How stationery can aid their Dyslexia

Dyslexia is one of the most common learning difficulties amongst young people in the UK and actually effects up to 10% of the population. As a child, it can feel disheartening to feel as though you are facing more challenges on your learning journey than others. It can be really difficult to keep your child/or pupils positive about all things school, homework and exams, which means it’s really important to share and understand how stationery can play a helpful role in their learning; aiding them in navigating their way through school and everyday life.

 

Here are some of our top-tips for making sure that your child’s stationery (and routine) is helping them, and acknowledges their Dyslexia by catering for it instead of trying to fight against it.

 

Routine 

 

For someone with Dyslexia, a solid and consistent routine is imperative to ensuring they are able to learn in a comfortable and positive way. A solid weekly or after school routine, will really help to make school and navigating through extra activities, homework and down time much calmer and easier to enjoy or focus on.

 

 

 

 

 

A great way to establish this routine is visually, either by creating a weekly planner or a monthly schedule, so that they know what to expect on each day. Make sure it’s both clear and engaging to read.

 

Colour consistency

 

As well as clear and engaging, it’s important to consider the colours you use in their study time. Children with Dyslexia can become very over-stimulated easily, therefore, any bright or crazy colour combinations can be very distracting and anxiety-inducing. To avoid triggering them during study or homework times, make sure to use calm, muted palettes when it comes to grouping together colours in highlighters, notes or gel pens.

 

 

 

 

Keep learning encouraging

 

Although of course, learning should challenge you, make sure that this time is not too difficult that goals feel unachievable. This can effect their self-esteem in a really negative way, and possibly deter them from wanting to learn. A great way to gage a pace that’s right for them, is using a mood chart with colours. After homework sessions, check your child is happy and comfortable with the workload and pace that you’re going at, by asking them to rate how they feel afterwards.

 

 

 

 

As well as understanding  their speed and ability without making them feel overwhelmed, it also encourages them to share their feelings, whilst catering their learning especially for them.

 

Multi-sensory

 

This is a really effective way for dyslexic children to learn. The easiest way to incorporate different sensations into their learning, is through both visual and audio senses. For example, with their reading and writing, it can be really helpful to have an audio book playing whilst they’re moving their finger or pen across the words. In terms of writing, encouraging them to speak out loud whilst writing each word, can help to associate sounds and letters which will aid their spelling.

 

 

 

 

Take time for rest and hobbies!

 

Once school and homework time is over, it’s so important to make sure that down time is integrated well within their weekdays. Time to switch off and rest is important for most people, but especially for those who have Dyslexia. It gives the brain that much needed time to absorbed all that new information and enjoy learning without it becoming all-encompassing. By mixing in their favourite hobbies and time to do whatever they like, it will in fact, aid retention and allow them to have a much more positive approach to learning in the future.

 

 

 

 

Specialist equipment

 

As well as those top learning tips, it’s important to make sure you have the right stationery to help aid them. For example;

 

• Ergonomic shaped Pens/Pencils

This will help improve pencil grip, posture and comfort whilst writing.

• Tinted paper :

This can help to reduce visual stress and glare to help with harsh contrasts of black and white when reading that could be triggering.

• Pastel Highlighters :

These work as a great revision tool and are much gentler and lower in contrast compared to traditional, neon colours.

 

 

 

We hope these tips help you to create a safe and positive environment for your dyslexic children or pupils. To those who are struggling with this learning difficulty, there are ways to make your learning accessible, achievable and fun and Dyslexia doesn’t need to define who you are!