Dyslexia: how to recognize the problem and help the child

Difficulties in mastering reading are not uncommon, they are familiar to about every tenth schoolchild. How to notice violations in a timely manner? “The diagnosis of dyslexia can only be made to a schoolchild, and then not in the first months of study, but closer to the second grade. In children who do not yet go to school, we can only talk about a predisposition to dyslexia, ”explains Olga Velichenkova, an expert at the Association of Parents of Children with Dyslexia.

What should parents pay attention to?

Difficulties in a preschooler 5-6 years old

Speech disorders

• Late onset of speech – the child spoke closer to 3 years, speech developed slowly.
• There are violations of sound pronunciation and difficulties in reproducing relatively complex words – not a dog, but “fabaka”, not “square”, but “square”, not stockings, but “gofli”.
• A child cannot learn a simple poem of 4-6 lines.

Problems with voluntary regulation

The child is restless or, conversely, slow, it is difficult for him to complete tasks consisting of a sequence of several actions. All this indicates an insufficient level of development of those mental processes on which the formation of writing and reading in the future depends.

Motor difficulties

General awkwardness, difficulty performing rhythmic movements, problems with fine motor skills – cannot tie shoelaces, does not hold a pen correctly, cannot cope with mosaics.

visuo-spatial disorders

• The child finds it difficult to say where his left hand is, and where his right hand, there may be orientation disorders in the surrounding space.
• He’s not very good at games that involve space – Tetris, building blocks, copy-and-paste.

All these are basic mental functions, on the basis of which writing and reading skills “grow”. Therefore, to be sure that there are no problems, at the age of 3, 5 and 7 years, it makes sense to show the child to a speech therapist and psychologist in order to notice or exclude violations in his development in a timely manner.

First grade disorders

• Prolonged distinct difficulty in remembering letters and their sound meanings. Inability to correlate letter and sound.
• Difficulties in syllables: repeated many times how to read a syllable, but the child cannot reproduce it. Or he read one syllable, but he already forgot how to read the next one. That is, there is no automation of syllable fusion.
• Reading the text syllable by syllable, he cannot compose a whole word and understand its meaning.
• There are omissions and distortions of letters in the copybooks, the loss of a line, difficulties with graphomotor skills – pressure force, accuracy, rhythm and smoothness of movements.

Second grade disorder

• Slow reading rate – the specialist knows the threshold number of words per minute, and he makes a judgment.
• Reading only in syllables.
• A large number of reading errors – substitutions, omissions, permutations of letters, guessing.
• Violation of the semantic side of reading: the child does not understand or poorly understands what is read.

Parental Prejudices That Should Be Dispelled

1. Mirroring is a mandatory sign of dyslexia

Noticing that a child is mirroring letters and numbers—writing, say, “R” or “K” backwards, as in a mirror—parents often think that this is a symptom of dyslexia. In fact, for a preschooler who masters writing and reading, this is a completely normal and transient phenomenon.

Now, if a child in grades 2-3, with a standard learning mode, is not able to reproduce the visual image of a letter, its spatial orientation, only then can we talk about mirroring as a sign of dyslexia.

2. Difficulties in reading and writing can be eliminated in a few sessions

This is not true. Reading and writing skills are formed for many years, and specific problems cannot be removed in 10 lessons.

3. There is no cure for dyslexia

Sometimes parents only care about one thing – to arrange so that the child does not receive bad marks. “It’s impossible to fix the violation, it’s pointless to even try, so our task is to change the grading system.” It is more important for them to stay in the comfort zone, and not to help the child overcome difficulties. In fact, this problem is solvable, only it requires a lot of effort and patience from parents, and most importantly, a sincere desire to help.

What can parents do?

Tune in for a long work and be sure to find time to rest and recuperate, because the child has nowhere to seek understanding and support, except for the family.

Books and films that describe such situations will help create a positive attitude. For example, the film Stars on the Earth and Rello Luz’s book Let’s Talk About Dyslexia are suitable. Personal experience and scientific research” (Olimp-Business, 2021).

Find out from a specialist what the main problem is, – your homework will depend on this.

If, say, a child has pronounced speech difficulties, then it is necessary:

• read aloud more. Optimally – 40 minutes of daily reading to an adult child of that literature that will bring joy to both you and him;
• play speech games: play some board games like Scrabble or Guess in Five Seconds;
• simplify cumbersome phrases that are found in textbooks: make them shorter, adapt, explain the meanings of unknown words;
• often ask the child what a particular word means. Then the child will gradually get into the habit of asking you about it too. Explaining the meaning of what is read greatly facilitates the learning process.

Ask for help

В Associations of Parents of Children with Dyslexia you can get a free consultation of a speech therapist and a neuropsychologist: primary (25 minutes) and diagnostic (55 minutes), and a reasoned conclusion with recommendations for overcoming problems. Here you can make an appointment for a free diagnostic appointment, and here — watch webinars for parents and professionals.

Long-term support can be obtained in the system of free psychological and pedagogical assistance. Any situation of school failure is a reason for contacting psychological-medical-pedagogical commission (PMPC) of your city. Having found out that a preschooler or first grader has a predisposition to dyslexia, the PMPK recommends an adapted program for him: a speech therapist and a psychologist will work with him until he moves to secondary school.