If you are reading this post, you are probably like most parents of dyslexic kids and earnestly seeking a way to help your child overcome their learning struggles. Â You’ve come to the right place because I am all about education here. Â After wasting years trying programs and treatments that didn’t work, I started this site to help parents be able to know what things will and what things won’t help their kids with dyslexia.
1.  Waiting. Dyslexia is not a developmental delay.  Dyslexic kids will become dyslexic adults. Studies have shown that dyslexic children who receive early intervention can learn to read without falling behind their peers.  Studies also show that kids who are poor readers in 3rd grade will continue to be poor readers into adulthood.  Click this post for more ideas on early intervention.
2. Â Non Orton-Gillingham-based reading programs. Â There is a reason that kids with dyslexia struggle with learning to read with the traditional phonics programs found in schools. Â Over 100 years ago Drs Orton and Gillingham researched methods that work with dyslexic readers and they still work today. Â Click on this post for more information on reading methods that work with dyslexic learners.
3. Â Supplements or drugs. Â While taking vitamins may be good for your health, they will not eliminate learning struggles. Â There are medications that may help with attention and focus issues but they will not eliminate dyslexia.
4. Â Trying harder. Â Dyslexia is sometimes called a ‘hidden disability’. Â You cannot tell if a person is dyslexic by looking at them, listening to them speak or hanging out with them at the mall. Â Because people with dyslexia are bright and articulate, their reading and writing struggles are often masked. Â This can appear to those who are as yet uneducated about dyslexia, to be a lack of effort or laziness. Â This is not the case. Â People with dyslexia desperately want to read and write better. Â Trying harder doesn’t help! Â The write teaching dyslexics the way they learn is what will help.
5. Â Worry. Â It is normal to be concerned about your kids’ future. Â All parents wonder about how to provide the best opportunities for their children. Â However, worrying about these things won’t help. Â What will help is to get educated about what dyslexia is, how dyslexics learn and what you can do as a parent to empower and advocate for your kids. Â Visit our Resources Page for our top picks on reliable sources of dyslexia information.
I know that I have tried all of these at one time or another.  Instead of looking back on the mistakes I’ve made along the way, I choose to adopt the attitude of Thomas Edison (whom is believed to have been dyslexic). Â
“I have not failed, I have found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Â Thomas Edison Â
How many of these have you tried? How is getting educated changing the way you deal with your child’s dyslexia?
Get Educated About Dyslexia
If you are looking to get educated about dyslexia and how to educate, encourage and empower your kids with dyslexia, you have come to the right place.
For more information on getting started homeschooling your child with dyslexia, download my free e-book, Homeschooling With Dyslexia 101, that covers things like understanding learning styles and teaching methods, how to create a positive learning environment and schedule, or how to set goals and get it all done.
For more information on specific strategies to teach your dyslexic child the way he or she learns, consider taking one of our Parent Dyslexia Classes. Â Classes now available are:
Teaching Reading: Â Methods That Work
Building Fluency and Comprehension
Or buy all 5 classes in our Foundation Bundle and receive a free download of my book, Dyslexia 101: Â Truths, Myths and What Really Works.
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An area i would like you to look at are the primitive reflexes and their involvement in developing and linking up the brain through the senses. Many childern and adults with learning challenges have retained reflexes and until they are integrated will always struggle with being physically able to learn. Without the senses and brain developed to a sufficient level the information won’t be able to be properly processed. It is important to have the senses and areas of the brain accessible if people are to stand any chance of improving their ability to be able to be able to learn. The reflexes are an area that is not understood or addressed enough yet everyone of us should have been through these stages of development during the first 4 years of life.
I would like this website to speak on the above subject. As a teacher for twenty years and a mother of a dyslexic son ( but didn’t realize the real problem until after he graduated) I have found mixed opinions of this. I haven’t found real secure research about the confidence of this notion.
If there is REALLY something to this I don’t want to discount its usefulness. I’m all for things that really help dyslexic students but then again I don’t want to waste my time and money.
We cannot use Orton-Gillingham Method with our child because he is Deaf and is ASL user since birth. Us parents are Deaf as well. So phonics are out. I have been looking for alternatives to Orton-Gillingham Method without success. Any advice?
Try child 1st products on Currclick.com Rather pricey for a downloadable product but they really helped my child. I did simple sentences, repeating them over and over with different cards.
I raised a son with dyslexia and he is very sucessful at compensating for it. He is now 23 and says it isn’t a problem for him it’s just the way his world is. We both feel the most important thing I did for him was to teach him to type. The letters on a keyboard can’t move around. He was in fourth grade before we started but if I had it to do over I would have started much sooner. He was in fourth grade when the school diagnosed him as Dyslexic and had no idea what to do for him but they were willing to try whatever I suggested. The second most useful tool was a pair of yellow hunting glasses. We tried a red overlay for His books but yellow worked best for him. His handwriting is horrible and always will be but fortantuatly we live in a technological society and he can always use a keyboard. He has his associates degree in diesel technology and even though he worked full time while going to school made the dean’s list about 1/2 the time.
Thanks for sharing a bit of your story, Deb! Sounds a bit like our adult kids with dyslexia. Very inspiring!!