We’re Supporting Dyslexia Awareness Week
The daily themes are
Monday 2nd Oct – Early Identification
Tuesday 3rd Oct – Appropriate Teaching Provision
Wednesday 4th Oct – Appropriate Assessments
Thursday 5th Oct – Reasonable Adjustments
Friday 6th Oct – Raising Dyslexia Awareness
Social Media: The agreed hashtag for the week is: #positivedyslexia2017
For more information please go here.
Famous People With Dyslexia
Famous People With Dyslexia
Find out more with this brilliant video!
Dyslexia
The earlier a child with dyslexia is diagnosed, the more effective educational interventions are likely to be.
However, identifying dyslexia in young children can be difficult for both parents and teachers, because the signs and symptoms are not always obvious.
If you’re concerned about your child’s progress with reading and writing, first talk to their teacher. You may also want to meet with other staff in the school.
If there’s an ongoing concern, take your child to visit a GP. It may be that your child has health problems that are affecting their ability to read or write. For example, they may have:
vision problems, such as short-sightedness or a squint
hearing problems, as the result of a condition such as glue ear
other conditions, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
If your child doesn’t have any obvious underlying health problems to explain their learning difficulties, it may be that they’re not responding very well to the teaching method, and a different approach may be needed.
Read about managing dyslexia for more information about educational interventions that may help.
If there are still concerns about your child’s progress after they’ve received additional teaching and support, it may be a good idea to have a more in-depth assessment.
This can be carried out by an educational psychologist or appropriately qualified specialist dyslexia teacher.
They’ll be able to support you, your child and your child’s teachers by helping improve the understanding of your child’s learning difficulties and by suggesting interventions that may help them.
There are various ways to request an assessment for your child, although it can sometimes be a time-consuming and frustrating process.
The first step is to meet your child’s teacher and their school’s special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) to discuss your concerns and any interventions that have been tried already.
If your child continues to have difficulties despite interventions, you can ask for them to be referred for assessment by a local authority educational psychologist or other specialist in dyslexia.
The Independent Parental Special Education Advice (IPSEA) is an independent charity for parents of children with special needs. Their website contains information about steps you can take to have the needs of your child assessed.
Alternatively, you can approach an independent educational psychologist or another suitably qualified professional directly. You can find a directory of chartered psychologists on the British Psychological Society’s website.
You can also contact a national or local dyslexia association for help arranging an assessment.
Before the assessment takes place, you and your child’s school may be sent a questionnaire that asks about your child and related issues, such as their general state of health, how well they perform certain tasks and what you think needs to change.
The assessment itself may involve observing your child in their learning environment, talking with key adults involved with your child’s learning and asking your child to take part in a series of tests.
These tests may examine your child’s:
reading and writing abilities
language development and vocabulary
logical reasoning
memory
the speed they can process visual and auditory (sound) information
organisational skills
approaches to learning
After your child has been assessed, you’ll receive a report that outlines their strengths and weaknesses, with recommendations of what could be done to improve areas they are having difficulties with.
Depending on the severity of your child’s learning difficulties, it may be possible for their difficulties to be managed through an action plan drawn up for them and undertaken by their school, called an individual education plan (IEP). This will be reviewed with you and your child each term.
In a small number of cases, where a child’s difficulties don’t improve and progress doesn’t seem to be made, you may want to request a fuller assessment that covers all aspects of your child’s development.
This would result in a more formal, legally binding educational plan being drawn up for your child, known as an Education Healthcare Plan (EHC). This sets out what your child’s educational needs are and the support required to meet those needs in a document that is reviewed formally every year.
Visit GOV.UK for more information about children with special educational needs (SEN).
Children talking
You can expect to hear that magical first “mama” or “papa” from your baby by the time he or she turns one year old. After that, she will start picking up simple words, and by the time she is 18 months old, the learning capabilities will develop significantly.
As a parent, you can encourage your child to speak and develop their language and communication skills. Your baby will pick it up according to her natural development, while your efforts will boost their learning and speech.
But if your child suffers from physical or cognitive disorders, like dyslexia, autism and dyspraxia, then you should consult a speech therapist. The sessions cost around $150 to $300 per hour and help your child lead a normal life.
Ways To Improve Your Child’s Speech Without Spending So Much
Apparently, a speech therapy is your last resort. You can spend for such service when your doctor advises you to do so. The good news is there are ways you can do to improve their speaking capabilities while they are still young. Here are 10 easy, effective, and engaging methods you can try.
Talk All Day
Simple but very effective. The more your child gets exposed to new words, the more likely he or she understands them. Narrate everything as it happens. And when they ask something, make sure that you explain using simple words.
Link Words To Real Life
Connect words to things and actions. When your child points to the cookies, encourage him to say “cookies.” When talking about cars, point to one and make a sign of motion with your hand.
Repeat Often
As much as possible, repeat the words as often as you can so that your child can grasp the words fast and easily. Remember to use real words and limit the baby talk (i.e. gaga, gugu), especially after the child is already 9 months old.
Read Words To Them
Reading to your child should not be restricted to just books. Read them anything and everything – street signs, billboards, back of the milk carton, to name a few. Your child learns to connect speech sounds and language structure, and he or she can use them sooner.
Read Books To Them
Make reading books an interactive session. Instead of reading word by word, point at pictures and talk to them about those images. Then, do a follow-up by asking questions. If your child finds the picture of Red Riding Hood interesting, then say something like “She’s wearing a nice red dress.” Ask her, “Where is she going?”
Basically, talk to them while reading a book. This will expand the imagination of your child and help them develop receptive and expressive language skills.
Encourage Them To Speak Out
You can also use some techniques to get them to speak. When your toddler wants something, make them say it in words. If they want the ball, let them say the word and encourage them to say it. Once they successfully utter the word, award them with the thing they want or they’re pointing to.
Ask Questions
Ask open-ended questions frequently. If possible, avoid queries that can easily be answered with only yes or no. Questions like “What did you see at the zoo,” or “Which toy do you like best?” are much better. Moreover, it helps your child develop cognitive skills and logical reasoning. Take the lead from your baby and interact with the things they are interested about.
Don’t Correct Their Speech
Remember not to criticize or correct her speech if she says something inaccurately. Acknowledge her efforts positively and respond back to what she said. If she says “Doggy, go-go,” quip in “Yes, the dog is going away.”
Choose Responsive Items
Toddlers love anything that is interactive, like a book with colorful images and buttons. Other things that excite and make your baby curious include music and rhymes. Pick a song that rhymes well or has a lot of repeating words like “Old Mac-Donald” or “Row, Row, Row, your Boat” and sing it to them. Sing it anytime and when you have the time. Repetition is the key!
Arrange Field Trips
If you are taking them to the zoo, point to the animals and utter their names to your child. You can also ask them what sounds they make. Show them things at museums and create sensible conversations with your children. It will open a whole new world of learning possibilities to them.
Bottomline
Those are just a few things you can to help you child enhance his or her speech. Assisting your child to develop superior communication skills should start at an early age. You should also be careful with any signs of deficiency in your baby which may necessitate the intervention of a speech therapist.
Now many of my more regular readers will know that my son has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder since just before his third birthday.
What I don’t often mention is that my daughter is is four years old is dyslexic. In fact she made a film about it a few years ago which you can see here. She also explains, in part, what it is like to have a sibling on the autism spectrum.
So I thought I would take the opportunity to share this infographic. It is a great overview of dyslexia. So do feel free to share with people you know to raise awareness.
Thanks very much in advance.
Find more education infographics on e-Learning Infographics