May 13, 2021

May 13, 2021

7 Helpful Study Aids For Dyslexic Children

Dyslexia is a learning condition that causes a child to experience trouble with reading, spelling, understanding math problems, and handwriting. Roughly 20% of American children have the condition. Children with dyslexia often have normal levels of intelligence, but due to their difficulties, they may feel like they are unintelligent or cannot keep up with their peers. This leads to feelings of embarrassment and isolation.

Although a dyslexic child may feel as though they cannot complete certain tasks or learn the things their classmates are learning, that is not the case. There are many tools and aids that you can use to help your child study more efficiently.

What tools can help with dyslexia?
Dealing with dyslexia can be a huge struggle. If you’re wondering “How can I help my dyslexic child study?”, look no further. The following seven tools can be pivotal aids to get your dyslexic child where they need to be when it comes to their studies.

1. Learning Ally
Learning Ally is an app that contains hundreds of different audiobooks. The books are available for both children and teenagers and can help those who struggle with reading improve on their abilities. For children with dyslexia, this app can be a huge help because it allows them to read along at a pace of their choosing, as well as adjust both the type and the font to something they are more comfortable with. Essentially, the app gives your child the ability to personalize their reading experience, making it easier for them to read and learn.

2. All About Spelling
By utilizing an easy-to-follow, step-by-step process, All About Spelling delivers information in a seamless way. It was designed to operate similarly to the Orton-Gillingham methods, which teach literacy in a direct, multisensory, and structured way and are commonly used to help children with dyslexia become better at their studies. The app also works alongside its sister app, All About Reading, which can help with the reading aspect. Using both apps together can help to improve both reading and spelling for children with dyslexia.

3. Dyslexia Quest
Dyslexia Quest is the perfect combination of fun and education. It is an app that was designed to play like a game so that your child can learn as they play. The app assesses both memory and listening skills and is divided into 10-minute areas so that the learning process doesn’t become overwhelming. While your child plays, they will be working on the educational elements they struggle with such as phonics, memory skills, and sequencing.

4. Sound Literacy
Sound Literacy is a tool that can be used by a parent, teacher, tutor, or speech therapist to help a child with dyslexia enhance their learning abilities when it comes to literacy. It helps children with dyslexia learn how to recognize letter sounds by utilizing the Orton-Gillingham method of learning and focusing on phonemic awareness, phonological processing, and morphemic word-building. It’s designed with game-like features to make the learning aspect fun and can be used with any curriculum that is focused on the same learning factors mentioned above.

5. Co-Writer
Not all children with dyslexia will struggle with writing, but for those who do, Co-Writer is a great study aid to invest in. Having difficulties with writing can sometimes interlace with problems with phonics and reading, so to help dyslexic children with writing, Co-Writer usings predictive text.

When words are being typed, the tool offers up a selection of suggestions using specialized word prediction, which are then read aloud. The child selects the word they were intending on using, which is then input into the document. The combination of spelling assistance software and helpful phonics practice makes Co-Writer a great tool for children with dyslexia.

6. E-Readers and Tablets
When it comes to what technology can do to help with dyslexia, e-readers and tablets are at the top of the list. This is because of all the useful built-in features, such as Speak Selection, which can help children with dyslexia practice their phonics and reading. It can also be adjusted with a specific accent or speed to make it easier for the child to follow along.

E-readers and tablets also come with zoom features, making it easier for children with dyslexia to zoom in on what they’re looking at; many also provide options when it comes to text and color inversion. Overall, e-readers and tablets provide your child with the independence they may crave in their learning.

7. Smart Pens
Smart pens are another great tech tool for children with dyslexia. They come with built-in computers that are able to record while writing, which helps children with dyslexia record lessons while they are taking notes. If they do struggle with writing or retaining information, they are able to play back the lesson plan at a later time to revisit what they missed.

One specific smart pen, the Scanmarker reading pen, can help children with dyslexia who have trouble with reading texts, typing, and spelling. They reading pen can read aloud to help with spelling and can type at extreme speeds. This gives children with dyslexia the help they need when it comes to studying and reading.

Dyslexia may make it harder for your child to learn via traditional methods, but these tools can be a great help when it comes to overcoming their learning difficulty.

Featured image by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash