When you have a child who is dyslexic, every school day can seem like a major struggle for them and for you. Many children with dyslexia not only have trouble in school but also find themselves falling further and further behind as the years progress. However, there are ways to combat this problem with your child so that they can be successful in both their childhood education and even in college and beyond. Get to know some of the ways that you can help your child with their dyslexia so that you can ensure that they can achieve everything that they want in life.
Be Sure Your Child Communicates Openly With Their Teacher
While you may want to step in and intervene with all of your child's teachers in school to make sure that they know your child is dyslexic and to make sure they make the proper accommodations, once your child is out of elementary school, your constant interventions can actually be a hindrance to their future success.
You want your child to be self-sufficient and know what works for them in school and what does not. As such, you want to be sure that you teach your child the importance of communicating with their teachers and advocating for themselves and their needs as a dyslexic student. Once they get to college, you will not be able to step in on their behalf. So, the sooner they start, the better they will do in school and college.
Help Your Child Build Lifelong Reading and Vocabulary Strategies
Children with dyslexia find reading written text and vocabulary to be a major challenge. Traditional learning strategies often do not work for dyslexic students so it will be largely up to you and your child to find strategies that do work.
One option is to make learning vocabulary a more visual or imagery-based task. When your child is trying to learn a new vocabulary word from a school-provided list, you can create flashcards together to create visual associations between that word and a photograph or drawing. This helps improve retention and memory.
You can also help your child develop storytelling and story creation strategies for learning vocabulary and new concepts. It is important for dyslexic students to get a deep understanding of a written word so that they can better remember it. This can be accomplished by having them write stories using the words that they can remember and/or providing context. The context and storytelling strategy can be carried on throughout their entire academic career including college to learn complex vocabulary and new ideas in classes as complex as medical sciences or legal studies classes.
Now that you know a few of the ways that you can help your dyslexic child succeed in school and college, you can get started and be sure that you are doing everything in your power to ensure they achieve all of their goals in life.
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