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How do I best help my son who has been diagnosed with dyslexia?

Ask the Expert: While there are common patterns, each dyslexic child is unique and has their own learning profile

Use the diagnosis of dyslexia to increase your son’s self-understanding about how he learns and what is hard for him.
Use the diagnosis of dyslexia to increase your son’s self-understanding about how he learns and what is hard for him.

Question

My 10-year-old son has just been diagnosed as dyslexic. It does explain a lot as doing homework with him was always a bit of a torture. He was really struggling with reading and writing.

He would often come home from school totally confused about what homework to do and would not have written in his diary. I have the shared the report with his teacher and they plan to providing some additional resource hours at school.

I am also wondering how best to talk to him about dyslexia and how to help him with his homework.

Answer

Usually a diagnosis of dyslexia can come with a sense of relief for parents and children alike. Your child might have been struggling with reading and writing for a long time and wondering why he is not learning at the same speed as his peers.

This can, of course, make school and homework difficult and frustrating and it can also affect children’s confidence and make them question their ability.

Presenting the diagnosis of dyslexia as a positive discovery about his learning style can counteract this negative experience.

Talking about dyslexia

When talking about dyslexia to your son, describe it as a different learning style that comes with many strengths. Whereas written language may not be a dyslexic person’s strength, they are often creative and big picture thinkers who learn through narrative and story.

There are many famous successful dyslexic people, such as Jamie Oliver or Albert Einstein. Mention people who your son might look up to and who might be a role model for him. As dyslexia is hereditary it is quite likely that there are other people in the family who are dyslexic or who might have other related conditions which affect learning (eg dysgraphia, dyscalculia, ADHD etc). Identifying other people who learn differently will help your son feel understood and less singled out.

Use the diagnosis of dyslexia to increase your son’s self-understanding about how he learns and what is hard for him. You might sit down and go through the assessment report, picking out the different items and explaining the them to him in child-centred language that he can understand. Even if this has been done already with the assessing professional, repeating this from time to time can be a good ideas – especially when your son asks a question.

Get a detailed understanding of your child’s profile

While there are common learning patterns, each dyslexic child is unique and has a unique learning profile. Try to get a detailed understanding of your child’s specific learning challenges so you can know how to help him. For example, many dyslexic children find it very hard to write homework down from the board and this can cause them to miss out.

First, it might take a lot of effort to decipher the teachers handwriting and the words. Then trying to reproduce them in writing might take extra time especially if the mechanics or physical skill of writing is difficult or if they have to constantly pause to check spelling. All this extra effort can cause them to give up or to avoid the task altogether. In addition, if all of their attention is focused solely on the mechanics of reading and writing they can miss out on the meaning or purpose of the exercise and certainly not enjoy it at all!

Remember simple accommodations can make a difference. For example, the teacher might give your son extra time or make the instruction simple key words with visual icons or let him remember them verbally and not write them down (and communicate them to you separately). There are many different strategies that could help your son’s learning.

Encourage multisensory learning

Multisensory learning that is not over dependent on written language can help. This can include using:

  • flashcards and illustrated books
  • audio books, text to speech and reading aloud together
  • creating visual lists and mind maps to make notes
  • rhymes and mnemonics to remember ideas
  • movement and physical learning

Encourage interactive learning

Many dyslexic children learn best through interaction discussion. Your son might learn by:

  • talking through ideas with you
  • listening to and telling stories
  • using quizzes and Q&A
  • project work
  • providing presentations
  • interviewing someone (such as a grandparent about the past)

In addition to formal learning you might find a YouTube video series that engages your son such as Horrible Histories or nature or science documentaries.

Watch these together use the discussion to aid learning.

Be organised

Setting up a supportive learning environment and routine can help. This might mean:

  • having a distraction free space
  • using sensory support (background music or noise cancelling earphones)
  • focusing on small goals (five minutes of reading/writing practice etc)
  • having lots of breaks

Get support

Work closely with the school on how they are providing support to your son Many learning support teachers implement individual or group programmes with dyslexic children that they can share with you and give you ideas to try out at home.

There are also great resources on the Irish Dyslexia Association’s website (dyslexia.ie) and they run regular online courses for parents and for children.

  • John Sharry is clinical director of the Parents Plus Charity and an adjunct professor at the UCD School of Psychology. He has upcoming webinars in November on Motivating ADHD children and Managing stress and anxiety. See solutiontalk.ie