Ulster teachers have been issued with guidance to help them spot pupils with
dyslexia.
To mark National Dyslexia Week and Right to Read Week - both this week -
iansyst, an organisation offering independent expert advice on the best
technology available to help dyslexic people has developed tips to help
teachers and parents identify a child with the condition.
Sharon Goldie, educational consultant with iansyst has advice on how to spot
the warning signs and how to offer the right classroom support.
She said that teachers and parents should consider if dyslexia is a factor
when a child's written work is a real disappointment.
"Often children with dyslexia talk very well about a subject but the
ideas and vocabulary do not translate to their written work," she
explained.
"Is the child's work untidy and badly presented with lots of crossing
outs, badly formed letters or upper case letters in the middle of words?
Many children with dyslexia lack the fine motor skills needed for neat
legible writing.
"Some children have little sense of the length of a word or how to
segment it.
"They omit vowels, reverse letters or confuse letters such as b and d."
She explained that this can also extend to pronunciation.
Other warning signs include if a child is hesitant when answering questions
or reading.
"The child may have a processing difficulty where the brain takes
longer to sift information," she said.
"Children with dyslexia have problems with the memory shelf and may
find it very hard to recall a sequence of instructions in the right order."
She says it is important to create the right atmosphere so that pupils feel
secure and know they can make mistakes.
She continued: "Keep instructions and explanations short and repeat as
often as necessary and remember that a child may have a limited working
memory."
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