As we know, students with dyslexia can thrive when given the right support from their teachers and their use of technology. Throughout our website, we talk extensively about how technology is an important tool that can be used to support dyslexic students with their reading and writing. Here are a few more resources and ideas that teachers can use in the classroom:
-
When planning lessons, here are a few points to take into consideration to help students with dyslexia:
-
Layout – Try to ensure that documents only contain instructions needed for the exercise without any distracting, unnecessary details. Keep the layout clear with short sentences and an uncomplicated structure.
-
Illustrations – Use images to exemplify sentences or unfamiliar words. Space out the instructions and add diagrams so students can follow it without having to comprehend every word.
-
Fonts and background colors – Check out these free, specialized fonts from OpenDyslexic (http://opendyslexic.org/) which can run on Microsoft software. Try testing out different fonts and background colors to see which work best for your students.
-
-
Text readers and additional support
-
WordTalk has free versions that can convert text to MP3 so students can record their own voice as an audio comment to capture ideas. It can also serve as a text reader that can be set to read one word at a time, one paragraph at a time, or continuously. It runs on Microsoft Word.
-
-
Using and building additional resources:
-
Load2Learn and Books4All (http://www.books4all.org.uk/Home/) are sites where teachers can download free accessible resources, especially books, to help students with dyslexia.
-
To learn more about these tips and tricks, visit: http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/sep/09/supporting-students-with-dyslexia-teachers-tips-pupils.