Dyslexia

By Sarah Cox, a trained Dyslexia Specialist and SEN Consultant.

As tutors, it is highly likely that we will come across students with one or more of the processing difficulties associated with Dyslexia and other SpLDs, so we should consider tutoring styles and techniques that will help these students.

Dyslexia comes under the umbrella term of Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs) and is primarily an issue affecting the skills required for accurate and fluent reading and spelling. SpLDs affect our ability to learn and process information effectively. These difficulties are not connected to our intellectual capabilities and are neurologically based. It is thought that around 10% of the population are dyslexic (BDA 2018), so it is likely that you will come across a dyslexic learner during your tutoring career. The majority of dyslexic students you will encounter will have ‘Phonological Dyslexia’, which is characterised by difficulties with phonological processing, working memory and auditory processing speed and it is usually due to inherited differences in the parts of the brain which process vision and language.

(Phonological processing is matching sounds to letters and if a student finds this hard, it affects both reading and spelling. Working memory is our active filing system, which we use to manipulate information like doing a maths equation in our head; problems with working memory can adversely affect many areas of learning and is also linked to our ability to pay attention and concentrate.  If the auditory processing system is working at a slower pace than normal, the brain finds it hard to sort through its library of sounds to match the letters it is reading.)

No two people with dyslexia show exactly the same profile, but they do often have mental functions in common.

Typical strengths may include:

• Extraordinary creative abilities and the ability to think and perceive in a multi-dimensional way
• Thinking mainly in pictures instead of words, thus allowing them to be big-picture thinkers
• Having vivid imaginations and being highly insightful and intuitive

In an education system focussing on the basics of reading and writing and rote learning, a dyslexic student’s strengths and abilities can often be suppressed and self-esteem lowered. But if a dyslexic student can be recognised and supported in a multi-sensory and sympathetic teaching environment, basic literacy skills can flourish and creativity and confidence can soar.

Key indicators that your student may be dyslexic are:

• Students can be very bright verbally but their writing ability does not necessarily match this
• Reading may be hesitant, they may be embarrassed to read aloud, guess words and miss out or add extra words
• Writing may be affected by: poor visual memory of common words such as ‘here’; messy handwriting masking poor spelling; the same words can be spelt differently in one piece of writing.

There are online screening tests that can be a useful indicator of dyslexia, and although they do not provide a diagnosis, they can be very helpful in highlighting a student’s strengths and weaknesses.Further information on this can be found at: www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/screening 

As with most SpLDs, the processing difficulties affect MANY areas of life – not just the academic ones.

Other difficulties that can co-exist with dyslexia and may need support are:

• Organisational skills
• Sequencing skills
• Visual stress and processing difficulties
• Mental maths
• Concentration
• Motor skills

As tutors, it is highly likely that we will come across students with one or more of the processing difficulties associated with Dyslexia and other SpLDs, so we should consider tutoring styles and techniques that will help these students. Consider, also, that we are all unique learners and ‘neuro-diverse’ in the way in which we process and learn information. Every student could potentially benefit from receiving a variety of multi-sensory teaching approaches which fire off more parts of the brain and build those neural pathways so important for long term memory and learning. This is why our tutoring needs to be as diverse and interesting as the students we are lucky enough to be supporting.

In a one-to-one setting, we have the enviable opportunity to adjust, tweak and perfect our teaching approaches to match the learning styles of each individual student; to play to their strengths and help scaffold and support their weaknesses. By utilising each student’s strengths and talents (which usually exist because of their learning difference, ​not in spite of it!), you can then improve their intrinsic motivation and boost their self-esteem. Understanding WHY your student is struggling, also, crucially, helps us to support their emotional wellbeing.

Children with SpLDs are often very bright, verbally, and find it extremely frustrating to be unable to get their ideas down on paper. Most of these students learn in a way that does not fit neatly into the usual academic setting and so additional support from a tutor may include literacy, study skills, planning, organisation, exam techniques and of course subject-specific guidance.

If you can understand your student’s learning differences; tutor them in the way they prefer to learn and remember best; help them structure and organise their thoughts on paper, and celebrate their strengths, you are also helping to support their emotional wellbeing. I don’t believe anything is more important.

Useful websites and resources for supporting reading, writing, spelling and touch-typing:

I include links to other websites which are not under the control of Osborne Cawkwell Tuition. We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.

