What dyslexia definitely isn't
Dyslexia is not caused by low intelligence, poor teaching, poor parenting, laziness, or vision or hearing difficulties, though these factors can add to the problem.

What causes dyslexia
Researchers are not certain of the cause of dyslexia but believe that: Your genetic material (passed down through families) determines whether or not you get dyslexia. Dyslexia is the result of your brain having trouble processing written and spoken sounds.

What you can do about dyslexia
Help your child understand what dyslexia is so he knows he's not "dumb". Help your child improve his language skills (reading, writing, spelling, listening and speaking) by having him taught (and tutored) in a multisensory, structured and sequential reading program that emphasizes phonics. Ask your child's school to make helpful accommodations for him (like allowing him extra time on tests). Teach your child how to type and use gadgets like voice-to-text software and spell checkers.

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Who can help you
Psychologists give dyslexia assessments.

A university or college that trains educational psychologists and special education teachers may give you free or low cost assessment and tutoring.

Organizations like The International Dyslexia Association (www.interdys.org) and the Learning Disabilities Association (www.ldanatl.org) have local branches where you can meet other parents of dyslexics (or other dyslexics) and get information about resources in your area.

Your child's teacher can make accommodations in class.

Websites, internet chat rooms and literacy hot lines can answer your questions.

Independent tutors, consultants and schools give specialized instruction.

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Dyslexia Buzz Words
Individualized Education Program (IEP): An IEP is a written plan of exactly how special education is to be delivered to your child. When your child qualifies for special education (because he was assessed and found to have dyslexia) he must, by law, have an IEP. The resource (or special education) teacher is the person who takes charge of your child's IEP.

Accommodations: Adjustments made to your child's learning environment that help him participate fully.

Least restrictive environment: Like "accommodations" this term is written into laws that relate to dyslexia so it's a good one for you to use. You want the "least restrictive environment" for your child in class, probably accomplished through "accommodations", so he has "equal access".

Appropriate education: If you get into a dispute in school, or need to let it be known that you know your rights, this phrase is handy. In legal terms your child is fully entitled to an "appropriate" education (but not the "best" education).

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA); Section 504 (of the Rehabilitation Act); Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): These are the main laws that protect children and adults with dyslexia.

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Phonemic and phonological awareness, and phonics: When your child learns that words are made of chunks of sound he has phonemic and phonological awareness (specialists make a fine distinction between the two). When he learns phonics he matches letters and combinations of letters to those chunks of sound.

Multisensory learning: When your child uses a few senses at the same time (usually seeing, hearing, saying, doing) it's multisensory learning.

Learning Disability (LD), Specific Learning Disability (SLD): Schools classify dyslexia as one specific kind of (language-based) learning disability. You hear this summed up variously as a learning disability, a specific learning disability or a language-based learning disability.

Orton-Gillingham (O-G): This is a remedial reading instruction program. It's the longest standing and most commonly used remedial reading program in schools and other programs, like Lindamood-Bell, call themselves off-shoots of O-G or at least say they're influenced by O-G.

Phonics for the beginner:
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Phonics
Teachers of struggling readers teach phonics and spelling rules. Why? Because for struggling Johnny, words and sentences are an arbitrary puzzle. To decode the puzzle he needs to know the rules.

When we show Johnny that letters represent sounds we're teaching phonics. When we show that groups of letters make new sounds (ight), and work with families (tight might fight flight sight) we're teaching phonemic awareness and spelling rules.

The phonics sequence
Phonics and spelling are learned in a sequence. The sequence should be more or less the same in any book or program you use.

The phonics sequence is:
1. single letter sounds - the 'short' sounds (a as in apple, c as in cat)
2. short vowel sounds - inside 2 and 3 letter words(hat bet hit hot bun...)
3. double consonant sounds - blends: st, sm, cl, pr... and digraphs: ch, sh th ph in phonetically regular words (stop, smack, clock, brick, shed)
4. long vowel sounds (meet, meat, pain, pane...)
5. more complex letter groupings.(eigh, ought...)
Note: a digraph is 2 letters together making their own new sound
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Starting off
When children start to read they must forget the letter names for a while. Talk in letter sounds so Johnny can soon start to make simple words. Talk of:
"c" = "kuh" not "see"
"m" = "muh" not "em."

