A Resourceful Guide to Teaching Students With Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a learning disability that makes it hard for students to decipher reading and spelling words. It’s a neurological disorder that affects the way a student processes language. Dyslexia can be tough to overcome, but it can be done with the right strategies.
Effective teachers recognize the difficulties these students have, and they proactively equip themselves with the knowledge and teaching strategies they need to provide their students with the best opportunity to succeed.
In the articles that follow, you’ll find teaching strategies and tips to help you successfully reach the student with dyslexia. This also includes modified lesson plans and hands-on activities, as well as information on what dyslexia is and the severity of its impact on learning, if it’s not diagnosed and addressed properly.
Understanding Dyslexia
In order to teach your students effectively, you need to inform yourself with information on the disorder. If you are equipped with the background information on the disability, then it will provide the child with the best possible outcome to succeed.
Not all dyslexic students are the same, as the disorder can range from minor to severe. Here is a list of the common types of dyslexia:
- Literal
- Phonological
- Neglect
- Semantic
- Spelling
- Pure
- Deep
The best way to deal with this learning disability is to work closely with the parents. Check in frequently at the home to make sure that the child is receiving the best education and the same opportunities as their peers. Become aware of the parents’ ability to cope with this disability and reinforce practices best suited to their child’s needs.
Utilize these authoritative links below to inform yourself on dyslexia. You will read about the causes, how you can help, separating fact from fiction, and much more about understanding symptoms and strategies that make a difference.
- What Is Dyseidetic Dyslexia?
- Causes of Dyslexia and Dyslexia Symptoms
- Helping Students With Dyslexia
- Dyslexia: Separating Fact From Fiction
- What Is Dyslexia and How Can We Help?
Teaching Tips and Strategies
Developing a variety of strategies in the classroom will ensure that students with dyslexia will be able to grow academically. In order to do this, your goal should be to help build the skills they need in order to overcome this disability. Use the following ideas to increase self-confidence and reduce the overall work load:
- Utilize technology
- Provide a daily outline of goals
- Construct the classroom for success
- Be responsive to your students’ wants and needs
- Recognize accomplishments and praise
Some of the ideas showcased in the following articles include: multisensory techniques, phonics instruction, direct instruction, elements of dyslexia testing and visual learning strategies. Learning to read is an essential skill that all children must learn in order to succeed in school. Unfortunately for students with dyslexia, this task is a hard feat. Flash cards, books on tape, graphic organizers, manipulatives (coins, plastic letters or numbers, and counters), and charts or graphs comprise reading strategies a teacher can try to help these students learn. Use these multisensory ideas to help teach any concept:
- Teaching Strategies For Students With Dyslexia
- Using Multisensory Learning to Help Dyslexic Students
- Tips for Teaching Dyslexic Students: Increase Your Student’s Reading Skills With Direct Instruction
- Guide to Dyslexia Testing
- Dyslexia and Multi Sensory Reading Techniques
- Phonics and Alternatives for Students with Disabilities
Activities and Lessons
Once you develop resources to fortify your knowledge and assemble information on the disorder, then it becomes imperative that you use activities and lessons that accommodate the student with dyslexia. Create or use activities that will help your students achieve each of two goals:
- They will be able to read words accurately.
- They will be able to read words effortlessly and fluently.
Learners can achieve these goals by actively participating in activities and lessons, practicing reading and a lot of repetitive reading. Use the following activities and lessons as they are or modify them as you wish:
- Creating Dyslexic Games
- Using Dyslexic Reading Games to Keep Learning Fun
- Spelling Curricula for Dyslexic Students
- Wordshark: A Tool to Help Dyslexia
Tell Us What You Think
Teaching students with dyslexia does not have to be daunting. You can utilize the collection of articles above and inform yourself about the disorder. With a little compassion and the use of a lot of strategies, this disorder can be overcome.
Please take a moment to share your thoughts with us. What kind of strategies and teaching applications have you implemented? If you have a comment or suggestion on any of the above articles, please tell us what you think. We welcome your feedback and would love to hear from you.
References
- Image: Students by Laura00 under the royalty free license.