There is no “medicine” for dyslexia and other related learning disorders. Proper instruction, referred to as remedial intervention, promotes reading success and alleviates many difficulties associated with dyslexia. Instruction for individuals with reading and related learning disabilities should be:

• Intensive - given every day or very frequently for sufficient time.
• Explicit - component skills for reading, spelling, and writing are explained, directly taught and modeled by the teacher. Children are discouraged from guessing at words.
• Systematic and cumulative – has a definite, logical sequence of concept introduction; concepts are ordered from simple to more complex; each new concept builds upon previously introduced concepts, with built in review to aid memory and retrieval.
• Structured - has step-by-step procedures for introducing, reviewing and practicing concepts.

Phonics

Reading and writing in alphabetic languages depend on sound-symbol correspondences, that is, relationships between sounds (phonemes) and letters (graphemes). One of the chief ways of unlocking the mysteries of reading and writing for children is phonics, a method of instruction that teaches these correspondences and uses them to help learners in both these areas.

In English, there is not a one-to-one relationship between sounds and symbols. Each sound may be spelled by more than one symbol or symbol cluster, and a single symbol or symbol cluster may signal different sounds, depending on context. The 26 alphabets of the English language combine to give 44 phonemes. Phonics gives learners a statistically good shot at “sounding out” a word in a way that either matches what they know or is close enough that other clues, like context, will help them figure it out. Usually, children start learning to read using phonics around the age of 5 or 6. However, we cannot assume that everyone can teach themselves the rules of phonics.

Children are taught how to "sound out" new words by learning the following:

• Short vowel sounds: a, e, i, o, u
• Always teach short vowel sounds first: a - apple, e - elephant, i- igloo, o - octopus, u - umbrella)
• Consonant letters sounds: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z
• Blend sounds: br, cr, dr, fr, gr, pr, tr, wr, bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, sl, scr, str, sm, sn, sp, sc, sk,
• Digraph sounds: sh, ch, th, wh
• Two letters combine to make a totally different sound.
• Double vowel sounds: ai, ea, ee, oa
• These pairs say the name of the first vowel.
• Other double vowel sounds: oi, oo, ou, ow
• Silent e: Silent e is bossy; it doesn't say anything but makes the vowel before it say its own name. Eg.: The “silent” e makes a world of difference between Sam and same.
• R controlled vowel sounds: ar, er, ir, or, ur. Notice that er,ir and ur make the same sound.

Put simply, phonics is a series of rules that children have to learn and apply when they are sounding out new words. Children are taught a rule, i.e. Silent e, and then they practice reading words with Silent e. Then children do skill sheets at their desk highlighting the Silent e rule. Children must learn letter sounds to an automatic level - they must be able to see the letter(s) and say the sound immediately.

Sight Words

Reading is the most important skill that a child will ever learn. It is impossible for a person to live a productive life without being able to read, i.e., becoming literate. In most schools, children are expected to be able to read simple sentences and stories by the end of class I. By the end of class III, they are expected to be able to read almost any kind of text. As well as being able to "sound out" (phonetically decode) regularly spelled words, children must also master reading basic, common sight words.

“Sight” or “Dolch” words are those words which the reader is required to recognize without trying to sound them out. This is because they occur very frequently in the English language. Trying to sound out these words each time the reader encounters one, would affect his speed and hence his comprehension would get affected.

Edward William Dolch, PhD, compiled a list of 220 words, which make up between 50 and 75 percent of the reading material that school students encounter. The list was originally published in his book Problems in Reading in 1948. Many of the 220 Dolch words cannot be "sounded out" and have to be learned by "sight," that is, memorized. The list includes pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and verbs. The basic list excludes nouns, which make up a separate 95 word list. (If your child is unable to “sight read” the Dolch220 by the end of class I, I’d suggest you consider a professional evaluation.)

Because fluency in reading the Dolch220 and the 95 nouns is essential to literacy, a variety of techniques are used to teach them, including: reading Dolch literature books, using flash cards, playing games and writing activities. Repetition and practice are very important in making recognition of sight words automatic. Once this core of basic sight words has been memorized, children read more fluently and with greater comprehension.

Dolch Words

Dolch Nouns

Dolch Phrases

Dolch Story

Whole Language

Whole language is the name of another pedagogical approach, in which the focus is on language in context. Whole language refers to a philosophy of instruction and learning, rather than a specific method or program. Students are asked to recognize whole words in the context of real language situations, whether signage, household items or story books. They also may be invited to put down their thoughts as best as they can, using “creative” spelling, which is generally used as the focus of lessons in the correct spelling of the words the children chose, so that spelling lessons are personalized.

Multisensory Teaching

Many remedial techniques use multisensory stimulation. The basic premise is that the stimulation of various sensory paths reinforces learning whereby, if one sensory path is weak, it gets supplemented by other sensory paths. As these techniques seek to utilize all four sensory modalities (visual, auditory, kinesthetic and tactile), they are also referred to as VAKT methods.

An example will make this clear. The majority of dyslexic children experience confusion over the direction of ‘b’ and ‘d’. They can both be seen as a stick with a circle at its base. But on which side does the circle sit? A teacher might give the child a movement-based (kinesthetic) experience of the letter ‘b’ by getting the child to draw the letter REALLY LARGE on the blackboard, or even in the air. This will involve the child using their arms, their sense of balance, their whole body. They will remember the day their teacher had them 'writing' in the air with their hand, making this great big shape, and can use that memory the next time they come to write the letter.

Some teachers purchase letters made out of sandpaper so that the children can run their fingers over the letter ‘b’, giving them a strong tactile (touch-based) memory. Yet another way to give a strong tactile memory of ‘b’ is to make the letter out of plasticine, play-dough or clay.