Dyslexia: What You Need To Know And How To Overcome It

Ahoy! If you are reading this, you must have found your way from Google after searching for “what is dyslexia” or “how to overcome dyslexia”.

First, let’s address the elephant in the room: whether you are dyslexic or you have a child with dyslexia, FRET NOT! Having worked closely with over 100 dyslexic kids and their parents for over 10 years, I can assure you that it can be overcome with the right methods. In fact, when put in the right environment, dyslexics can excel and even surpass their neurotypical peers.

HOWEVER!

You must first understand what dyslexia is all about. Know thy “enemy”, you know what I mean?

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Understanding dyslexia as a learning difference

What is dyslexia?

The International Dyslexia Association defines dyslexia as a neurobiological disorder characterised by difficulties in accurate or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. Additionally, according to Sir Jim Rose’s report, other characteristics of dyslexia may include poor phonological awareness, verbal memory, and verbal processing speed.

For this reason, dyslexics may experience more difficulty learning to read, write, spell, and, in some cases, even do math. However, it is rarely because of low intelligence or lack of effort. The “dyslexic brain” is wired differently, not that it is more stupid or that there is necessarily something wrong. This is also why there is no “cure” to dyslexia, at least not in the traditional sense of the word.

Dyslexia affects about 10 percent of the population in Singapore. That’s roughly 3 to 4 students per class in a mainstream school! For some children, it also does not get picked up until they are much older due to their adoption of strategies to mask their reading and spelling difficulties.

Finally, dyslexia is more of an umbrella term rather than a fixed set of learning difficulties. Again, no two dyslexics are the same, not even twins—I speak from personal experience, having taught three pairs of twins over the years. As such, students with dyslexia will have different experiences and learning profiles.

The negative aspects of dyslexia

Dyslexic students may struggle to keep up with their peers in school, especially in Singapore where the academic pace is fast. In my experience as an educational therapist, I have observed students to struggle more during their kindergarten or primary school years. Common subsets of problems may include:

• Phonological deficits, where one has trouble encoding/decoding the sounds of a word;
• Visual processing difficulties, where one has letter reversal or transposition difficulties;
• Poorer fine motor skills, where one finds it harder to write legibly;
• Lower self-confidence as a result of the above can cause them to misjudge their true potential and think negatively of themselves.

Read More About: The Signs & Symptoms of Dyslexia

Research has also shown that dyslexics tend to rely more on the right hemisphere of their brains to process information, which involves activities such as reading and solving math questions. This is different from neurotypical individuals who tend to use more of the left hemisphere for such activities. It is why younger students with dyslexia get overwhelmed when it comes to spelling, or quickly forget how to spell certain words after memorising them the night before.

Additionally, dyslexia may be accompanied by co-morbidities (i.e., other learning challenges). These may further hinder one’s learning in a mainstream school. Examples include:

• Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Students with ADHD may find it harder to stay focused on tasks that are overly challenging. In a mainstream setting where they are expected to stay seated and read their material quietly, they will have a higher tendency to “switch off”.
• Autism Spectrum Disorders: As autism is a spectrum of learning difficulties too, it’s difficult to say exactly how it will affect a dyslexic’s profile. However, reading comprehension tends to be one of the areas that is more noticeably affected.
• Auditory Processing Disorder: This will likely affect students’ ability to tell phonograms and cluster sounds apart, which in turn affects spelling.
• Dyspraxia: It mainly affects a student’s motor skills, and thus affects their ability to write legibly and coherently. As language acquisition often requires input (listening and seeing) and output (writing) simultaneously, this will make certain tasks like copying notes from the whiteboard or writing longer texts more challenging for the student, especially when they go on to secondary school.

At this point, it all probably sounds quite overwhelming. However, I have some good news for you.

Looking at dyslexia positively

Here’s the thing: dyslexics can function as well as neurotypical people, maybe even better in some areas. There is a cliche that says many dyslexics can see things that non-dyslexics do not.

That’s… not entirely false, but it’s not entirely true either.

Like every other person in the room, a dyslexic’s area of expertise is built on his/her attitude, aptitude, and personal experiences. I’ve had dyslexic students do well in Art, Math, English, and any other subject you can think of. Some were born with artistic gifts; others worked on their strengths by turning their negative experiences around.

