ADHD Strengths image of a brain with ADHD written on it
Read and Spell Blog
7 ADHD Strengths and Benefits

7 ADHD Strengths and Benefits

While attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is most commonly discussed in terms of the challenges it poses to both children and adults, it’s important to acknowledge that an attention disorder can come with strengths too! Consider the benefits of having hyperactivity and spontaneity for athletes competing in sporting events, or being able to quickly improvise and go in a new direction when giving a work presentation. 

Dyslexia at work: Strategies for working from home
Read and Spell Blog
Dyslexia at work: Strategies for working from home

Dyslexia at work: Strategies for working from home

A guest post by journalist David Hayter.

I have dyslexia and have long been aware that the challenges of dyslexia tend to be magnified in the remote workplace. During lockdown, I took the opportunity to change career and study law while.

As such, I was given a bird’s eye view of the profound effects the work-from-home landscape can have on both dyslexic employees and learners. Through this experience I developed a repertoire of remote work strategies that helped me overcome the wide array of challenges I faced.

This program is working great. We are using it for our 6 year old and he is enjoying it. He wants to "do my typing" each day. Our 4 year old daughter watches with keen interest. The way it is designed really does include reading and spelling and not just typing.

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Disabled Students’ Allowance for Dyslexia
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Disabled Students’ Allowance for Dyslexia

Disabled Students’ Allowance for Dyslexia

If you are a student who will soon be going into higher education, or if you are already taking a university course and you have dyslexia (or another specific learning difficulty), the

How to help a child with dyslexia at home
Read and Spell Blog
How to help a child with dyslexia at home

How to help a child with dyslexia at home

Parents want their children to do well at school and have the opportunity to reach their full potential. Learning at home can play an important part in this when a child has dyslexia. Reading together and finding kids’ computer programs and apps that support literacy skills development are a good first step. Some parents may want to work directly with their children on phonics, spelling, and homework. Others may be a bit more reluctant to take on the role of teacher. It does take a special set of skills, and it’s not for everyone. Nevertheless, there is still plenty you can do to support learning at home, even if you don’t directly tutor your child.

Irlen Syndrome
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Irlen Syndrome

Irlen Syndrome

When reading the words on a page or a screen is difficult, it may not always be because of a learning difficulty. Some people have light sensitivity and visual processing problems, symptoms that affect their ability to read. Irlen Syndrome, also known as Meares-Irlen Syndrome, Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome, and sometimes referred to simply as visual stress, describes a situation in which the difficulty is not with actually seeing the letters on a page, but interpreting the incoming visual information. Ease of visual processing can be affected by changing the color of the text background to a particular tint that best suits the reader. Irlen Syndrome can affect individuals of any age and can be both frustrating and demotivating, particularly when it interrupts reading comprehension for work or school.

What does dyslexia mean to me
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What does dyslexia mean to me?

What does dyslexia mean to me?

A guest post by journalist David Hayter.

My life and livelihood are entirely dependent on those skills most severely affected by dyslexia. I work as a journalist: reading, writing, editing and organising are my passion, and they are the very things that I was told, as a child, that I would forever struggle with.

Rather than holding me back, receiving a dyslexia diagnosis at a young age not only helped me come to terms with and develop strategies to cope with my dyslexia, but to master the very skills that were the source of so much frustration and anxiety in my school years.

Did you know learning to touch-type can make you a better speller? Be the best you can be with TTRS!

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Teach yourself to type
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Teach yourself to type

Teach yourself to type

Most adult learning programs and libraries offer basic skills computer courses, but is it possible to learn how to touch type on your own? Of course. If you have access to a computer, there are plenty of self-study programs that can help you get started. 

One of the first things you need to learn is the home-row position on the keyboard – also known as the home keys.

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Touch-typing can support spelling skills and help students build confidence in and outside of the classroom

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7 Ways to help a frustrated student
Read and Spell Blog
7 Ways to help a frustrated student

7 Ways to help a frustrated student

Students who are confused may quickly become frustrated in the classroom if they are pressured to perform. It may be the case that attention or processing difficulties have prevented a learner from understanding a lesson, or that the instructions for a particular assignment are not clear to them.

In some cases motor skills difficulties, such as problems with handwriting, prevent a child from demonstrating their knowledge.

Teaching math facts
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Teaching math facts

Teaching math facts

Math facts are basic calculations that children can learn in order to help them do arithmetic more quickly. By committing math facts to memory, they can be recalled fluently so attention is freed for working on higher order math functions.

Drills are often the first thing that comes to mind, but the goal for parents and teachers is to help children automatize these facts in as painless of a way as possible - even better if it can be fun!

Auditory processing disorder in children
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Recognizing an auditory processing disorder in children

Recognizing an auditory processing disorder in children

An auditory processing disorder can cause difficulties with understanding in listening.

3 Spelling mistakes that are easy to make
Read and Spell Blog
3 Spelling mistakes that are easy to make

3 Spelling mistakes that are easy to make

Not everyone finds spelling easy. Children and adults, native and non-native speakers, and individuals with and without learning difficulties alike can all struggle with the irregularity of spelling in English.

That’s because more than one letter or letter combination can be used to represent a sound. An f is used in fire-truck but ph is used in phone. Similarly, the same letter(s) can represent different sounds. The pronunciation of c in face is soft but the c in car is hard. The initial sound in kick is k, but the same sound is spelled with a ck at the end of the word.