What can Parents do?
(We have used he / him throughout for ease of reading)
A lot!
If you are worried or think there is a problem, then there probably is.
Don’t allow people to say, “Wait and your child will grow out of it.” He won’t if it’s dyslexia.
- Create good parent/school relationships. Be polite and diplomatic, but persevere.
- Talk to his teachers. State clearly what you think the problem is. Tell them what you have noticed. Find out if anyone has assessed your child.
- Ask them to suggest what you can all do about it. Try to work together.
- The National Literacy Strategy may be failing your child. Is the school supplementing your child’s curriculum with different or more appropriate teaching resources? What special needs literacy resources does the school have?
- Find out if your child is withdrawn from class for learning support lessons. What happens in these lessons? How big is the group? What are the difficulties of the other children?
- Ask about the Code of Practice and how it relates to your child’s problems.
- Find out if your child has an Individual Education Plan (IEP). Ask to see it. Find out when the review date is and ask to attend the meeting.
- Ask if it is appropriate for your child to see an educational psychologist. Simple tests may pinpoint your child’s problems.
- If your child’s teacher tells you that things are ‘improving’, ask the teacher how s/he knows or is monitoring this progress. What tests do they use in school?
- If your child’s teacher tells you that there are plenty of children in the class who are worse, you should start to be concerned that the teacher may have so many problems to deal with that your child may not get any help at all. Make sure that he does.
- If you are told that reading and writing difficulties are due to behaviour problems, this is almost certainly not the case if your child is dyslexic. It is more likely to be the other way round.
- Ask for your child’s daily and homework diary so that you can help him be more organized.
- Be aware of your rights as a parent and the duties of the education authority.
- If you are not satisfied that the school has properly identified your child’s needs, you can personally ask the head of your education authority for an assessment – this should not be refused without very good reason.
To Help Your Child:
- Avoid failure at home – he gets enough at school.
- Don’t allow him to see your anxiety, but let him know that you are aware of his problems and intend to help him.
- Listen to him. He knows how much he is struggling better than anyone, but remember that he doesn’t know why or what to do about it.
- Be positive and encourage him in the things he can do well.
- Don’t just tell him to try harder. He may be trying as hard as he can, or he may, through frustration, have given up.
- Don’t compare him to others – he does that himself.
- Watch for teasing and get it stopped.
- Read out loud often. Make sure that your child sees you reading.
- Encourage him to slow down.
- Don’t let him make dyslexia an excuse – it’s a reason.
- Don’t do homework for him. If he can’t do it after really trying, discuss this with his teacher. Set homework should always be achievable.
- Establish routines in the home and get him to stick to them.
- Make time to play games with him. Make sure there are opportunities for him to win! His confidence and self-esteem may be low and this will help a little.
- Help him with personal organization. If he is dyslexic he will almost certainly have a poor memory, so he will forget his bag, homework, lunch, and so on. Have a routine or checklist and get school to do the same. Try not to nag.
- Although we do not necessarily advocate full-time home education, we do believe that parents know how much their children are struggling. If you have plenty of patience and the right tools, you can make a huge contribution to your child’s literacy development, confidence and self-esteem with some appropriate home tuition. Dyslexikit may well be the right tool for you and your child.
- Praise, praise, praise!
- Above all, show him that you support and understand him.