What Is Dyslexia?

In the UK today (June 2013) approximately 10% of the population demonstrates dyslexic tendencies. What is dyslexia? The brain is divided into two sides. The right hand side focuses on the academic requirements of everyday life. The left hand side concerns itself with creative aspects. For most people it is the right hand side that is the dominant side. For a fortunate few both sides will be equally dominant making them both academically capable but also creative. For some the left hand side dominates. What does this mean? For those people whose left hand side dominates there will be both pros and cons. These people are often creative and have the ability to think outside the box. They show strong empathy skills. However, the down side is that they may find reading and spelling more difficult and experience difficulties with visual tracking. Learning your left and right can cause confusion. Sequencing and organisational skills may prove to be challenging and short term memory skills can make following even the shortest set of instructions a challenge. How can we recognise dyslexia? Dyslexia will sometimes run in families Sometimes a link is recognised between hearing loss in a child and their dyslexic tendencies It is equally common in both boys and girls One of the most noticeable traits it the distinct difference between a child's verbal and written abilities. When speaking a dyslexic child may come across as being incredibly bright, but when you speak to them, the work would appear to have been produced by a much younger child. The letters may flow as one long word (no gaps between words). If you ask a child to correct their work they may not be able to see the mistakes, or that the same word has been spelt several different ways within the same piece of writing. Some letters may be written the wrong way around And words that would normally be considered easy to spell (simple cvc words: cat, dog, pen) may be spelt wrongly. Although it is normally words that cannot be sounded out which will cause greater issues: friend = frend, or the right letters may be present but presented in the wrong order: said = said, does = dose. When reading the child may frequently lose their place, jumping from line to line, or missing out words. This is caused by problems with the visual tracking. It will knock a child's confidence when they are asked to read aloud and may cause problems when copying down from the board. Following instructions and organisation can both be problematic because of having to follow sequences of more than just one step. Finally this problem with following sequences often shows its self in maths especially in the form of learning the times tables At Starr Tutoring we are putting together a resource pack so that you can support your child at home. What will it include? 1. Understanding different learning styles 2. Creating a positive environment for learning 3. Support on encouraging your child to read 4. Activities to help your child with spelling 5. Activities to support your child with learning their tables 6. Help with organisational techniques