What is Dyslexia?

Dyslexia is a common learning difficulty that mainly causes problems with reading, writing and spelling. It's a specific learning difficulty, which means it causes problems with certain abilities used for learning, such as reading and writing. 
The British Dyslexia Association (BDA website) has adopted the Rose (2009) definition of dyslexia:

"Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling. Characteristic features of dyslexia are difficulties in phonological awareness, verbal memory and verbal processing speed. Dyslexia occurs across the range of intellectual abilities. It is best thought of as a continuum, not a distinct category, and there are no clear cut-off points."

Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty which primarily affects reading and writing skills. However, it does not only affect these skills. Dyslexia is actually about information processing. Dyslexic people may have difficulty processing and remembering information they see and hear, which can affect learning and the acquisition of literacy skills. Dyslexia can also impact on other areas such as organisational skills.

It is important to remember that there are positives to thinking differently. Many dyslexic people show strengths in areas such as reasoning and in visual and creative fields.

Delphi definition of dyslexia

Dyslexia is a set of processing difficulties that affect the acquisition of reading and spelling.

In dyslexia, some or all aspects of literacy attainment are weak in relation to age, standard teaching and instruction, and level of other attainments.

Across all languages, difficulties in reading fluency and spelling are key markers of dyslexia.

Dyslexic difficulties exist on a continuum and can be experienced to various degrees of severity.

The nature and developmental trajectory of dyslexia depends on multiple genetic and environmental influences.

Dyslexia can affect the acquisition of other skills, such as mathematics, reading comprehension or learning another language.

The most commonly observed cognitive impairment in dyslexia is a difficulty in phonological processing (i.e., in phonological awareness, phonological processing speed or phonological memory). However, phonological difficulties do not fully explain the variability that is observed.

Working memory, processing speed and orthographic skills can contribute to the impact of dyslexia.

How can you help your child? 

Spelling

Spelling is one of the biggest, and most widely experienced difficulties for the dyslexic child and adult. Most dyslexic people can learn to read well with the right support, however, spelling appears to be a difficulty that persists throughout life.

It's not entirely understood why this is the case. It is known that dyslexia impacts phonological processing and memory. This means that dyslexic individuals can have difficulty hearing the different small sounds in words (phonemes) and can't break words into smaller parts in order to spell them.

Many children with dyslexia find it difficult to learn how letters and sounds correspond to each other and may not be able to recall the right letters to be able to spell the sounds in words. The complexity of the English language means that learners also have to remember irregular spelling patterns and sight words such as the, said, was.

Although spelling is likely to be something that a dyslexic person always finds challenging, there are strategies that parents and teachers can put in place to support learning.

• Help your child to understand words are made up of syllables and each syllable has a vowel sound. Say a word and ask how many syllables there are. Help your child to spell each syllable at a time
• Write words in different coloured pens to make a rainbow or in shaving foam, flour or sand over and over again to help your child remember them
• Look with your child at the bits in the words which they find difficult - use colours to highlight just the tricky bit
• Look for the prefixes and suffixes in words, e.g. -tion, -ness and learn these chunks. Explore with your child how many words have the same chunks at the beginning or the end of words
• Use flashcards or play matching games to let your child see the words lots of times - the more times they see the word, the better they will be able to read and spell it
• Use cut out or magnetic letters to build words together, then mix up the letters and rebuild the word together
• Use mnemonics - silly sentences where the first letter of each word makes up the word to be spelled
• Find smaller words in the bigger word, for example 'there is a hen in when'
• Go over the rules of spelling together, e.g. a 'q' is always followed by a 'u'. Ask your child's teacher for the rules they teach in class

Homework

Homework can be a frustrating and upsetting experience for dyslexic students and their parents.

For a student with dyslexia it's not just the homework task itself that can be challenging, many dyslexic people can really struggle with organisation, concentration and short term memory. All of these things can make homework a daily source of confusion and frustration. This can result in a reluctance to try and poor self-confidence.

There are strategies that every parent can put in place to support their child's learning.

Establish a routine

Dyslexic learners may find it difficult to maintain concentration for long periods of time and may get tired quickly, so it's a good idea to create a routine which emphasises 'a little and often' rather than trying to squeeze too much work into a longer session.

Remember to take after-school activities into account when you develop your homework plan.

Encourage your child to write down what is needed for the next day and to check the list before they leave for school/college.

Support your child

Be encouraging. Praise your child when they are trying their best, and focus your praise 'It was really good when you..'.

Go over homework instructions together to make sure they understand what they are supposed to do. You can help your child to prepare for tasks and generate ideas together before they start work.

If your child has difficulty writing homework down at school or remembering tasks, talk to their teacher so that the homework is given to them on a worksheet or can be accessed via the school's website.

Checking work

Help your child learn to check their own work, so this becomes a natural part of the homework routine as they get older. Your child may find working on a computer easier than writing. Show them how to use the spellcheck facility and help them learn to touch type.

