Rachel Miller is on a mission. Rachel – a Young Ambassador for Dyslexia Scotland – wants to make sure that all pupils with dyslexia know that with hard work and the right support they can achieve anything. Here, Rachel shares some of her tips for teachers about supporting pupils with dyslexia; the types of things, from her experience, that have been helpful and some that haven’t.
Things that teachers sometimes say that aren’t helpful:
You haven’t written much
Listen more carefully
You just need to try a wee bit harder.
Read more carefully….the answer is in the passage
Hurry up
You need to be more careful
10 ways that teachers can help:
- Listen to pupils – ask what is working well for them and what support they need.
- Break down instructions into short, easy to remember chunks.
- Praise pupils’ strengths to boost their confidence.
- Remember every pupil with dyslexia is different and no two pupils will have the same learning style. Therefore, support that works for one pupil with dyslexia may not work for another.
- Sit pupils with dyslexia with other pupils who can support them.
- Give pupils with dyslexia more time to do their work and more time in exams.
- Encourage the use of technology, like an iPad for spell checking.
- Allow pupils’ work to be presented in different ways
- Share information with families about how they can help support their child’s learning at home.
- Share information about Dyslexia Unwrapped – the online hub for young people with dyslexia.
More information for teachers
The Addressing Dyslexia Toolkit is a free comprehensive online resource for all who are involved in the identification and support of learners aged 3-18 years who are showing signs of literacy difficulties.
Enquire’s website for children and young people – Reach – has lots of information written by pupils with additional support needs about what can help in school.
Thanks to Rachel and Dyslexia Scotland.