Whatever the specifics, most are “built” like non-dyslexic people.

Just, you know, a little weaker in language acquisition at the beginning.

Ultimately, in the long run, it’s not the dyslexia that makes or breaks a person’s success. It is what they make of the strengths they already have and how they draw new ones from learning experiences.

And that’s all one would need to know for now at least. Not that overwhelming, eh?

So, with a better understanding of dyslexia, the follow-up question is: how do we overcome dyslexia?

Overcoming dyslexia

Step One: Get a formal psychological assessment

As clichéd as it sounds, the first step to beating dyslexia is to get your child tested for it. If you think your child might have dyslexia or any other kind of learning difficulty, you should get an assessment done ASAP.

Some parents might resist the idea of having a “label” as they think it stigmatises their child, but this is unwarranted. A formal report can give a better idea of the type of help that your child needs. It also identifies their strengths and weaknesses, and gives teachers and therapists a better idea of how to help them progress. In fact, many dyslexia organisations like the Dyslexia Association of Singapore and Swords & Stationery require students to have a formal diagnosis before they can be accepted into their programmes.

I cannot stress enough how important this is. Though it can be costly and there is a misconception that having a diagnosis equates to putting a label on the child, it will pay off. For one, it helps your child recognise the fact that they are not stupid, but rather wired differently. I have seen students who were full of anger and confusion because they did not know what was wrong with them. Ignorance is not bliss here.

Furthermore, you will need a diagnosis if you intend to apply for access arrangements (e.g., extra time for exams). This will provide your child with additional support if he or she is struggling in school.

Remember, having the “label” is not necessarily a bad thing. If you want peace of mind for yourself and your child, get them tested for dyslexia.

For More Information: How and Where to Get Your Child Assessed for Dyslexia

Step Two: Get help or seek intervention (i.e., “treatment” solutions for dyslexia)

As mentioned, there is no cure for dyslexia simply because it’s not a disease. However, one can overcome dyslexia’s biggest hurdles by getting help through intervention services (not tuition, but more on this later).

Initially, as you source for good, reliable help, you might be overwhelmed by the number of choices. Many times, I get call-ups from new parents who express their frustration at having to sift through the sheer number of educational therapy centres out there.

This is what I often advise parents to do:

1. Shortlist 5-6 dyslexia intervention service providers that give you the best vibes.
2. Prepare a list of questions to ask the service provider.
3. Drop them a message or call them up.
4. Ask them the questions that you’ve prepared, and let them know more about the type of help that your child needs.

Also, note the following:

• Is the educational therapist or service provider transparent with their programme and curriculum? This is more my opinion, but a professional should tell you what to expect. For instance, I make it clear to parents that there will be entire sessions where the kids will be watching a film or playing a game.
• Set your expectations clear. Do you want your child to enjoy the learning process, or do you want him to get at least a B3/AL3 for English? The therapist should be on-board with your expectations as much as you are with theirs.
• A good educational therapist will also have good rapport with the child. I am quite close to most of my students, even those who have graduated from the programme. We still play online games together from time to time. If your therapist and child can click, that’s a very good sign.

I would steer clear of traditional tuition agencies or centres, at least in the beginning. Nothing against them, but it is preferable to enlist the help of someone who is trained to help dyslexics and has worked with many over the years. A trained educational therapist can teach your child techniques such as sound blending and decoding, which will help in areas like reading and spelling. That is what your child needs at the beginning of his/her dyslexia journey, not an AL4 or AL3.

That said, once students get better at overcoming their dyslexic challenges, I don’t see a problem with sending them to mainstream tutors or tuition centres.

Step Three: Work closely with your child’s therapist

Once you have found help for your child, don’t think you can just outsource it entirely! You should work closely with the educational therapist, especially during the initial period. I’m not suggesting you should text the therapist every day or even every week, but a good therapist will update you when major milestones are hit.

Subsequently, you should also ask for follow-up solutions. Dyslexic students progress even faster when their family also supports them outside of the intervention programme.

And that brings me to my next point: how do you support your child at home, to help him or her cope with dyslexia?

