Strategies and supports for people with Dyslexia
Assistive technology, classroom accommodations and considering the impact on other learning such as maths.
What technology can help with Dyslexia?
Everyone’s difficulties and capabilities vary, so it is important you work out what will work best for you or your child before investing in hardware or assistive technology.
You will find many programs have inbuilt support mechanisms such as reading text aloud from a screen, spell checkers and word prediction.
An Educational Consultation at SPELD SA can help you identify a range of suitable options and ensure you are not overwhelmed by choice.
Classroom Accommodations
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.
We are parents, teachers and professionals with a shared commitment to early identification, effective intervention and support for individuals with specific learning difficulties.
Leadership Team
Laura McLachlan
Chief Executive Officer
Kerry Williams
Director of Teaching and Learning
Skye McLennan
Director of Psychology
Lynette Robinson
Marketing and Communications Manager
Anna Manto
Customer Service/ Retail Manager
Angelik Pishas
Literacy Clinic and Speech Pathology Manager
SPELD SA Council
Mark Parsons
Chair
Lyn Wilkinson
Treasurer
Michael McEwen
Secretary
Michael Kromwyk
Deputy Chair
Abbey James
Committee Member
Jayne Ayliffe
Committee Member
Steve Wright
Committee Member
Jarrod Carter
Committee Member
Marisa Maio Mackay
Committee Member