How to teach single letter sounds
The best way to teach the letter sounds is to work on 3 or 4 letters a week.
Make a poster or book with things that start with the letter and keep adding to it
Talk about things that start with the letter.
Find the letter in books, magazines, billboards.
Sing alphabet songs.
Rhyme and play with sounds.
Be actively involved!

Alphabet songs
Kids usually know the alphabet song (thank goodness for Sesame St!) but try this one too. To the tune of 'Skip to My Lou' and using letter sounds, make up verses like this:
Alice loves apples, a a a
Alice loves apples, a a a
Alice loves apples, a a a
Skip to my lou my darling

Bats in the basement, b b b...

Candy in the closet, c c c...

(Don't worry if Johnny says Keith or Katie, it's the sound we want so we don't have to be too strict).
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Bingo and other games
Kids love games especially when we play with them. Buy from school supplies stores and play together often.

Progressing to 2 and 3 letter words (with a short vowel sound):
Johnny can read regular 2 and 3 letter words as soon as he knows a few letters. If, for example, Johnny knows a t m s and c he can easily be taught at am cat sat mat Sam. Remember that vowels have two sounds, long and short, (and sometimes 3 sounds!) and we only want to teach the short vowel sound at first. Explain that there is a long sound (when it crops up), but concentrate on the short sound for now. Make sure the words you use have the short vowel sound and can be sounded out. Don't for example teach ape because the a in ape makes its long sound and long sounds, being more tricky, are learned later.

Letter Sounds 'Short' sound cat egg hit on cup 'Long' Sound ape eve pile open clue

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Make or buy a set of letters for Johnny to make words with
Choose lower case because Johnny will be reading and writing in lower case and is taught that capitals are only for the beginning of sentences and important names. Can Johnny make hat? mat? hot? pot? Write and cut out your own letters or buy from a school supplies store. You can get cards and magnetic letters or tiles from about $5 to $20. Creative Teaching Press (www.creativeteaching.com) has an excellent set of letter cards, called Letter Blocks for $5. (Make sure you get lower case). Whiteboards and blackboards are useful too.

Teaching 3 letter words
Readers read in chunks, not single sounds, so teach the chunks an at and in to start Johnny off with chunking. Show the an then add onto the front. Do the same for at and in

Example:
This is an
Do you see a...n.....an?
Put c(kuh) in front, c...an
It says a new word, it says can
What if you take away c(kuh) and put p(puh) in front?
p...an
pan!
What if you put f in front?
fan!
Can you make something that I put on my head that ends with at?
-hat
-Can you tell me a new word if you hide your eyes and I make it when you're not looking?
-Can you make a new word while I hide my eyes?
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Using letter cards to teach 3-letter words Give Johnny the letters he needs and ask him to make the words: a words: use letters a d g l n p s t Make; pan nap sat pat gap gas lag lap pad pal sad sag sap i words: use letters d h i n p s t Make; pin win din sin tin hid hip hit pit sit his dip sip tip (dish ship) e words: use letters: e g l m n p t Make; leg let men met net peg pen pet ten get o words: use letters: d g h o m p t Make; dog dot hop mop pod pot top hog hot got u words: use letters: b d g h m t u Make; bug but hug hut mug tub hum dug tug mud gum gut

Fill-in the vowel activities
Most beginning workbooks ask Johnny to fill in the missing center vowel in three letter words but Johnny may not want to do it! Adapt by giving him vowel tiles and asking him to choose the right one. You write the answer, he can read the words back to you.

Flashcards are a great way to practice words you've started teaching
But sort through flashcards before using them. Don't use all the cards at first, instead use only the words you're teaching. For example sort out just the regular three letter words (hen net box).

"3 for free"
A good game to play with flashcards is "3 for free." Johnny turns over cards from the face-down pile, reads the words and gets three for free for every three correct cards - "for free" means he doesn't have to read them out. Shuffle each time you play and Johnny will soon have read all the words.
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A blend is two or three letters that each make their own sound but blend into the next sound (st cl sp fl...). A digraph is a pair of letters that make a unique sound. The digraphs are ch sh and ph and some people include wh as well. Teach Johnny to read, write and make these words using lists and flashcards.

