How To Help Your Child Overcome Dyslexia

Your brain becomes a master puzzle solver whenever you read. It connects letters to sounds to form words and sentences, allowing you to unlock the information hidden within the text on the page.

This decoding is something most of us don’t even think about. It just happens.

But that’s not always the case if you have dyslexia. This common learning disability disrupts how your brain processes the written language, which can create issues in understanding what you read.

The good news? Dyslexia is a challenge that can be overcome. Let’s learn how from speech-language pathologist Allison Poore, CCC-SLP.

Tips to help with dyslexia

Dyslexia is a brain-based disorder that affects how different sections of your brain communicate. Reading requires coordination between areas of your brain dealing with language, sound, vision and formulation.

“Think of these brain parts communicating with each other like a highway,” illustrates Poore. “There’s basically a route where information moves from one part to the next.”

If someone has dyslexia, it’s like a tree falls across that roadway. “So, what we have to do is teach the brain how to go around that tree to get the message where it needs to go,” she continues. “It’s about finding a different path to the destination.”

Here are a few ways to help with that rerouting.

Get tested

Dealing with a learning disability begins with knowing that it exists. Talk to your child’s pediatrician or school about getting an assessment for dyslexia if you start noticing signs such as:

• Trouble reading or spelling words
• Difficulty rhyming or identifying sounds in words
• Consistently mixing up the position of sounds in a word (like saying “aminals” instead of “animals”)
• Problems writing paragraphs and stories
• Frustration when trying to learn or taking exceptionally long on homework

You know your child, too. If their school results don’t match their ability, it might be worth getting them tested for dyslexia. “If your child has a great vocabulary and they love school and all of a sudden, you’re seeing them struggle, it’s worth talking to someone,” advises Poore.

Read aloud

Following along as you read aloud can help your child see and hear the reading process. Have them read aloud to you, too. “The process hooks language and the written word together,” explains Poore.

Talk about the book with your child as you read together. Ask them questions about the characters or plot, for instance. Answering will strengthen their ability to analyze information while also developing their vocabulary.

Take time to talk

Back-and-forth conversations with your child can help them better understand the meaning of words and how to use them, while also boosting their pronunciation skills and vocabulary, says Poore.

Try asking them questions that require more than just a one-word answer, too. So, instead of “Did you have a good day?” (which brings an inevitable “Yeah” as a response), ask what their favorite part of the day was and why.

“Building oral language skills can help with reading,” she adds. “It’s a great way to make and solidify connections within the language center of the brain.”

Use mnemonic devices

Creating mnemonic devices can help with spelling tricky words or organizing bits of data. These memorization tools use acronyms, rhymes and phrases to help your brain store and recall information.

Examples of mnemonic devices include:

• Thinking of your school “principal” as your “pal” to remember how to spell the title
• Using the acronym HOMES to remember the Great Lakes (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior)
• Remembering to spell “dessert” with a double S by thinking you want two servings of whatever treat is being served

“Your working memory is affected by dyslexia,” notes Poore. “Reviewing things often and using tricks to remember can be very helpful.”

Lean on all the senses

Reading can involve more than your eyes scanning a page.

“Encourage your child to use all of their senses,” suggests Poore. “How does the word look? How does it feel coming out of their mouth? What does it sound like? All of that can link to learning.”

Try decodable readers

Letters are related to sounds — and learning that relationship through phonics is key to reading, writing and spelling.

Decodable readers are books that follow the general learning sequence of phonics. They help children master high-frequency words plus sounds and phonics concepts to improve reading fluency and comprehension.

Review (and review again)

You’ve heard that practice makes perfect, right? Well, that’s especially true when it comes to learning to read with dyslexia.

Repetition can help establish new learning pathways that the brain uses to work around dyslexia, says Poore. Using the tree-across-the-road analogy from earlier, it’s a way to build that detour route.

“There are great books out there that can make a difference even as kids get older,” she notes.

Dyslexia resources for parents

If your child has dyslexia and you’re looking for information or support, Poore suggests the following resources:

• The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) is a nonprofit education and advocacy organization offering numerous reading tools and tips. “The IDA will have your most up-to-date information, too,” says Poore.
• The Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR) at Florida State University outlines ways you can help your child grow and learn. “Its website has great information for parents and activities for kids,” she shares.
• Reading Rockets is a national public media literacy initiative providing research-based strategies for helping children with dyslexia become skilled readers. “It breaks things down very well,” Poore reports.

Final thoughts

There’s nothing about dyslexia that prevents someone from reaching their goals, stresses Poore. It just means they’re going to have to take a different path.

Dyslexia is also VERY common. It’s estimated that about 20% of the population has some form of dyslexia. So, in a class of 30 students, that average means that six of the children would have dyslexia.

“Dyslexia needs to be talked about more,” encourages Poore. “We need to normalize it and let children know that it’s just part of who they are. It’s how their brain works — and there is nothing wrong with that. They will do fine once they learn their strategies for learning.”