstandhowtouseit.Ensure
thathehasbeentaughttoestimatetocheckhiscalculations.Thisisawayof'proofreading'what
hedoes.
Putkeywordsonacardindexsystemorontheinsidecoverofthepupilsmathsbooksoitcanbe
usedforreferenceandrevision.
Rehearsemathematicalvocabularyconstantly,usingmultisensory/kinestheticmethods.
Putthedecimalpointinredink.Ithelpsvisualperceptionwiththedyslexicchild.

Handwriting:

Reasonsforpoorhandwritingatanyagecanbepoormotorcontrol,tension,badlyformedletters,
speedetc.Acursivejoinedstyleismosthelpfultochildrenwithdyslexicproblems.Encouragethe
childrentostudytheirwritingandbeselfcritical.Getthemtodecideforthemselveswherefaults
lieandwhatimprovementscanbemade,sothatnoresentmentisbuiltupatyetanotherperson
complainingabouttheirwrittenwork.
Discusstheadvantagesofgoodhandwritingandthegoalstobeachievedwiththeclass.Analyze
commonfaultsinwriting,bywritingafewwellchosenwordsontheboardforclasscomment.
Makesureasmallreferencechartisavailabletoserveasaconstantreminderforthecursivescript
inupperandlowercase.
Ifhandwritingpracticeisneededitisessentialtousewordsthatpresentnoproblemtothedyslexic
childintermsofmeaningorspelling.
Improvementinhandwritingskillscanimproveselfconfidence,whichinturnreflectsfavorably
throughoutapupil'swork.

Markingofwork:
 Creditforeffortaswellasachievementarebothessential.Thisgivesthepupilabetterchanceof
gettingabalancedmark.Creativewritingshouldbemarkedoncontext.
Spellingmistakespinpointedshouldbethoseappropriatetothechild'slevelofspelling.Marking
shouldbedoneinpencilandhavepositivecomments.
Trynottouseredpenstomarkthedyslexicchild'swork.There'snothingmoredishearteningfor
thechildthantohaveworkreturnedcoveredinredink,whenthey'veinevitablytriedharderthan
theirpeerstoproducethework.
Onlyaskapupiltorewriteapieceofworkthatisgoingtobedisplayed.Rewritingpagesforno
reasonatallissouldestroyingasusuallymucheffortwillhavealreadybeenputintotheoriginal
pieceofwork.

Homework:
Bytheendofaschooldayadyslexicchildisgenerallymoretiredthanhispeersbecause
everythingrequiresmorethought,taskstakelongerandnothingcomeseasily.Moreerrorsare
likelytobemade.Onlysethomeworkthatwillbeofrealbenefittothechild.
Inallocatinghomeworkandexercisesthatmaybealittledifferentorlessdemanding,itis
importanttousetact.Selfesteemisrapidlyunderminedifateacherisunderliningthedifferences
betweenthosewithdifficultiesandtheirpeers.However,itshouldalsoberememberedthatfar
moreeffortmaybeneededforadyslexicchildtocompletetheassignmentthanfortheirpeers.
Setalimitontimespentonhomework,asoftenadyslexicchildwilltakealotlongertoproduce
thesameworkthatanotherchildwithgoodliteracyskillsmayproduceeasily.

Integration:

Adyslexicchild'sabilitytowritedownthoughtsandideaswillbequitedifferentfromthelevelof
informationthechildcangiveverbally.Forsuccessfulintegration,thepupilmustbeableto
demonstratetotheteacherthatheknowstheinformationandwhereheisineachsubject.Be
preparedtoacceptverbaldescriptionsasanalternativetowrittendescriptionsifappropriate.

Alternativewaysofrecordingshouldbelookedat,suchas:
Theuseofcomputersforwordprocessing.
Audiotapesforrecordinglessonsthatcanthenbewrittenupatalaterstage.
Writtenrecordofthepupil'sverbalaccount,orvoiceactivatedsoftwarecanbeused.
Moretimeshouldbeallocatedforcompletionofworkbecauseoftheextratimeadyslexicchild
needsforreading,planning,rewritingandproofreadingtheirwork.
Foradyslexicchildthefeelingofbeing'different'canbeacutewhenfacedwiththeobviousand
veryimportantneedof'specialist'helpforhisliteracyandpossiblymathematicalskills.Some
specialistmethodscanbeincorporatedintotheclassroomsoallchildrencanbenefitfromthem,
thusreducingthefeelingof'difference'.

Conclusion:
Inordertobeabletoteach,asfaraspossible,accordingtoeachchild'seducationalneeds,itisessential
toseehimorherasawholeperson,completewithindividualstrengthsandweaknesses.

Anunderstandingofthepupil'sspecificdifficulties,andhowtheymayaffectthestudent'sclassroom
performance,canenabletheteachertoadoptteachingmethodsandstrategiestohelpthedyslexicchildto
besuccessfullyintegratedintotheclassroomenvironment.
Dyslexicshavemanystrengths:oralskills,comprehension,goodvisualspatialawareness/artistic
abilities.Moreandmoredyslexicchildrencouldbecometalentedandgiftedmembersofourschoolsif
weworkednotonlywiththeirspecificareasofdifficulty,butalsotheirspecificareasofstrengthsfrom
anearlyage.Todothiswehavetoletgoofoutmodedviewpointsthatadyslexicchildmustfirstfail,in
ordertobeidentified.

Thesearethechildrenofourfutureandtheyhavearighttohelpandsupportbeforetheydevelopthe
dreadfulsenseoffailurewhichissoinsidious.

Classteachersdealingwithdyslexicchildrenneedtobeflexibleintheirapproach,sothattheycan,asfar
aspossible,findamethodthatsuitsthepupil,ratherthanexpectingthatallpupilswilllearninthesame
way.

Aboveall,theremustbeanunderstandingfromallwhoteachthem,thattheymayhavemanytalentsand
skills.Theirabilitiesmustnotbemeasuredpurelyonthebasisoftheirdifficultiesinacquiringliteracy
skills.Dyslexicchildren,likeallchildren,thriveonchallengesandsuccess.

PatriciaLynnHodgelivesinOman,andtheparentofadyslexicchild,andateacher
withspecializedtraininginSpecificLearningDifficulties/Dyslexia'.

Citeas:
Hodge,P.L.(2000).ADyslexicChildintheClassroom.RetrievedMarch28,2016fromDavisDyslexia
AssociationInternational,DyslexiatheGiftWebsite:http://www.dyslexia.com/library/classroom.htm

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