Dyslexia: 10 keys to avoid school failure

Let's imagine that we try to read a text or a simple sentence and the letters begin to move and change their position, it would be very difficult for us to understand each word and even more the complete text. Something similar to this is what happens in the mind of a boy or girl with dyslexia when you try to read or write.

What is dyslexia?

The dyslexia It is a learning difficulty that affects the reading and writing processes, but "in many cases it is not detected and, as a consequence, it is not treated adequately, resulting in high rates of school failure", according to Celia Rodríguez, psychologist and pedagogue.

Thus, dyslexic children do not have a lower capacity for learning, but a different way of processing the information that usually hinders their educational process. Therefore, they have specific didactic needs that must be considered and addressed in a particular way in the classroom.


Dyslexia: great barriers in learning

Traditionally, the methods of presentation and evaluation of contents are based on written language and in very few occasions other ways of learning are accommodated. Therefore, children with dyslexia often encounter great barriers derived from these traditional systems. Thus, the psychologist Celia Rodríquez states that "if we respond to the needs of students with dyslexia it does not have to appear school failure, so the cause of this failure is the result of the absence of attention to their specific needs."


In this sense, the work of educators and educational centers must be to provide the means, resources and methods necessary for children with dyslexia to develop learning strategies appropriate to their characteristics, which allow them to advance in their educational process .

10 basic rules to deal with dyslexia in the classroom and avoid school failure

1. Devote more time and reinforcement to reading and writing activities. For this you can use different materials or activities: letter arrays, search for specific letters, analysis of the sounds of different letter groups, change letters and search for new sounds, etc.

2. Explain to the boy or girl suffering from dyslexia what is the difficulty and avoid harming their self-esteem.

3. Each time a word is taught, accompany the sound with the writing of the word. Especially with more difficult words or techniques, teach each word how it is written and how it sounds.


4. Encourage the child to spend time reading and try to understand the message of the text. Begin with sentences, and gradually increase gradually the level of sentences to paragraphs and texts. The important thing is that they understand what they read.

5. Explore alternative ways to present the contents: a film, songs, cooperative learning, exploration and experimentation.

6. Respect their characteristics and leave them time to acquire the learning, sometimes they can take a little longer.

7. Use positive reinforcement with each of your achievements and encourage them to keep moving forward.

8. Teach them to learn from their mistakes. Instead of scolding them for always making the same mistake or not realizing it, you should help them find the error and learn it.

9. Avoid unnecessary pressures that only contribute to generate tension in learning and hinder its progress.

10. Avoid comparing, judging and criticizing the child. Everyone has their way of learning, no way is better or worse, they are just different.

Marisol Nuevo Espín

Advice:Celia Rodríguez Ruiz. Clinical health psychologist. Specialist in pedagogy and child and youth psychology. Director of Educa and Learn. Author of the collection Stimulate Reading and Writing Processes.

Video: Spelling Technique for Dyslexic


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