Blend at beginning	Blend at end (or beginning and end)	Digraph at beginning	Digraph at end
clap clip clot drip drop flag flap flat flip flop grab grip slip slit slop spin spit spot stand still stop	bank blank drank drink lost past plank rest ring sing sink sting	chat check chess chick chimp chips chop shed shot shrimp shut	clash ditch fetch flash flesh mash match patch pitch posh slash smash witch

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ch and tch endings
The ch ending is often preceded by t. Make word families to explore this. You'll find that an n is usually followed by ch.

nch	ch	tch
bench bunch drench lunch month munch tenth wrench	couch much pouch rich sandwich such	catch ditch hatch latch patch pitch sketch witch

Long vowel sounds
After double consonant sounds come long vowel sounds. How do we recognize a long vowel sound? There are 3 common rules for long vowel sounds:

Rule 1. When 2 vowels go walking the first one does the talking
When vowels come together in pairs a long sound is made. The first letter of the pair makes its long sound (it shouts out it's name!) while the other stays silent.
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Examples:
meet
meat
pain
boat

The pairs of vowels are: ee ea ai oa

Examples:

ee	ea	ai	oa
deed feed feel feet free freed jeep meet peep seed sheet sleep sleet steep tree weed weep	cheat deal dream each eat heal meat neat peach real seat speak steal stream teach team weak	brain chain drain faint frail maid mail main nail paid pain rail rain sail saint sprain trail	boast boat cloak coast coat croak float load moat road roast shoal soak soap throat toad toast

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With spelling rules there are always exceptions
Words like bear, pear and wear don't follow the 2 vowels go walking rule but that doesn't make the rule less valuable. Johnny will be delighted when he can read words because he knows the rule. He won't care too much that there are some exceptions.

Rule 2. Magic e
When "magic e" is on the end of a regular short word like pin, the middle vowel changes its sound. The short vowel sound becomes a long vowel sound. Pin becomes pine. Read the examples and cover over the end e to see how magic e works. (Some teachers teach "bossy e," it makes the vowel shout it's name)

Examples:

long a	long e	long i	long o	long u
blade cane cape fade hate made mane mate pane spade tape trade vane wade	compete complete Eve Pete stampede Steve theme	bite dice ice kite mice nice rice ride side site slice tide twice wide	bone chose code cone cope home hope lobe mope pope rode rope slope tone	brute cute flute plume pollute rule salute

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Rule 3. y behaving as a vowel
This group is often taught with the long vowel group:
When y is on the end of longer words it behaves like an e making its long "EEE" sound.
When y is on the end of small words it behaves like an i making its long "EYE" sound.

Examples:

y behaving as long e	y behaving as long i
funny happy hungry silly	by my pry shy sly

Long vowels cause problems
When Johnny struggles, long vowels nearly always cause most of the trouble. It's worth spending a lot of time helping Johnny make and read long vowel sounds. Where a rule doesn't apply just tell him that some words are just those odd ones that follow their own ideas! eg want we'd expect this word to rhyme with ant, but it doesn't. It's a weird word, watch out for it!
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What can we do? The very best thing we can do for Johnny is to teach him the three most important long vowel rules. Three rules won't overwhelm him, they're not hard to teach and they'll make an immense difference. Here they are:

Rule 1. When 2 vowels go walking the first one does the talking
When vowels come together in pairs a long sound is made. The first letter of the pair makes its long sound (it shouts out it's name!) while the other stays silent.
Examples:
feet
meat
pain
boat
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The common pairs of vowels are: ee ea ai oa
Examples:

ee	ea	ai	oa
deed feed feel feet free freed jeep meet peep seed sheet sleep sleet steep tree weed weep	cheat deal dream each eat heal meat neat peach real seat speak steal stream teach team weak	brain chain drain faint frail maid mail main nail paid pain rail rain sail saint sprain trail	boast boat cloak coast coat croak float load moat road roast shoal soak soap throat toad toast

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With spelling rules there are always exceptions
Words like bear, pear and wear don't follow the "When 2 vowels go walking" rule but that doesn't make the rule less valuable. Johnny won't care too much that there are exceptions.

