Practical Strategies for Pupils with Dyslexia

Dr Gavin Reid, formerly senior lecturer in the Department of Educational Studies at Moray House, joined our recent Dyslexia Flashmeeting all the way from a Starbucks store in Kuwait.

Several teachers from around Scotland participated in the event, which consisted of a 40-minute talk on the nature of Dyslexia and some strategies which may assist the Dyslexic child. The final segment of the session saw participants ask questions relating to their own setting.

Gavin made a number of key points:

• there is no one strategy that works for all dyslexics; you need to know the child and the child needs to reflect on their own learning
  
• sequencing of tasks is important


• dyslexic pupils should overlearn ie "if you don't use it, you lose it"


• kinaesthetic learning should be facilitated


• reading should be a whole language experience ie related to their lives, encourage 'critical literacy', utilising multimedia.

The talk and the questions moved in to further areas, such as the marking of work (spelling) and homework. If you wish to watch a replay of the 65 minute session, then please email me at noble_d@hillsideschool.co.uk.

Many thanks to Gavin for joining us during what was evening-time at the start of the Kuwaiti weekend. It was an inspiring talk and a great example of how communication technology can facilitate great quality CPD.