Many people want to keep
the dyslexia label for a select few who meet the criteria for ‘classic
dyslexia’. Children where there is a
clear mismatch between their intellectual ability and their ability to read and
write. Children who struggle to learn to
read and write despite good quality general teaching. Others only consider dyslexia to be relevant
if you cannot read or write at all.
In my opinion, this is unhelpful for all involved and leads to much misery and frustration for children, teachers and parents as they all puzzle as to why ‘simple’ school tasks seem to take so much time and energy. Often children who are in fact working harder than their peers are accused of being slow, lazy and careless with their work.
As someone who is dyslexic I know that the difficulties with
reading and writing are only one aspect of this complex learning difficulty. As
an adult, it is the other difficulties that remain and cause the most problems:
difficulties hearing and following a series of instructions, difficulties with
organisation and doing things in a logical sequence, difficulties remembering
phone numbers and PIN codes, muddling names and struggling to bring the right
word to mind are just a few.
Some teachers,
schools and educational professionals are beginning to realise that a broader
understanding of dyslexia to include children with any combination of working
memory difficulties, visual perception difficulties, auditory processing
difficulties, motor skills and coordination difficulties, sequencing
difficulties is much more helpful. As I have mentioned in previous
articles, dyslexia interventions are good for all children and are certainly
not harmful if is later decided that ‘dyslexia’ is not the best way of
understanding the child’s difficulties. However dyslexic students will not
grasp many basic skills without these interventions and may develop unhelpful
coping strategies: copying, masking and avoiding tasks they find difficult.
In this article, I want to focus on Stealth dyslexia and how to practically support students with this
difficulty. As its name suggests it
often goes ‘under the radar’ and is a form of dyslexia that is undetected in many
students. Typically, these are bright
students who always seem to be underachieving in school related tasks. While
these students many seem to cope quite well in primary school, the difficulties
can have a profound affect particularly when education becomes more complex
towards the end of high school, at college and university. In my previous article (August 2017) I refer to an excellent article by
Brock and Fernette Eide (Dyslexia Advantage) explaining the main characteristics
or signs of Stealth dyslexia, so here I will just focus on effective
interventions.
What should we do to
help?
Each child will be
different, but these interventions offer a good starting point for most
students. As very often Stealth dyslexia is noticed in secondary school rather
than primary school, I have selected resources more suitable for older
students. Other useful resources are
mentioned on the Dyslexia – Teacher's page
1.One of the
difficulties is sounding out words, due to an under developed understanding
of phonics and how to break up polysyllabic words. Very often words are learnt
by sight through traditional reading schemes and unfamiliar words are usually
worked out from the context. Syllable division is rarely taught explicitly and
children are just expected to pick it up. The child’s average or above average
comprehension often masks the difficulties they have in decoding.
Stride Ahead is a
great resource for developing reading accuracy and syllable division. It is a ‘grown
up’ version of Toe by Toe and is suitable for students of 10 or older. It focuses on syllable division and common
letter patterns and teaches them step by step.
It involves meeting timed targets which is good for motivating students
to improve their skills.
Units of Sound is
a computer program originally devised by Dyslexia Action to practice reading, spelling and
memory skills. It is now available online and can be purchased by the school or individually by parents. It is effective and is
particularly good for older students, it has a placement test so that the
letter patterns practiced are those the student actually finds difficult. The program explicitly teaches ‘units of
sound’ or letter patterns and relates these to common words. The program
frequently revisits patterns previously learnt so that they are remembered. https://www.nisai.com/unitsofsound/
2. Many children with
learning difficulties have undetected visual difficulties which can have a
big impact on reading and writing.
Vision is a complex area and is much more than whether we can see or not
(long or short sightedness). There are
many aspects to visual perception and visual efficiency each of which can make
visual tasks hard and tiring. Children can
not explain that they are having visual difficulties and often don’t know that what
they see is not what others see. Consulting
behavioural optometrist for a visual
perceptual assessment is a simple step in understanding whether this an area of
difficulty or not. All the tests are standardised and visual therapy and
exercises will then be recommended as appropriate. Many of the skills can be worked on and
improved making reading and writing less demanding. Eye Can Learn is an excellent website for parents that clearly explains the different aspects of vision and gives practical activities to try.
3. It is a good idea
to try to use strategies to make reading less demanding: listening to audio books, making use of text
reading features on ipads and on Google and adults acting as a reader. This is particularly necessary when a text
has a lot of new or technical vocabulary where context and good comprehension cannot
be used to compensate for weak decoding skills.
4. Writing using a
computer can lessen many of the difficulties dyslexic students experience with
writing – sequencing, spelling, handwriting.
Being able to edit and correct easily is extremely helpful, as are
spell and grammar checkers. Developing good keyboard skills is
important to make this an effective option, BBC Dance Mat typing is one of many
programs you could follow.
5.Thinking and
writing in a logical sequence can be difficult. Programs like Inspiration and Kidspiration allow a child to make
notes in a haphazard fashion as ideas come to them. It will them turn these into a linear prose
which can then be expanded upon. https://www.inspiration-at.com/
Post-It
notes can also be an option for noting your ideas as they come to you and then ordering ideas and linking ideas that go together. Sentences can then be written for each idea.
Parents and teachers should encourage the child to explore
different ways of presenting information that are less laborious. This could include charts, annotating or labeling pictures or diagrams, using bullet points and photos on Powerpoint. Adaptions and concessions should be made to
both in class and for homework with teachers being mindful about the purpose of
the task - showing understanding of concepts or information or developing writing skills. Programs like Kami https://www.kamiapp.com/ and Seesaw https://web.seesaw.me/ open up a wealth of options for students to record their ideas and understanding
6. Just being aware
that reading and written tasks will take longer can eliminate some of the
stress students often experience. As
a parent, you can help your child map out how many sessions it will really take
to complete a homework task and avoid the last minute panic.
7. Proof reading is
a difficult skill for all and teachers frequently underestimate how hard it can
be notice your own mistakes, when your brain tells you that what you have written is
correct. It is better to accept that you
will always need all your written work proof
read by some else: a parent, a teacher, sibling or friend.
8. Patience!
As an adult with
Stealth dyslexia I can tell you that there are no quick fixes. But learning to understand yourself and your
challenges goes a long way to helping to find a way through.