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Retraining Your Brain with Dyslexia

Of all the learning disorders, dyslexia is the most common one. It causes difficulties in reading, writing, and spelling. This disorder is neurological in origin and you are born with it. The sufferer will have a hard time with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and poor spelling. These difficulties are from the inability to move from phonics in language to actual properly spelled words. The result is the secondary consequences of problems with reading comprehension. This can cause a reduction in reading and cause a lack of vocabulary and background knowledge. You can never out grow dyslexia, but you can get assistance to help work through it. There is some evidence that says dyslexia is a genetic disorder found on chromosome 18.

To help people with dyslexia retrain their brains, they can take phonics lessons and practice daily. This will educe the brain to become active in other areas and improve reading ability and comprehension. Using a phonics program can help the brain make sense of the language and how it works. By looking at the word and hearing how it sounds, the dyslexic person is better able to make the transition from recognizing a word only by hearing it to seeing it as well. It has been shown that children who use phonics for at least an eight-week span of time will improve as reader to almost the same level as children the same age with out dyslexia. The phonics program seemed to help dyslexic children read and comprehend what they were reading better. This is an important part of a balanced literacy program for all learners and particularly for those with learning dyslexia.

Here are some a variety of outlined activities that may be used to teach phonics to learners with difficulties and/or dyslexia.

Concrete Themes

Beginning with concrete or real-world items based on the learners' interests is a great way to spark motivation and interest. By using their knowledge and expertise with concrete materials or real-world experiences children can make links that can be established between existing and new knowledge. For example, to teach a sound-symbol relationship of the letter "p" to a learner interested in the theme of food, the teacher could combine the phonics lesson by cooking popcorn. Others words having to do with the popcorn can be used to also demonstrate the letter “p” such as pop, plate, please, etc.

Sound-Scene Setting

A classroom can easily be transformed into a stimulating phonics environment by setting the room up with specific items to represent a certain sound. Using concrete materials and pictures that the children are used to and linked to the learner’s interests. For example, if the child or children are interested in the beach, the letter "b" can be discovered from the items set within the room. A beach scene could be incorporated and a bucket, boogie-board, blanket, bikini, beach bag, and posters displaying beach-related pictures can be set out. You can also use image illustration where a trail on phonetically related items are set out and as the student discovers them it will lead them to the scene of say the beach. This will engage the child’s interest and also allow them to learn new words.

Sound Signs

Help learners make large signs or charts for individual letters to be used as a wall display. The sign should show the letter in both upper and lower case like “Aa”. Following the talk of what the letter sounds like the child or children will then give examples of words that begin with that letter. The children can even cut out or draw pictures to add the sign. This will further help them recognize a word with an object. Instead of a sign one could also make a mobile. The letters would be in the center and the pictures and words hanging from the mobile itself.

Tactile Letters

Make "tactile" letters using sand, felt, cotton wool, pasta, seeds, buttons, sandpaper, velvet, and any other type of material. Use different colors and different textures for different letters. Have the child or children trace the letters with their fingers while saying the letter's name and sound. This helps learners develop and remember the "shape" of each letter, as well as its name and sound.