Other useful strategies include:

• Reading work out loud or using text-to-speech software to read work back – this can help to identify errors that your child might miss when they read silently
• Making a list of frequent spelling, punctuation, and grammar mistakes to check against. For example, if your child often misses capital letters, make sure that's on the list.

Organisation

Dyslexic people can really struggle with organisation. For an older child technology such as a mobile phone will be a helpful tool. They can take photos of any important information, set reminders of important events or deadlines and record voice messages as a reminder.

Other useful strategies are to:

• Help your child to make a written homework plan which includes tasks and deadlines, and revision plans.
• Colour-code subjects and make sure all notes for a particular subject are kept together in folders.
• Create visual reminders such as a prominent calendar or 'to do' list.

Study skills

Try to help your child build successful study skills for example, by creating a revision timetable, by using different techniques for revising and reviewing learning, e.g. using mindmaps, by talking through or recording what they've learned, or by thinking of different ways to complete a particular task.

Encourage them to think of coping strategies for when they get 'stuck'. For example, who would be the right person to ask for help if they are unable to tackle a problem on their own.

 

What is Dyscalculia?

Dyscalculia is a specific and persistent difficulty in understanding numbers which can lead to a diverse range of difficulties with mathematics. It will be unexpected in relation to age, level of education and experience and occurs across all ages and abilities.

What is Dyscalculia?

The term Dyscalculia is often used to describe someone who unexpectedly struggles to understand and achieve in Maths.  The important points to note are as follows:

• A specific learning difficulty in Maths is more common than dyscalculia.
• A specific learning difficulty in Maths is caused by processing difficulties that impact on mathematical skills.
• Dyscalculia is a difficulty particularly in understanding and working with numbers.
• With dyscalculia, we may see age related difficulties with naming, ordering and comparing physical quantities and numbers, estimating and place value.
• The impact of such difficulties on an individual’s mathematical ability can vary across individuals and across the lifespan.
• Any difficulties in Maths may be affected by other factors including the environment and any co-occurring difficulties.

• How is dyscalculia different from other maths learning difficulties?

  The word dyscalculia is often used to describe someone who finds maths unexpectedly hard. But in reality, there are many different reasons why someone might struggle with maths—not all of them are due to dyscalculia or a specific learning difficulty (SpLD).

  People may have a Specific Learning Difficulty (SpLD) in maths when: 

• Their difficulties are shown to be caused by cognitive factors such as language and reasoning skills, working memory, spatial skills or executive functions and 
• Result in low attainment in some/all areas of maths and 
• Have a significant and sustained impact on their learning, work and daily activities.  

• Difficulties experienced by some with a SpLD in maths may include: 

• Difficulties with counting, especially backwards 
• Using counting forwards in ones to add and backwards in ones to subtract beyond their peers 
• Difficulties remembering and using number bonds and multiplication facts 
• Not able to use number relationships to make calculations easier – e.g. add 9, rather than add 10 subtract 1; counts up in 6s for 5x6 rather than using knowledge of 6, fives. 
• Using written methods for all calculations  (34+11; 29 – 2; 30x2; 10/5) 
• Using procedures without understanding them 
• Not knowing when to use multiplication or division 
• Difficulties in solving word problems – unable to visualise the maths needed 
• Difficulties in understanding algebra and formulas 
• Having to count and re-count, even small quantities, excessively 
• Difficulties with estimating quantities, measurements, time and money 
• Not understanding when/why an answer is unreasonably large or small 
• Not understanding that £14.99 is less than £20; 
• Not noticing when a price/ restaurant bill is incorrect and unreasonable 
• Difficulties in judging time (arriving late or very early), understanding timetables and planning travel. 
• A much fewer number of people will have such a pronounced difficulty with understanding quantities and numbers, that they will meet the criteria for having dyscalculia. 
•  
• Examples of the difficulties that people with dyscalculia may have include: 
• Having to count and re-count, even small quantities, excessively 
• Difficulties with estimating quantities, measurements, time and money 
• Not understanding when/why an answer is unreasonably large or small 
• Not understanding that £14.99 is less than £20; 
• Not noticing when a price/ restaurant bill is incorrect and unreasonable 
• Difficulties in judging time (arriving late or very early), understanding timetables and planning travel. 

 

What is Autism?

 

Autism is a lifelong neurodevelopmental condition that can be recognised from early childhood. Each autistic person will have their own individual strengths and challenges.

Autistic people will have some challenges around social interaction and communication.  For some, there may be limited or no spoken communication but often the challenges can present difficulties in understanding others’ intentions, social cues, body language and/or facial expressions.  Social interactions can be hard work for autistic people.

There is usually a “preference for sameness” and a tendency for restricted or repetitive patterns of thought or behaviour, this can present in several different ways.  Repetition and familiarity can be comforting and help to manage anxiety. Unexpected changes or breaks from familiar routine can be difficult and an autistic person might need longer to process these.

Autistic people often have sensory differences and can experience sound, smells, sight, taste and touch so acutely that this can be really overwhelming at times.

For more information about ASC, follow the link to ADDvancedSolutions website here: https://www.addvancedsolutions.co.uk/neurodevelopmental-conditions/autism/