Emily Lewis - Dyslexia Tutor

Sorry it's been a while! More posts coming soon...

Tuition slot available!
Wednesdays 5:15-6:15pm
An incredibly rare slot has become available for 1:1 precision, multisensory specialist tuition with me, here in Southwell.

Please message me or email [email protected]

What is dyslexia?

Nature
• The nature and developmental trajectory of dyslexia depend on multiple genetic and environmental influences.
Manifestation
• Dyslexia is a set of processing difficulties that affect the acquisition of reading and spelling. The most commonly observed cognitive impairment in dyslexia is a difficulty in phonological processing (i.e. in phonological awareness, phonological processing speed or phonological memory). However, phonological difficulties do not fully explain the variability that is observed. Working memory, processing speed and orthographic skills can contribute to the impact of dyslexia.
Impact
• In dyslexia, some or all aspects of literacy attainment are weak in relation to age, standard teaching and instruction, and level of other attainments. Across languages and age groups, difficulties in reading fluency and spelling are a key marker of dyslexia.
Variance and co-occurrence
• Dyslexic difficulties exist on a continuum and can be experienced to various degrees of severity. Dyslexia can affect the acquisition of other skills, such as mathematics, reading comprehension or learning another language. Dyslexia frequently co-occurs with one or more other developmental difficulties, including developmental language disorder, dyscalculia, ADHD, and developmental coordination disorder.

Reading...
One of the things I love most about my work is trying to find books that my students will WANT to read rather than HAVE to read. And as much as I love books, I love the challenge of finding books for each student's individual interest! One student loves Formula 1, and Formula 1 books exist.

What would your child LOVE to read about? I'll see if I can find some books to match their interests...

Racing Legends: Lando Norris Get ready and set to know everything about the epic Racing Legend: Lando Norris!

Handwriting...
The National Handwriting Association has some tips for ergonomically designed pencils and pens, which can help with the correct grip and a relaxed writing posture. They come in left and right - depending on dominance, and some have refills, which I think is a great idea. My students like the bright colours too :-)

STABILO STABILO Designed by Scientists to Improve Children’s HandwritingThe first years of pre-school are an exciting time for children; finally they can get to grips with numbers, letters and the world of grown-ups. As a manufacturer of writing instruments, STABILO want to accompany children on this jour...

Reading pens or C-pens...
As GCSEs are in full swing, a C-pen can be a useful tool to help with reading individual words, sentences and/or questions during exams (or lessons as you work up to the day of your GCSEs).

C-Pen Exam Reader 2 - assistive reader for exams! What is Exam Reader 2? Exam Reader 2, the successor to our successful ExamReader, is a convenient - The Dyslexia Shop

Touch typing...
This is being able to type without looking down at the keyboard e.g having the muscle memory to type without looking at the keys. It's super skill to develop from any age but especially for children and teenagers as it can be used in schools as a reasonable adjustment.

Here are a few touch typing programmes available:
* https://www.readandspell.com
*https://www.nessy.com/en-gb/product/nessy-fingers-touch-typing-home
*https://www.typingclub.com/
*https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z3c6tfr

Other Touch typing programmes are available too :-)

Self-regulation...
There are lots of different 'paper-based' journals available which can help explore emotions, thoughts, feelings, mistakes, promoting happiness, whilst exploring how these make us feel and help with understanding these. They are often based on the science of happiness and well-being.

How?
A journal, filled in each day, only taking a few minutes, often exploring what has happened that day. There are journals for younger children, teenagers, and adults.

Here are a few I have seen which I like the look of:
https://happyselfjournal.com/
https://www.happyconfident.com/
https://biglifejournal.com/

Reading...
There is so much more to reading than just reading word by word. Some skills need to be taught so that you can fully grasp what you are reading so that you can answer comprehension questions at school.

Home school sessions during the day (not after school).

Spelling...
One way of overlearning spelling is by making a game of the words. This simple idea uses a homemade word search grid. Looking for the letters, and saying their names as you write them can help with repetition and rehearsal of the spellings. Then try to put the word into a spoken sentence e.g. Last weekend, there was a great film at the cinema.