Dyslexia Awareness Week 2024: Empowering Learners Through Support

Dyslexia Awareness Week 2024 (7th-13th October) aims to challenge misconceptions and celebrate the diversity within the dyslexic community. This year’s theme, “What’s Your Story?”, highlights how each dyslexic person’s journey is unique and emphasizes the importance of understanding their needs in educational settings.

Understanding Dyslexia: More Than Just a Reading Difficulty

Dyslexia is a common learning difficulty affecting around 10% of the population. While it primarily impacts reading, writing, and spelling, it’s actually an issue with processing information. Anatomical and brain imagery have shown how people with dyslexia perceive the world around them differently. This can lead to challenges in organisation, memory, and following instructions.

However, an important thing to remember is that different does not always mean negative. There are positives to thinking and perceiving the world around you differently. Many dyslexic people have shown remarkable strengths in a variety of areas, such as reasoning or visual and creative fields. From creative artists such as Pablo Picasso, Cher, and Tom Cruise to famous scientists such as Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison, had the gift of dyslexia and went on to leave their impact on the world. Dyslexia does not relate to intelligence or desire to learn. With the right support, learners with dyslexia can thrive academically and beyond.

Identifying Early Signs of Dyslexia in School

Did you know that dyslexia can be spotted as early as nursery? In many cases, dyslexia goes unidentified unless the pupil shows significant signs of struggles in reading and writing. Generally, this tends to start happening around Year 3 and delays the identification of dyslexia to primary school age, in some cases even secondary school age, which is not ideal.

Research has shown that interventions are the most effective when they are done during the early years. If intervention is delayed beyond Year 3, it is 75% more likely that the pupil will continue to experience reading and writing difficulties going to high school. This not only has an impact on the academic calibre of pupils, but also impacts their mental health. Several pupils have battled with low self-esteem issues and insecurities when they see their peers doing better than them, despite putting in their best efforts.

Other than looking for these early signs, it is also important to consider if there has been a history of dyslexia or any learning difficulties within the family. This is because as many as 49% of identified pupils’ parents also had dyslexia, according to recent studies.

What’s next?

As a teacher or a member of teaching staff, you should consult the school’s SENCo about the next appropriate steps. Additionally, as the SEND Code of Practice states, if you suspect that a child may have special educational needs (SEN) then you must inform the child’s parents and make them a part of the discussion.

It is important that appropriate support is set in place as soon as a child’s special needs are identified. While there is no need for any formal assessment to be conducted to provide SEN support, but dyslexia can only be formally identified through a Diagnostic Assessment.

Inclusive Learning: Embracing Technology to Support Dyslexic Pupils

Technology can play a significant role in helping dyslexic students succeed. Tools like  IDL (International Dyslexia Learning) literacy software provide personalised, multi-sensory learning experiences, helping students make connections between the visual, auditory, and tactile aspects of reading and writing.

How IDL Literacy Software Transforms Dyslexic Learning

IDL Literacy Software is proven to enhance reading and spelling ages in both primary and secondary pupils. It supports learners by focusing on phonological awareness, spelling, handwriting, vocabulary, and comprehension. The multi-sensory approach strengthens neural pathways, helping students form stronger connections between how words look and sound.

Celebrating learners with dyslexia

Dyslexia Awareness Week is an opportunity for schools to champion dyslexic learners and foster inclusivity. The British Dyslexia Association has pulled together an interactive pack for you to learn more about Dyslexia Awareness Week 2024 and what you can do to get involved.

Educators can use engaging resources to raise awareness and support pupils. Here are some ideas:

• Thunderboots by Naomi Jones and Rebecca Ashdown is a great story about Trixie’s experience with dyslexia, while she starts at her new school. Share it with your class during DAW’24 and see if they have any unique experience to share with their peers.
• You can even get parents involved in your activities by sharing this eBook with them called Dyslexia Explained. You can organise a session in your class with the pupils and parents, where parents can help explain more about dyslexia to their children with the help of this book. This book is great in reflecting how people with dyslexia tend to think in pictures rather than words, and that is why the book uses illustrations to explain each point.

Resources for supporting teachers

Teachers play a critical role in supporting dyslexic learners. There are excellent resources to help schools improve their understanding of dyslexia:

• There is some great advice offered by the British Dyslexia Association for educators. It helps educators with understanding the legal framework within which educators are working, and how to identify and support learners with Special Educational Needs (SEN).
• Made by Dyslexia’s ‘Learn Dyslexia’ campaign is encouraging teachers to “take a day for dyslexia” by checking out their free online training with Microsoft. Dyslexia Awareness Week is the perfect time to sign up!
• There is a great collection of short films to support teachers of pupils who have dyslexia, with a particular emphasis on 7–14-year-olds. These films created by BBC Teach offer practical suggestions on how best to support pupils, with lively graphics and clear advice from children themselves.

If you’re interested in learning more about how IDL Literacy Software can benefit your school, get in touch with our team today.