Dyslexia: Advice, tips or guidance?
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My child is being tested for dyslexia, I’m at a loss for how I help. She refuses to do any work at home with me, won’t try to read, try to do sight words, or anything, but I have her with a tutor 2x per week. She told me she tries to hide to everyone that she can’t read (1st grade). Any advice is greatly appreciated.
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I have a bit of dyslexia and ADD, from probably 7th grade on, my mom would get me books on tape (I guess Audible now) so that I could hear the words, and follow along. It was super helpful in building my confidence because I hated popcorn reading because I’d pronounce a word wrong. This helped because I already had heard it.
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Good point. I had a note taker in college and textbooks on audible. Idk if this would help 1st grade, prob not but could help in the future! It’s tough but her brain working differently will pay off in the long run! Great job advocating for her
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@GetInTheCar I am a Licensed Dyslexia Therapist and have been working with students identified with dyslexia for 10 years. Happy to help. I highly recommend a book called The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan by Ben Foss! Lots of great information for parents. There is also a podcast called Dyslexia Uncovered you should check out. What type of intervention is your child receiving at school and with the tutor?
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@dyslexiadoc I'm going to check out your recs! @GetInTheCar we just completed testing for my daughter with her public school - also 1st grade and does ALL of what you describe. We suspected she was having trouble, but her struggles really started coming out of the woodwork early in the fall. We enrolled her in 2x a week tutoring as well, and it's been her only source of progress, albeit slow. The school has finally identified her as having "surface dyslexia" - a subtype, also called orthographic or dyseidetic dyslexia. I have a meeting with the school specialists and admin board in 2 weeks to learn what support she'll be given next year, since it won't kick in until 2nd, and I'm sure I'll learn more about my involvement then and can share! It's a whole new world for us of things I certainly don't understand, but I've adopted the attitude of the more information experts can give me on my child, the better I can support and help.
The small successes I've had at home have been based around consistency and choice of materials. Making reading a routine. Period. And sometimes bedtime is hard because they're tired and just want to comfort and snuggles...not the work! So find the time where she can be most engaged, with fewer battles for her to fight.
As for materials, one thing I've learned is that not every "early reader" or "first reader" book is created equal. Beginner Bob Books were a critical starting place and from there the I Can Read! My First - Shared Readers have been a good transition - they're the yellow label ones. But even then...not all. Read them first, find where you think she might get too hung up and or see if it's a feasible challenge. And even if they seem too easy, building the confidence and feeling the success that comes from completing a book or two books is so important. I've also found that for my daughter, subject matter is important...she doesn't want to read what I find cute or "classic" - she's more excited to read what she's interested in! Even though I hate the weird "Shimmer and Shine" characters (and it literally pains me to buy those), she's pumped that there's mermaids and sparkles and jewels and whatever.