Reading Equals Academic Success
Reading success means academic success. So, parents and teachers feel fear and frustration when a child seems unable to learn to read in spite of being bright, inquisitive, and having a great teacher. This situation generally indicates dyslexia. Dyslexia just means “doesn’t learn to read despite normal intelligence and education.”
Dyslexic People Can Learn to Read Well
The dyslexic thinking style embodies a “sea of strengths” according to Brock and Fernette Eide who wrote The Dyslexic Advantage: Unlocking the Hidden Potential of the Dyslexic Brain. Many of the greatest inventors, actors, scientists, musicians, computer programmers, and mathematicians use dyslexic strengths to accomplish their breakthroughs.
Thankfully, research abounds on how dyslexic brains work. If you know a child who struggles to read, use the research-based tips below to start helping them today. Dyslexic students who learn to read with these tools often become better readers than their peers in a few years! They may always struggle with oral reading. But they may go on to read silently much faster than average when freed from saying the words! Don’t believe that dyslexia dooms a person to a lifetime of poor reading. It doesn’t have to.
Top Tips for Dyslexic Readers
Taken from my book, Dyslexia Tool Kit Expanded Edition: What to do when phonics isn’t enough, the four tips that most often produce dramatic improvement seem simple. First, read happy! Second, cross the body midline. Third, get both sides of the brain fired up. And finally, use audio tracking.
Read Happy!
The first and most important tip of all is “read happy!” If reading involves anxiety, anger, tears, avoidance, or frustration, then stop. STOP! “Pushing through” only pairs pain with reading. Making reading a punishment does the exact opposite of what needs to happen! Forcing a child to read aloud before the child is ready ensures shame and humiliation. Such experiences encourage the child to avoid reading as much as possible. Instead, read the next three tips to find better ways to approach reading.
Cross the Body Midline
This tip comes from the science of sensory integration. Before reading, the child may juggle a stuffed animal, or cross march by touching hands to opposite knees while stepping high. Crossing the body midline fires up neural pathways between brain hemispheres. This makes it easier to recall previously learned material. Most kids enjoy this so it helps make reading fun.
Involve Both Sides of the Brain
Cognitive skills games that use both sides of the brain actually develop new neural pathways. This, in turn, increases processing speed and problem-solving. Playing SET or Qwirkle uses color in the right hemisphere of the brain and logic in the left hemisphere, strengthening connections between the two sides of the brain. This is beneficial for any learner but is especially powerful for students with dyslexia. Learning chess results in a similar effect. Music provides another powerful way to build brain connections. Music theory is mathematical and logical, while performance is creative and intuitive. Both sides of the brain respond deeply during music study, (see Music and Dyslexia: A Positive Approach) so this may present the perfect road to reading for a student who likes music.
Audio Tracking — the Super Tool
Dyslexic kids hate to read aloud, for good reason. Rather than forcing a child to read aloud, let the child read along silently while an adult or an audiobook says the words. Apps such as Farfaria work great for kids up to about age nine. Older readers may prefer a “grown-up” app such as the award-winning Voice Dream Reader. A grandparent who enjoys reading aloud while pointing to the words or the line is priceless. In this way, the child begins to painlessly pair the image of the word with the meaning — thus building vocabulary and reading comprehension.
Dyslexic students do this pairing of word images and meaning far better than the rest of us. In fact, research by Nicolson and Fawcett at MIT revealed that although it takes a dyslexic student 1000 repetitions to learn a word on a flashcard, it only takes 30 repetitions of that word in context (seen and heard simultaneously in a meaningful story) for the student to remember it. Yes! Silent reading can be taught first, and oral reading can follow later if needed. With audio support, dyslexic students can read as many books as their peers. This allows students to stay on track with vocabulary and literary knowledge while they catch up with reading.
But, Shouldn’t We Just Focus on Phonics?
No. Multi-sensory phonics is part of every decent reading program, but it’s not enough. Dyslexic students need the added tools that allow them to use their dyslexic strengths! They need activities that add neural pathways where needed. Most of all, they need reading to be fun. Torture never taught anyone to love reading.
Now You Have All You Need to Start
These four tips start you on the wonderful journey of teaching your dyslexic child to read. Many people have successfully taught their children with only these four tips! But there are 27 easy techniques described in Dyslexia Tool Kit Expanded Edition: What to do when phonics isn’t enough. This book could save you years of grief and piles of money. Plus, you and your child can read great books and have fun instead of dreading reading time or having tummy aches when it’s time for school!
by Yvonna Graham, M.Ed.
www.dyslexiakit.net
@GrahamYvonna
Tracking can be done by you reading aloud, but older students like to track with audiobooks, which provide more independence and can be accessed when no one is around to read aloud. Free classic audiobook downloads are available at Librivox. At Audible you can get newer titles read professionally for $15/mo. Learning Ally provides audio textbooks if you can prove a dyslexia diagnosis. Best of all — your public library probably has a good array of audiobooks which you can check out along with the paper copy.