Dyslexia is a common learning disorder that affects reading, writing, and spelling skills. Dyslexic kids and adults face problems with phonemic awareness, word decoding, and fluency. But dyslexic kids and adults can learn good reading skills and become self-assured with proper guidance. A reading tutor is a suitable guide for dyslexic students, as it offers structured and customized training. Here is how a reading tutor can be a good mentor to dyslexic students.
Learning About Dyslexia and Challenges
Dyslexia is not a measure of low IQ; it is a neurological disorder that impacts the brain in deciphering written language. The typical challenges dyslexic students encounter are
Difficulty recognizing and coping with sounds in words
Slow and struggling reading
Challenging spelling and writing
Reading difficulty to comprehend
A reading tutor with experience in dyslexia can provide targeted interventions to address these difficulties and help students develop essential literacy skills.
Step 1: Preliminary Assessment
The very first preliminary assessment is a stride in an effective reading intervention. It provides the tutor with sufficient detail to draft a record of the child’s strengths and weaknesses, including his or her unique reading difficulties. A thorough assessment includes:
Assessing phonemic awareness and decoding ability.
Tests of fluency and understanding.
Identification of any co-occurring learning difficulties.
From reading the test reports, the reading tutor plans a customized lesson plan with the specific needs of the student in mind.
Step 2: Application of a Structured Literacy Approach
One of the most effective means of helping dyslexic students is by using structured literacy interventions, for instance, by utilizing Orton-Gillingham tutoring. The strategy is:
Explicit: Direct teaching of rules and language patterns
Systematic: Master from basic to more complex concepts.
Multisensory: Employing vision, hearing, touch, and movement to learn.
Systematic Orton-Gillingham-trained reading specialist instruction allows dyslexic readers to break down words into smaller components that are easier to read.
Step 3: Developing Phonemic Awareness and Phonics Competency
Phonemic awareness-awareness and manipulation of sounds as letters are constructed in words—is most essential for most dyslexic readers. Strategies employed by a tutor for reading include:
Sound blending exercises
Sound-to-words analysis
Letter-sound linking exercises
Phonemic awareness is the foundation of effective phonics teaching, constructing readers who make sound-letter links and become decoding fluent.
Step 4: Constructing Fluency through Practice
Effortless and correct reading, or fluently reading, is the normal skill missing in the dyslexic reader. Strained and poor reading is threatening comprehension. Effortless reading can be achieved through the intervention of a reading tutor by
Offering regular practice reading
Working with the help of written material and audiobooks
Participating in controlled oral reading
Fluency development allows making reading confidence-building and helps dyslexic readers to bring more attention towards meaning.
Step 5: Improving Reading Comprehension
Dyslexic readers may still be struggling with comprehension despite being able to decode reading. Reading tutor improves comprehension through:
Teaching active reading methods like summarizing and predicting.
Encouraging visualization methods.
Using guided questions in building comprehension.
Improving reading skills improves comprehension such that dyslexic pupils will find it easier to appreciate reading and grasp subtle ideas.
Step 6: Facilitating Spelling and Writing Acquisition
Writing and spelling become problematic for dyslexic students due to issues in perceiving patterns and learning by heart letter groups. A reading tutor can step in and
Systematically instruct spelling concepts.
Utilizing multisensory spelling strategies such as sand writing.
Requesting the student to employ assistive technology to support writing.
Dyslexic students can write more effectively with practice and make sure they record their ideas.
Step 7: Confidence and Growth Mindset
Dyslexic students also tend to lack confidence and have low self-esteem because of reading difficulty. An effective reading tutor encourages a positive learning environment through:
l Complimenting and rewarding small gains and achievements.
l Setting goals within reach.
l Showing a positive learning attitude.
Dyslexic students can be taught that they possess the talent to improve their reading through effort and practice using a growth mindset.
Step 8: Providing Frequent Support and Collaboration
Children do well with continued intervention despite dyslexia, a lifelong disability. Frequent reading instruction is delivered by a reading tutor as well as with teachers, specialists, and parents. Key characteristics of frequent support are:
Regular monitoring of progress.
Adjusting instruction to changed needs.
Integration of home practice in reading.
Consistency of reading instruction on a regular basis is best achieved through coordination with the reading tutor and learner support system.
Final thoughts
A reading tutor can be the best friend of a dyslexic student by providing systematic, individualized, and multisensory instruction. From learning to read to confidence building, the proper tutor guides dyslexic students over barriers and to the discovery of their full potential. If you or someone you know is having a difficult time with dyslexia, choosing the services of a professional reading tutor who is trained in Orton-Gillingham tutoring can be the life-changing step towards literacy achievement.
