Top tips for helping children with dyslexia

TOP TIPS FOR HELPING CHILDREN WITH DYSLEXIA

Associate Professor Genevieve McArthur Director – MQ Cognition Clinic for Reading Deputy Head – MQ Department of Cognitive Science ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders

TIP 1: UNDERSTAND WHAT DYSLEXIA IS

“Dys” = bad “lexis” = words

No common understanding

Reading below the average range for age or grade

TIP 2: FIND WHERE READING IS “BROKEN”

Reading is a complex cognitive skill

Depends on lots of cognitive “subskills”

A problem in any subskill can “break” reading

Need to find out which subskills are “broken”

How?

Letter identification

Written word store

Word meaning store

Speech sounds

Spoken word store

Spoken word: “spell”

Written word: SPELL

Spoken word: “expelliarmus”

Written word: EXPELLIARMUS

Letter identification

Written word store

Letter-sound rules Word meaning store

Speech sounds

Spoken word store

✗

✗

✗

✗ ✔

Letter identification

Written word store

Letter-sound rules Word meaning store

Speech sounds

Spoken word store

✔

✔

✔

✔ ✗

✔

CHILD A

Letter identification

Written word store

Letter-sound rules Word meaning store

Speech sounds

Spoken word store

✔

✔

✔

✗

✔ ✔

CHILD B

Letter identification

Written word store

Letter-sound rules Word meaning store

Speech sounds

Spoken word store

✔

✔

✔

✗

✔ ✗

CHILD C

TIP 3: TARGET TREATMENT ON BROKEN SUBSKILLS

Letter identification

Written word store

Letter-sound rules Word meaning store

Speech sounds

Spoken word store

✗ Phonics training

✗ Sight word training

TIP 4: CHOOSING A TREATMENT

“Causal” treatments

Reading treatments

TIP 5: IF IN DOUBT - USE READING TREATMENTS

Reading treatments

TIP 6: COME AND SEE US

TOP TIPS FOR HELPING CHILDREN WITH DYSLEXIA

Understand what dyslexia is

Pinpoint where reading is broken

Target training on the broken bits

If in doubt - use reading treatments

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