How to help students with dyslexia in the classroom
Everyone wants to understand and be understood. But we don't all learn the same way. For students with dyslexia, reading and writing is sometimes a challenge. This is why we need to remove barriers in the classroom so that all students have equal opportunities to learn and thrive.
What is dyslexia?
Every student is different. But it’s still important to know what the common signs of dyslexia are.
Dyslexic students can show a reluctance to read aloud, skipping words or lines of text entirely, mixing up letters and words and writing with untidy handwriting.
They may also have problems with their working memory, like a difficulty remembering directions, and storing information. Executive functioning issues are also common, such as being messy, distracted easily, and disorganized.
Introducing Read&Write: our literacy support tool
This means it's important to remove barriers and provide the right accommodations so that students with dyslexia can be measured by their ability.
With an easy-to-use toolbar, Read&Write does exactly this for your classroom. It provides support during everyday tasks like reading aloud, learning new words and completing assignments. This means every learner with dyslexia has all the tools they need to succeed.
What Read&Write tools can be used to support students with dyslexia?
Vocabulary
Dictionary and Picture Dictionary: Provides a dictionary definition and sample sentence, which can be read aloud. As well as picture dictionaries to help students visualise what they want to say.
Translator: Can translate words in over 90 different languages. For many languages, you can also read the translated word aloud. This lets students easily translate a word they’re not sure of to aid comprehension and vocabulary building.
Comprehension
Text-to-speech: Hearing text read aloud helps students focus on comprehension rather than needing to figure out what words mean.
Screen Masking: Tints the screen to help dyslexic students pick what to focus on while masking surrounding areas. This helps students to absorb relevant information and work through text.
Writing Support
Prediction: Provides in context word prediction as the student types. As a result, students can concentrate on the content of their work, rather than spelling and vocabulary issues.
Talk&Type: Lets students record speech and transform what they say into written text. This helps students with dyslexia to be independent and have confidence in their work, whether in school or at home.
Check It: Reviews word for incorrect spelling, grammar and punctuation, along with ‘sound alike’ or phonetic spelling errors.
What benefits can Read&Write bring for students with dyslexia?
Improve student confidence
Providing a literacy toolbar allows students’ strengths to shine. Students with dyslexia are able to unlock their own potential and intelligence. In doing so, students grow in confidence as they see what they can achieve when given the right tools.
Let students learn in ways that work for them
With access to a suite of 20 different reading tools, Read&Write creates independent learners. Instead of seeking out teacher assistance, students can use Read&Write’s easy-to-use toolbar to quickly choose what they need. This lets students figure things out on their own, which helps encourage productive struggle.
Give dyslexic students their time back
As reading instruction gets better, students with dyslexia will be able to become more accurate readers. However, these students may never become rapid readers. As Dr Sally Shaywitz highlights: “Dyslexia robs a person of time; accommodations return it.” Read&Write returns this lost time.
Foster an Inclusive Learning Environment
Read&Write creates an inclusive classroom where dyslexic students are able to thrive and collaborate with the whole classroom, instead of being alienated by their learning needs.
"Read&Write completely changed my mindset. It helped me realise that constantly struggling wasn’t normal. It gave me hope that I [would] make it and be okay. I also really appreciate Read&Write because it is designed for people just like me. I don’t feel like I have to change myself to use this tool. Instead, the tool works naturally with me."
All this & more available with
Helps millions of students and adults worldwide to read, and write and express themselves independently.
Are you ready to find out more about Read&Write?
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