Teaching Spelling:

www.bdadyslexia.org.uk
bdatech.org
madebydyslexia.org
dystalk.com
learning.gov.wales/docs/learningwales/publications/140801-multi-sensory-learning-en.pdf
www.nessy.com/uk
www.readandspell.com
www.toe-by-toe.co.uk
www.readsuccessfully.com
www.wordshark.co.uk

Useful books:

• The Parents’ Guide to Specific Learning Difficulties: Information, Advice and Practical Tips, by Veronica Bidwell
• 200 Tricky Spellings in Cartoons; Visual Mnemonics for Everyone, by Lidia Stanton

Please contact Sarah directly for guidance on specific teaching aids, books and materials at sarah@octuition.co.uk

Top Ten Tips for Supporting Dyslexic learners

1. Be organised

Have a practical approach to helping students with organisation skills. Make sure a student’s study space is clear of clutter and help them to organise their worksheets into folders with dividers. Students may need additional support with strategies for remembering kit or equipment for school, so making lists, using graphic organisers and creating posters with things to remember can all be useful.

http://pdst.ie/sites/default/files/GraphicOrganiserFinal.pdf

2. Support Spelling

If poor spelling is proving an obstruction to the learning and writing process, provide subject spelling lists that can be stuck at the front of their subject file so they can easily reference and check key words. Sometimes students are reluctant to commit their ideas to paper for fear of making mistakes and feeling stupid. Try using a mini white board with board markers so students can easily correct and rub out ideas. Some students greatly benefit from using a laptop. See my Teaching Spelling pdf for more ideas and tips.

3. Use a multi-sensory approach

Teaching in a multi-sensory way is good for all pupils. Dyslexic students often respond well to visual teaching aids, in the form of pictures, colour and creating mind maps, for example. Be as creative as possible. Help the student extrapolate key information by making clear, concise notes. Use coloured cards, underline or highlight keywords in colour, draw pictures in the margin and so on. Other students may benefit from a ‘hands-on’ approach, so incorporating movement and action into a lesson may be helpful to the

learning process. Some students may learn better using audiobooks. To fine tune our teaching even more, if an emotion can also be attached to a learning experience, such as happiness, love, excitement and so on (preferably not a negative emotion!), then the more powerful the learning experience is. So where possible, try injecting humour, storytelling, role play and a touch of drama to your lessons. The mind boggles at the endless possibilities!

4. Engage your student in the lesson

Avoid their personal barriers to learning. If your student struggles with reading, don’t start your lesson by asking them to read! Be creative about introducing topics: use open questions, make use of pictorial representations of ideas, asking which is the odd one out or how the images are connected for example. When introducing a new topic, have the student generate questions about it before providing them with much information. Give the ‘big picture’ as to why the learning is useful. Explaining why they need to learn the content of the lesson in the context of the world and their life, will validate the effort they are about to put in.

5. Be careful when using ‘growth mindset’ language

We often talk about how students can improve if they ‘try harder’ and ‘put more effort’ into their learning. For students with dyslexia and other SpLDs, they are often working twice as hard as their peers so this kind of discussion will only add to their frustration. This is where ipsative assessment can be so important: measure the performance of your student against their own previous performances, not against their peers, which can be so damaging to their self- esteem.

6. Encourage intrinsic motivation

We encourage intrinsic motivation by improving proficiency and ability, but it is all too easy to fall into the trap of spoon-feeding our student’s information. Allow students freedom of choice and autonomy where possible and encourage them to take ownership of a task.

7. Use *SMART targets

Discuss together to define clear, achievable, short-term goals to give students the tools to learn independently. Try using SMART targets, making sure that some targets can be achieved within the lesson. As tutors we can build the skills for independent learning and ‘scaffold’ their study to help them achieve their goals.

*SMART stands for: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-based

8. Give comments in a feedback sandwich (+ / – / +)

Start and end with a positive comment, with constructive advice in the middle.

9. Be aware of slower auditory processing speeds

Wait at least 3 seconds for an answer! On average teachers ask 3 to 4 questions a minute and wait less than a second for an answer…

10. Maintain focus

Allow for short breaks to aid focus and attention. Encourage students to stand up and move around for a couple of moments during a break and encourage them to drink water.