Dyslexic - Spelling Help

sooty&sweep

Hi
My son is 13 & dyslexic and as such he struggles with spelling.
We can work through a list of spellings and he'll learn them but two weeks later he's forgotten them.
Has anyone got any advice on strategies to help him ? Realistically he'll never be good but I'm looking for strategies to help him on a day to day basis.
I'm considering getting him an electronic spell checker but I'm seeing mixed reviews. Any recommendations ?
Thanks Jen

Indie_Kid

How are you going through the spellings with him? You may find that if you go through them a different way with him, he may remember them.

Mojisola

Are you in contact with any of the national dyslexia organisations?

sooty&sweep

No I'm not in contact with any of the organisations. Any recommendations ?

We look at the spelling list together & try & break the words into chunks that he can remember but with some words yiu just have to learn them and he'll learn them for a test but then seems to forget again.
Jen

Indie_Kid

I can't remember the proper name for this; but we learnt this way:
because - Big Elephants Can't Always Understand Small Elephants.

I am not Dyslexic; so I'm not too sure whether that would help. How does the school teach their Dyslexic students with spelling?

room512

Indie_Kid wrote: »

I can't remember the proper name for this; but we learnt this way:
because - Big Elephants Can't Always Understand Small Elephants.

I am not Dyslexic; so I'm not too sure whether that would help. How does the school teach their Dyslexic students with spelling?

It's called a mnemonic - OH and I were talking about them the other day

pmlindyloo

Forget learning spellings through a list.

Children who are not dyslexic have difficulty with this! Seem to know them and then forget later.

Spelling is learnt through a combination of spelling strategies, knowledge of phonics and reading.

For dyslexics of your child's age a really helpful aid is a dyslexic dictionary.

I can't post a link at the moment but google dyslexic dictionary and Amazon have a selection ( read the reviews)

You might want to start with buying a 'used' one as not all children find them helpful. For those who do it is magic!

WolfSong2000

I don't have dyslexia, but have the mathematical equivalent...means I have a masters degree, yet despite 3 attempts never passed GCSE maths! Despite this, I have managed to work in jobs which require mathematical calculations. What helped me, rather than "formal" training (where I could never seem to retain the information) it was just a case of practice. For dyslexia, I am guessing that reading as much as possible may help. Find books he'll enjoy and make sure you never tell him that "realistically he'll be no good". I endured years of people telling me that with my maths, but it's not true - all it means is ou brains are wired differently and we have to find a different way to learn, but it can be done

MrsDrink

If your son can segment a word into its phonemes try this.... http://www.amazon.co.uk/ACE-Spelling-Dictionary-David-Moseley/dp/1855032147 if I remember correctly the words are written phonetically then in the correct spelling.

Counting_Pennies_2

Have you tried printing them out on yellow or green paper?


Apparently dyslexic children can read words better when the background is coloured.


Many children are given yellow or green glasses to help them in day to day life.


It might be worth looking into having a review

Indie_Kid

Counting_Pennies wrote: »

Have you tried printing them out on yellow or green paper?


Apparently dyslexic children can read words better when the background is coloured.


Many children are given yellow or green glasses to help them in day to day life.


It might be worth looking into having a review

Agreed. The name of the condition you're talking about is Irlens Syndrome. It's common in people with learning difficulties, including Dyslexia.

White paper is meant to be one of the hardest colours to read off.