Dyslexia Help: How to Help Kids with Dyslexia Learn to Read

Helping Dyslexic Kids Read

Phonics

According to The International Dyslexia Association (IDA), dyslexic students need explicit instruction to connect sounds with letters (www.interdys.org). To increase your child's phonemic awareness, begin by breaking a word into its individual sounds. For instance, the word 'cat' has three sounds (also called phonemes): /c/ /a/ /t/. Tackle one sound at a time. Remember the goal is to have your child associate the sound with the letter.

Say the first sound aloud. Then, have your child make the same sound. Tell him to pay attention to how his mouth is shaped to form the sound. Repetition is the key to learning any new concept, so say the word together multiple times.

Afterward, connect the first sound with the letter c. Have your child say the sound aloud while writing the letter. Your child should also repeat this activity multiple times to solidify the connection. Repeat this same process for the other letters and sounds.

Finally, test your child's understanding by asking him to spell the word 'cat' or by having him read a sentence aloud that includes the word 'cat.' Keep in mind that this process can also be applied to more difficult words.

Hands-On Activities

Many dyslexic children respond well to hands-on activities because they integrate a new sense (beyond seeing) into the reading process. The IDA suggests using word cards to help dyslexic students create sentences, which helps students understand how parts of speech work together in an interactive way.

Word Analysis

Sometimes, when students have difficulty reading a word, they substitute it with a more familiar word or skip it completely. Dyslexic children in particular tend to come across words they don't understand in reading because they have trouble decoding them. To avoid this habit, teach your child how to break a word apart.

Use a reading passage, and begin by having your child read it aloud. Stop her whenever a mistake is made and work together to decode the unfamiliar word. Ask your child if there is any part of the word that she recognizes, such as prefixes, suffixes or root words. Then, sound out the word syllable by syllable. Repeating this process will be beneficial in the future because your child will know what to do the next time she encounters an unknown word.