How to teach a dyslexic child to read?

[lynn_t]

My 5 year old son has just be diagnosed with dyslexia. Anyone has experience in teaching and a child with dyslexia? Please help. Thanks.

[TracyR4]

I don't have a dyslexic child but honestly the way reading it taught with Little Reader is the way I've read that you teach dyslexic children to read. By teaching them to track the letters of the word from left to right. Little Reader does this with arrows.
Of course you don't need to get little reader just to do that. You can make flashcards with the words on them  and then use your finger to show tracking.

I know some people use phonics but to me with a child that has difficulty reading that just makes it all the more difficult. Even nondyslexic children sometimes have issues picking up reading phonetically ( my oldest and youngest did).
I always say , get them up and reading then back track.
Get your son up and reading , then back track and teach him phonics.  I have used this with my girls in differing ways( my two middles started with phonics then after a while they just wanted to know the word and so went to sight reading , verses with my oldest and youngest I've had to start with sight reading because they just weren't picking up on phonics in the start , then I back tracked with my oldest with phonics and she is 13 and reads at or above grade level, and my 4yr old sometimes reads words her 7yr old sister doesn't know yet.)

[lynn_t]

Tracy,
Thanks. I've purchased LR and have just started on it. He didn't really show much interest in it as compared to his 2 years old brother. 

[TeachingMyToddlers]

For his age group, I would consider using LR with customized files. What does he love? Trucks? Disney Characters? Sports? Create some files based around those subjects and maybe he will show more interest. Just an idea! And definitely use text pointing on any word that is ever read to him, try to ingrain in him that it is always left to right. Also, consider doing some cross lateral movement within him to strengthen the connection between the hemispheres of the brain. (Or so some experts say, while others might disagree. I think it's worth a shot!)

An example would things like playing simon says (touch one hand to the opposite foot) or drawing figure 8's on paper. I do not have any personal experience with this but these are some of the things I have read in general. Wishing you both the best!

[Twinergy]

I have no experience teaching a dyslexic child, but I do have firsthand experience learning how to read with dyslexia.  One thing that I really struggled with was feeling pressured to perform better, so I have provided a link to an article on how to praise efforts rather than results.
http://nymag.com/news/features/27840/
Here is another article on praise, and although I disagree with the author on parental motives for praise I think he still offers some good alternatives to praise. 
http://www.alfiekohn.org/parenting/gj.htm

I just found this website for helping dyslexic children that looks amazing. 
http://www.dyslexia-teacher.com/index.htm

Have you had is vision checked by a doctor?  It turns out I had a very minor astigmatism as a child and glasses really helped me.  They were specifically for reading and tinted (I chose green) to help reduce the glare off the page; this made an enormous difference for me.  I remember my special ed teacher giving me colored transparent sheets to place over the page as I read.  Once I had seen the page in a different color then removed the tint I really noticed how much the white spaces between the words created an optical illusion of movement for me making it difficult to focus on reading.  After that helped the special ed teacher then suggested the tinted glasses.   

Help him choose reading material that interests him.  A lot of times people might assume that a child would prefer to read fiction, but some children would rather read non-fiction.  I much prefered reading about architecture and science even as a child.

[TracyR4]

The older they get the more creative you need to be with it. Have you printed out the flashcards?  My daughter isn't really big on flashcards BUT if I tell her we are going to play word games she's all over it. LOL.

What I do is tell her that I'm going to show her some words. She can sit in front of me, lie down, sit on my lap, sit at the kitchen table etc, whatever she is comfortable doing or where I can catch the moment. But before showing her new words I tell her we'll play word games after., and she is more willing to sit and do them.

Word games is bascially me putting the words down that she knows and sometimes ones she has just learned, and I lay them on the floor. I love the flashcard size of the half page with word and picture feature for this game.
Anyways lay the cards on the floor and say " Jump to the word , cat,,,, or tippy toe to the word rabbit, or jump on one foot to the word apple, or walk backwards to the word lizard.
I agree with personalizing his words. Does he love construction vehicles, Disney characters, etc? I would use words like that to capture his attention at first. Get him excited and then Little Reader will become second nature. I remember my daughter at first not paying much attention to Little Reader. She liked it but , eh.  It wasn't until I downloaded the Spanish and Chinese downloads did I say , " If we do this quick lesson you can watch the Chinese slides or the Spanish ones."
Once I started doing that she was more willing to come cuddle up with me and she started to do Little Reader. I have some of the video programs that teach children to read and she prefers Little Reader right now. Of course she loves Monkisee too but right now she's in a LIttle Reader kick.

