Dyslexia Treatment:
 Hints and Tips for
 Parents

  Dyslexia Parents Resource

Tell us about ways in which you help and support your dyslexic child

Dyslexia Treatment: This page is your page, so please send us methods, little tricks you have developed, and other hints and tips you find helpful in dealing with your dyslexic child. (You may choose to be anonymous.)

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Sign language - My eight year daughter has always had a hard time in spelling. We tried everything from sand letter, clay letters, cookie dough - nothing worked! This past year I have found that sign language has helped her to spell her word for tests. We use it all the time now and her grades have come up. (Stephanie, Texas)

Tinted glasses - My dyslexic son was prescribed blue tinted glasses which made a huge difference to his reading ability and speed. He still had problems however following text and would miss one or two lines out. This would make what he was reading disjointed and take the pleasure out of reading which was a chore for him anyway. I made him a small ruler sized screen out of black card out of which I cut a strip sufficient to read one line of text. I covered this with a small piece of blue laminate and laminated the whole thing. It was just the right size and discrete enough to fit into his pencil case. It helped him to follow text more accurately and you could substitute other colors if you prefer. (G.H., Redditch, UK)

Large print spellings - I type spelling words in MS Word, select a large font size (font = 72) and print the words onto large index cards. This way my second-grade son has the individual word in front of him when using it in sentences or writing and can focus on the one word. I also allow him him to draw a picture on the back which he associates with the meaning of the word. (R. J., Decatur, GA)

Mnemonic spelling - My daughter is 8 years old and has just been identified as having a learning disability. She has difficulty remembering her spelling words beyond the weekly spelling test. Mnemonic spelling seems to be really helping her. We also use a variety of other things such as spelling in salt, clay, dry ease markers, and stamping letters. Here are some of the saying we have used to correct a few words. They are silly, but they work for us. I hope they will help someone else too.
Because - Big Elephants Can't Always Use Small Elevators. (great visual)
Again - Again, Gorillas Appear In Nighties.
Friend - Every friend has an I, and hopefully it will never END.
Front - Wreath ON front door. The "O" in on is round like the wreath. (S.S., USA)

More mnemonics - Some more good phrases:
Because - Bake Every Cake And Use Six Eggs.
Said - Sally Ann Is Dancing
Could - Can Oliver Understand Long Division
Rhythm - Rhythm Has Your Two Hips Moving
They - They Hate Eating Yogurt
Wednesday - WE Do Not Eat Sweets DAY
Tuesday - Tuesday - U Eat Sweets DAY. (Julie, UK)

Animal mnemonics - my son enjoys finding ways to remember spellings this way:
you - Yellow Octopus Underground.
like - Lions In Kenya Eat.
are - Ants Run Eating.
They all seem to have to be connected to animals.

White text on black background - My dyslexic college student son often forgets what he has just read. He finds it much better if he reads text which is reversed out (white text on black background). Most schools and colleges now allow a great deal of course work to be done on computer so the student can key the work in reversed out, and then select the whole piece and change to normal text at the touch of a button before printing out to hand in to the tutor. (H. S., Hornsea, England) [Editor's note: sensitivity to reading text printed on a white background is one feature of Irlen Syndrome (Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome), and your son might benefit from wearing tinted glasses prescribed by a certified Irlen specialist.]

Alphabet in rice - My 5 year old son was having a terrible time learning his alphabet. I noticed a big difference when we got out a cookie sheet, filled it with uncooked rice and he practiced making the letters in the rice (similar to writing in the sand at the beach). When we wanted to do a new letter, a little shake of the tray and we had a clean slate.. (D, Y., Aloha, Oregon, USA)

Provide a copy - I spoke to his teacher the first week and asked for help with things she has on the board. Its hard for my son to copy before she moves on. So she has agreed to make a copy of what she puts on the board and give to him in advance. Also since she is requiring everything to be in complete sentences is hard for him to think and get it to paper with having to think about spelling; so as long as I write it the way he says it I can put it on paper for him. In turn she is reading his tests to him and writing his answers for him on the paper so that she is getting a true reading on his understanding of the materials. (P, USA)

Teenage helper - My dyslexic son, age 8, was not interested in any extra help or tutoring. I found a 14 year old boy in the neighborhood to come over and hang out with him for an hour and a half three times a week. They read, play educational games, do workbook activities, artwork, etc. My son thinks it is great to have an older boy come to the house and be with him. My other children are jealous because they want a special friend too. (L.H.R., USA)

Could, would, should - To remember how to spell the end of 'could', 'would' and 'should' - ould - say: oranges up, lemons down! (L.W.L., UK)

Car license plates - the game of watching car license plates and then having the child repeat back the numbers forward or backward is excellent for remembering sequences. (G.W., Utah, USA)

Make alphabet biscuits together, or use 'writing icing' to make words on ordinary ones - everyone has to say the one they have before eating it! (S. H-C, Surrey, UK)

Doing the ironong while he counts backwards - Counting backwards for my son is not too bad, although he did get rather stressed about it and made some mistakes, which caused him to make some more. We had to abandon the exercise. The following day I tried again. After several attempts he did manage to count backwards to 100 with only one error. He does find it easier when his brothers and father are not around. I made sure I was doing something like the ironing so that I did not seem to be focused just on him, this seemed to work as we had no problems after this. Some parents have also noticed that their child feels less 'put on the spot' if they are asked to do an exercise like this while their parent is driving the car. (R.W., Falkland Islands)

Studying for Exams - My son was diagnosed at 11 with dyslexia and learns verbally, so struggles with revising. I became his study buddy for his exams at age 16. He learns as much as he can then tells me verbally the information. We write on cards the stuff he is not sure of and condense it down until he knows it. Past papers are good as they get used to answering the questions which are generally repeated in a different way in each year's exams. He is now hoping to go to university next year. (R.S., Lancashire, UK)

My child hates typing - My child hates typing on the computer because of spelling. She says it's because she can't remember which spellings to check later. So I told her to change the font color to red for difficult words. It works like a charm because now I know that if the word is red it needs cheeking. (Anna D.)

My Helper Pack - My child has a thing I put together that I call a Helper Pack. This is a drawstring bag that I have made. In it I put things that help her, like a small dictionary and thesaurus, a personal CD player (we dscovered this helps), CDs, her small teddy hidden inside a pencil case (she likes to have him there
in case she's sad), a folder with sleeves that has the formats for her writing, a sheet with the alphabet printed on it, a times tables sheet, and other helpful thing for work that she can't remember which I write them down for her. I also add personal notes and memos. (Anna D.)

The 'Mac' Game - We play games such as: "Your name is Mac. If you were a boy what would your name be? ...  If you were an animal/tree/flower what would you be?" All begining with M. It works as it make my son think about letters and it's fun. (Phillip S.)

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