Dyslexia – identifying and managing
Did you know that 1 in 5 people are thought to be dyslexic to some degree? Dyslexics are usually highly intelligent but due to their difficulties in learning how to read, write and spell are often made to feel inadequate and for a parent this is difficult to witness. But the reality is that they simply process language differently, so we just need the right key to unlock their literacy potential.
For children learning to read, relating the shape of the letters to their sounds and manipulating those sounds in words is more challenging than usual, leading to difficulty in dominating the technicalities of reading. Without these basic building blocks as a foundation, they are not comfortable in trying to practice their reading and reading ability is like a muscle. The more it is used and practised, the easier and more fluent it becomes. Fluent readers are more confident, find it easier to learn and this results in improved academic outcomes and even positive behaviours.
The other element affecting dyslexic students and adults are physical aspects of the presentation of reading materials, the length of the books and the level of language used. Illustrations if not presented in a certain way can impede reading, the wrong type text can be confusing and brilliantly white paper uncomfortable for the eyes. For someone struggling to read, it’s crucial that the book itself is not too thick i.e. it doesn’t have too many pages and that the reader is drawn quickly into the plot and action. Writing a book that will grip the attention of the reader and help their process to actually enjoy reading and becoming a book lover is an author’s challenge.
So how do you as a parent/carer or teacher manage to overcome these quite significant obstacles? For the learning to read, using what’s known as a synthetic phonics system that focuses on relating letter shape to it’s sound in word is very effective. Letterland is one such system that Book & Toy works with in Costa Rica. Letterland uses a story based and multi-sensory approach that engages students along multiple neural pathways. Each letter is a character and by making friends with and learning about the characters’ personalities the learner has a logical way of linking shapes to sounds which in turn facilitates a long-term retention of the concepts. Research into how children learn supports the Letterland methodology and in fact I am continually impressed at how closely Letterland fits with the workings of young people’s brains.
For those who in theory ‘can read’, but who still struggle and hate having to be sat down with a book, Book & Toy has a selection of titles suitable from age 7 right up to adolescents that are shorter books, physically comfortable to read and super engaging. I’ve been reading some of them myself and found them really interesting. This range is written by very well-known children’s authors, the book covers and themes are age appropriate, but the reading ability levels are modified to make the plot easier to understand, thus giving the student confidence and encouraging them to read more. For example, our range includes a selection of titles for 11-year-olds in terms of subject matter and cover art, but the reading level is set to the ability of a typical 7 year old.
For more information, contact us at Book & Toy. To explore our books, links on the following links:
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