I found with kids over the age of 3 or so need to have  more than one way to learn to read. Its not unsual for my daughter to want to watch the videos instead, then turn on me later on that day and want to do the flashcards ( affectionally called word games now), or do the words on the computer.  I am constantly shifting but it seems to really work as she is still learning new words all of the time.

If none of that is intersting to him and he likes to watch t.v ( and is allowed to do so) I would chose Monkisee for a child that age.  I would say Your Baby Can Read BUT its a crap shot on wheterh he'll sit and watch it. I think most kids to the age of 4 will wit and watch Your baby Can Read. But then my 7yr old would sit and watch it sometimes with her little sitster so if he has a younger sibling I would have them both watch it together. But honestly I think Monkisee would grab his attention much more than YBCR.

[akalori]

Hi.  I have a 8 yr old that has a learning disability.  He makes letter reversals, has eye tracking issues, and really seems dyslexic, but hasn't been tested for it.  Anyway there is a reading program available that uses a multi-sensory approach.  It is call the Wilson Reading Program.   The teachers are specially trained and the teacher to student ratio is 1:1 or 1:2.  I'm trying to get the child study team to approve it for my son.  Perhaps your school system has it too. 

I agree with Twinergy that the colored overlays might be helpful.  My son used them for awhile.  They did help.  Lately he refuses to use them.  I got a few small samples for free from a retired teacher.  If he is in school perhaps they could get some for you.  Below is a link where you buy some, but they are expensive:

http://irlen.com/index.php?s=overlays

I also think a laser pointer helps.  I use it to guide my son through the sentence and to emphasize parts of the word.  It hard to point to a piece of the word with your finger but lasers have very fine points. 


I also put the captions on when we watch TV.  He says he likes it and I hope that maybe he is picking up some reading skills. 

My only other advice is to protect him from getting frustrated.  Don't let anyone convince you to teach him at a frustration level.  My son is in second grade but I don't force him to struggle with material designed for second grade.  We read books designed for kindergarten and first grade.  Also I try to use books that have large print and only a sentences or two per page.  The white space gives their eyes a small break. 



I obviously don't have all of the answers because my son is still a struggling reader.  But I am very proud that despite his difficulty he enjoys reading.  In the long run, I think joyful learning is more important than getting fast results.

Good Luck, Lori

[Denise Joy]

I have no experience with dyslexia however I recently found out about a spelling curriculum that I think is fantastic. It was made by a man who is dyslexic and is supposed to be effective for teaching kids with dyslexia how to read. I am going to start using it with my 7 year old without dyslexia as I think it looks like a great curriculum.
Here is a link to the website. There is a video that explains it.
http://www.avko.org/sequentialspelling.html

[akalori]

Denise,

Very interesting.  Thanks for sharing this curriculum info with us.  Let us know how it works out for your son.

Lori

[marimari]

Twinergy,

I´d like to thanks for indicating the website dyslexia teacher, some time ago I looked for help here in the forum but I didn´t get any, I am a teacher and I had a student that I wanted to help her, I loved your info. Thanks, thanks!

[Twinergy]

I just ran across this article recommending a reading pen for dyslexics and I think this would have helped encourage me to practice reading and helped with my confidence.  They are a bit expensive so it might be worth researching a little more or trying them out first. 


http://www.dyslexia-parent.com/books1.html

[marimari]

Twinergy,

I have just acessed and I thought so interesting, thanks once more for this clue.

[lynn_t]

Hi,
Thank you so much for all the sharing. I'm currently trying some visual tracking exercises with my sons. These excercises are given by his trainer in the brain training centre which I enrolled him in.

Denise,
Thanks for sharing the awesome website. I will try some  with my son.

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