Strategies and supports for people with Dyslexia

The provision of accommodations at school will help to lessen the functional impact of a student’s difficulties. It provides for the opportunity to demonstrate their skills and knowledge more in-line with their classmates and peers. They may include:

• Teach using multi-sensory techniques - helping a student to learn through more than one of the senses including vision, hearing, touch and movement.
• Using a variety of teaching styles - examples are flashcards, demonstration, counters, blocks and verbal explanations.
• Encourage seeking assistance - giving opportunity for students to seek assistance when unsure.
• Diagrams or Charts - can be used to disseminate information.
• Provide alternate ways for students to demonstrate their level of knowledge and understanding and do not expect them to produce work beyond their skill level.
• Homework tasks should be modified taking into consideration the time it takes for a student with learning difficulties will take to complete it.
• Small group and individual learning sessions provided where ever possible.
• Simplify worksheets using dot points and bold text to highlight the important information.
• Repetition and practice will help remember and understand concepts.
• Providing examples of what a piece of work should look like to ensure the expectations are clear
• Frequent verbal feedback between student and teacher regarding progress, workload and support.
  

Supporting Dyslexic Learners in Maths

Dyslexic learners may have areas of weakness that make learning maths difficult such as:

• processing speed, taking longer to complete work impacts on meeting deadlines
• short term memory and sequencing, making it difficult to remember instructions and formulae
• auditory and visual perception difficulties, where similar words are confused, numbers transposed and difficulty copying accurately
• language difficulties, that affect recalling the correct terminology, confusing maths terminology with everyday meaning of the same word, e.g. volume of a solid and volume of the radio.
• reading difficulties, that make comprehending a worded math problem difficult
  
  Each maths concept and process needs to be broken down into manageable steps. Support people with dyslexia by regularly checking for understanding.