Spelling strategies for dyslexia

Our youngest child was diagnosed with dyslexia in 2021.

We suspected he may be having difficulties with spelling, reading and writing, but were assured by his primary school teachers that he was where he needed to be.

Homeschooling during the Coronavirus pandemic really made us reaslise that he was experiencing difficulties remembering what he was being taught - although he thrived on the one-to-one support and is a very smart kid.

We took the decision to get an independent assessment carried out by an educational psychologist, who confirmed his diagnosis.

We've been really surprised by the lack of practical resources and support available, either in person, or online. Fortunately, a good friend is a teacher and is specialising in supporting children with dyslexia. She was able to point us to resources so we could start to educate ourselves about the support our child needs. She also shared techniques we could use to support learning at home.

We are really at the start of our jouney with understanding dyslexia and what it means for us - as it affects each individual in different ways.

This video demonstrates the techniques we have been shown to help support learning, and so far, they are working. They are based on reseaech done by Kathleen Kelly and Sylvia Phillips and detailed in their book Teaching Literacy to Learners with Dyslexia: A Multisensory Approach.

We think it's important to share these as they may benefit other families, but please seek professional support so that you understand your childs specific strengths and areas for development.

The basis of these techniques is that they engage a range of the learners senses (kinesthetic learning) - stimulating different part of the brain to supporting learning and retention of information.

The wooden letters we use are a couple of pounds from Amazon.