Winning strategies to help your child cope with dyslexia

A good therapist can help the learner make significant progress within the first 6-8 months. After that, it takes longer to reach each new milestone.

If you want your child to progress even faster, you need to support him/her at home too. This is where you, the parent, should come in. Here are 9 powerful strategies to to help your child cope with dyslexia’s challenges:

1. Continue to love and support your child

As you continue to work closely with the therapist, it is also important to love your child for who they are and support them in their endeavours. Help them grow in their hobbies. Arrange for play dates or sleepovers. With the right help, dyslexic children can overcome the challenges of dyslexia, but they cannot do it without the support of a nurturing family.

Things you should do:

• Encourage your child to grow their strengths and interests.
• Encourage your child to work on their weaknesses, if possible. Yes, even if they drop Mother Tongue as a subject, it still pays off learning it conversationally or as a side interest. I absolutely hate it when my students are told to completely give up on something that they are weak at. You never know if they will ever become better at it, and what interesting pathways it will lead them to.
• Help your child develop their hobbies and build up their social skills.

Things you shouldn’t do:

• Tell your child to not work on their weaknesses.
• Make your child feel worse because of the dyslexic label.
• Insist on having your child do G3 or even G2 when they’re clearly not ready for it.
• Ignore their difficulties and struggles. Acknowledge them and work on finding solutions. Don’t just chalk it up to “being part of a phase”.

Dyslexic learners need plenty of positivity and encouragement from friends and family members. Let them know that the people around them are not giving up on them. This is an important factor in keeping them motivated to learn.

An ex-student of mine used to always shun reading difficult words when she was in Primary 4 and 5. She could not read most words with more than two syllables; often, she would refuse to continue reading upon hitting a stumbling block. It took me years of encouragement, positivity and motivational speeches to finally break that barrier. Today, at Secondary 2, she can read tongue-twisting words like “unintendedly”, and even reads fiction books on her own outside of school.

2. Celebrate every little victory

Continuing from the above point, dyslexic students can do well in life if parents cheer them on when new milestones are met, no matter how small the milestone is.

This is because progress appears in different forms. It could be in their spelling accuracy, reading fluency, or even initiative to complete their homework. Children want the approval of their parents, and a step in the right direction is always worth cheering them on for.

Hence, acknowledge your child’s successes, no matter how small they are. Get your child to see it as a personal victory too. In the long run, these little steps will add up and show in their academic performance and behaviour.

Be your child’s biggest cheerleader!

3. Create a supportive, dyslexia-friendly environment

Besides being a positive voice for your child, you can continue to support them by creating a dyslexia-friendly environment at home. Consider doing the following:

• Print out materials on coloured paper, with bigger fonts.
• Avoid using serif fonts. Instead, use dyslexia-friendly fonts like Dyslexie or Century Gothic.
• Break up complex assignments into manageable chunks.
• Avoid reprimanding your child because of poor grades.
• Praise your child if you see them putting in effort, regardless of the result.
• Get books that match your child’s literacy level. Comics are fine too.

These guidelines also work for tutors. If you’re unsure how to teach a dyslexic student effectively, consider adopting some of these suggestions, especially the ones below.

4. Work on your child’s strengths

Many dyslexics have strengths that neurotypical people don’t. For instance, they tend to be better at spatial reasoning and thinking out of the box.

Find out what your child’s strengths are and help them work on these areas. If they are very much into sports like soccer, consider signing them up with a kids’ soccer club. If they are artistically inclined, help them set up a portfolio page on Instagram.

NEVER let their academic weaknesses stop them from doing what they are good at. In this modern day and age, the developmental pathways of a child can go beyond the traditional “study hard ➜ get a degree ➜ find a job” route. There are many more possibilities for them to explore.

5. Read, read, and read some more!

Many of my current and ex-students have improved in their reading fluency by reading a lot. Indeed, there is no strategy more effective in overcoming dyslexia’s hurdles than just reading more.

One example that sticks with me is an ex-student whose dyslexia was so severe that he could not read words like ‘thrash’ when he was in Primary 4. However, as he grew older, he developed a voracious appetite for books. He started to read fantasy stories like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (which I highly recommend!). Together with what he learned in class, he improved tremendously in his reading ability. By the time he was in Secondary 1, he could attack long words like “unimaginatively” and “inexplicable”.

