Children With Dyslexia In The Classroom

How to deal with dyslexic children in the classroom

The primary issue with having a singular child with dyslexia in the classroom is not with the capability of the child, but in supporting that child’s natural learning while integrating and not alienating that child from the rest of the class.  Incorporating simple steps, processes, and procedures into the overall learning environment will seamlessly integrate the adaptation to the dyslexia with the overall teaching process.  You will find that this integration not only helps the dyslexic child, but may help all of the children in the class improve their learning skills ans study habits.

 Assignments And Class Organization

When a classroom is structured with redundant systems to support the learning process, the dyslexic child can thrive and the other children will not notice that there is any special treatment being allocated to that child.  This includes going through the extra effort of helping the overall class stay organized and structured in their approach to learning.  This includes maintaining and adhering to a syllabus that is given to students.  This syllabus should contain the entire structure of the class and assignments. This way if the dyslexic child cannot keep up with classroom discussion, they will have support materials and a place to reference information in the syllabus.  Encouraging students to offer support to each other as well as share phone numbers in order to communicate about assignments, is important in order to facilitate communication, support, and assistance that students can give to the dyslexic child and to each other.  This would also include having each student maintain a written checklist of activities they need to do each night and have prepared for the next day.  This structure will not only benefit the dyslexic child but will also improve the organizational skill set of the other students.

Subject Integration

 Not all classroom behaviors can be adapted to the needs of the dyslexic child.  In cases where a workaround cannot be developed, then that particular activity should be removed rather than risking the ostracization of the dyslexic child.  For example, reading aloud may be necessary to reinforce skills within the classroom.  But it may be preferred to allow students to volunteer for reading and not take the forced round robin approach that you may take if there were not a dyslexic child in the class.

The dyslexic child is capable of learning just as any other child.  What they need is more support systems and references available to them in order to allow them to adapt their condition and excel.  Encourage all students to use reference cards for everything from multiplication tables to proper ways of using cursive handwriting.  Over time the dyslexic child and the other children will utilize the reference materials less often, but having the reference as a support system will enable the dyslexic child to learn at their own pace.

Adaptation

Integrating children with dyslexia into the classroom is a task that requires more planning and structure on the part of the instructor.  This planning and time of additional structure is not to cater to the dyslexic child as much as it is to allow that child to be fully integrated into the normal environment of other non-dyslexic children.  The positive benefit is that all children can benefit from this additional structure.  It may well turn out that having a dyslexic child in their classroom is the reason that they learned better study habits, stronger organization, and improved learning skills.