Rule 2. Magic e
When "magic e" is on the end of a regular short word like pin, the middle vowel changes its sound. It becomes a long vowel sound eg pin becomes pine. (Some teachers say "bossy e" makes the vowel shout it's name.)

Examples:

long a	long e	long i	long o	long u
blade cane cape fade hate made mane mate pane spade tape trade vane wade	compete complete Eve Pete stampede Steve theme	bite dice ice kite mice nice rice ride side site slice tide twice wide	bone chose code cone cope home hope lobe mope pope rode rope slope tone	brute cute flute plume pollute rule salute

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Rule 3. y behaving as a vowel
When y is on the end of longer words it behaves like an e making its long "eee" sound (or e saying its name).
When y is on the end of small words it behaves like an i making its long "eye" sound (or i saying its name).

Examples:

y behaving as long e	y behaving as long i
funny happy hungry silly	by my pry shy sly

Weird words!
Some words follow their own ideas! eg want -Johnny would expect this word to rhyme with ant, but it doesn't. It's a weird word, so just tell Johnny to watch out for it!
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Where to begin
Choose exciting or fun books that are slightly above Johnny's current ability and plan to read regularly for at least 20 minutes each time. Try out these different types of paired reading to see which suits Johnny best:

Alternated reading.
This is when we read out loud to Johnny and ask him to take his turn too. We split the book evenly, one page or chapter each, or we do most of the reading ourselves. Gauge Johnny's willingness and divide the text accordingly. If he's reluctant, it's OK to have him read only one sentence per page (he can choose his sentence) until he's more confident.
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Choral reading
This is when we read out loud together, in unison. If we read very slightly ahead of Johnny he can follow our lead when he gets stuck with a word. If we read slightly behind Johnny we'll know he's doing most of the work! When we get well co-ordinated there's another variant too. -We jump in and out of Johnny's reading according to whether he needs our help or not. Johnny nudges us when he wants us to read with him and nudges again when he wants us to stop.

Incomplete reading
This is a good technique when we know Johnny's problem is more lack of enthusiasm than lack of ability. -We read a really good book to Johnny then stop at a crucial point and leave him hanging! When we close our book we're hoping Johnny will be so captivated he'll simply have to read more for himself.
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What about siblings?
If you have two children who each want to be involved, try rotating your attention. Read one book with Johnny then one with Jane. Perhaps another family member could do the other half of your rotation. With more than two children, try alternating paired reading with stories on tape. Libraries usually have lots to choose from and Johnny can enjoy harder books (like the Harry Potter series) he would otherwise miss out on.

A happy routine
Paired reading is effective. Johnny progresses because he enjoys the close interaction with us and gets to read an exciting book too. But to make sure paired reading works we must choose great books, be warm and supportive and make paired reading a regular and frequent habit.
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Here's some plain advice. If you're worried, chances are you have good reason to be. If Johnny's clearly not doing as well as most of his classmates (and you can tell this just by watching), take action. The wait-awhile notion is a trap when it comes to reading problems. If you delay it just gets harder for Johnny to catch up. When, in real terms, should Johnny be starting to read? The vast majority of children start reading between ages 5 and 7. If Johnny isn't getting started at age 7, he needs help. If we delay giving extra help to kids who can't read at age 7 we may as well wave goodbye to a delay and say hello to reading problems.

The good news is that kids can make great headway if they get help in the areas of phonics and paired reading. Their chances are best between ages 5 and 7 and are still good right up to age 10. Kids 10 and older are at high risk. They need frequent, ongoing help if they're ever going to catch up. You can read articles about phonics and paired reading on this site. The book "See Johnny Read!" has more information too.
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Here's some help:
- If Johnny struggles with reading, resign yourself to putting a lot of time into doctoring books for him. It will be absolutely worthwhile.
- Choose books with lively, inviting stories and themes but a small amount of text that's got only a few unknown words.
- Before showing Johnny the book, find the unknown words. Teach these words to Johnny before he attempts to read the book (by sounding out and learning as sight words).
- Read the book together at first if that's what Johnny wants.
- Have Johnny read the book a few times so he gets more fluent and confident.

Happy reading! -And by the way, these methods are explained more in, you guessed it, "See Johnny Read!" by yours truly.
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