Of course, one problem is that many dyslexic children don’t like reading. If this applies to your child, don’t force it down their throat. Instead, slowly introduce them to different book types, including comics. We also strongly recommend gamebooks like the Choose Your Own Adventure series.

Finally, it helps if you are an avid reader too. Young children tend to model after adults, so if your child sees you reading consistently, he or she is more likely to follow suit.

6. Do paired reading with them

As mentioned above, many dyslexics are reluctant readers. To get my students to read more, one strategy I use is paired reading.

Paired reading is a reading strategy commonly used in classrooms to build reading skills. One person (typically an adult such as the teacher or parent) first reads a segment out loud, then the other (the child) reads the next segment. The adult may also ask questions to ensure that the child comprehends the text.

I can vouch for paired reading as one of the most effective strategies to help children read confidently. I do it with younger students all the time and they really enjoy it. It makes stories come to life, they get a chance to read and show off their fluency, and it is a good bonding activity. Students especially love reading characters’ speeches, putting on fake accents to sound more dramatic. It’s just super fun for everyone.

7. Introduce games that have teachable moments or educational elements

Most kids love games, and games can also shape how kids develop mentally, cognitively, behaviourally, and emotionally. A good strategy to help your child cope with dyslexia is to introduce games that have teachable moments or educational elements. These can be video games, tabletop games, or even physical games (Twister Sight Words, anyone?).

There are many wonderful video games for dyslexic students that help them build literacy skills and find joy in the learning process. Minecraft is the most obvious example, a game that many of my students enjoy playing. I’ve also managed to get them hooked on older games like Heroes of Might and Magic 3, a fantasy strategy game that requires plenty of reading comprehension. For more ideas, check out our article on recommended video games.

On the subject of tabletop games, most of them require players to tap on literacy and executive functioning skills. Players will need to read, comprehend, recall, and even exploit the rules while playing. I strongly recommend word-based games like Codenames and Pictionary, but don’t just limit yourself to this genre. There are hundreds of tabletop games that are great for dyslexic students. Visit our friends at Games@PI or drop by our centre if you’d like to pick up some.

Encourage your child to play games that can teach them skills and values. If they learn through fun, it helps them stay motivated to learn on their own in future.

8. Use mnemonics and short stories to help your child memorise difficult words

Mnemonic devices are great for helping students retrieve information. One such device is the use of acronyms. For example, a younger student may frequently misspell “the” as “teh”, but breaking it down into “two heavy elephants” may help him or her to spell the word with greater accuracy.

Similarly, short stories can help students spell complex words with more ease. My favourite sight word to teach is “immediately”, where I tell students to memorise the following story:

One day, at IMM, a man called Edi was hungry, so he immediately ate “-ly”.

Simple but effective. My students never misspelled “immediately” again after they were told this story.

Here’s another one:

There was an ex-cop by the name of Cru. He joined the CIA to catch this criminal, Ting, who was in excruciating pain.

There are many, many ways through which one can use mnemonics and storytelling to help students memorise information. Go wild and creative so long as it works. The sky’s the limit.

Concluding words: Dyslexia as a condition isn’t as daunting as it seems

Dyslexia may hinder your child’s progression during the early stages of their development. Furthermore, there is no way to permanently “get rid” of dyslexia or outgrow it.

However, with the right motivation, the right spirit, the right resources and the right people to help, the major challenges of dyslexia can be overcome. Your child can still do very well in life. For example, one of my ex-learners was a student leader at Singapore Polytechnic; another went on to do Aerospace Engineering after his GCE O-Level exams.

Heck, most of my students read and spell better than their neurotypical peers.

The important thing is to keep a cool head, get them assessed, then find someone whom they can trust to help them. When you and your child have established rapport and trust with the therapist (and vice versa), the pieces of the puzzle will start to fall into place. Eventually, the path ahead will be made clearer too, especially when progress picks up. That’s the “a-ha!” moment when you know your child has more or less conquered dyslexia’s biggest hurdles.

Have more questions on dyslexia? Leave a comment below or drop us a message. Follow Swords & Stationery on Facebook and Instagram for more updates!