At True Literacy, we have a range of online dyslexic courses. Summing up the advantages of these courses will be easy but the big ‘why’ is what we’re here to discuss. It is important to understand why several parents and teachers have already started using these courses.
To begin with, let us talk about the capability to process and comprehend while learning in daily life. A child’s ability to learn will define the extent of their development. However, if the child faces issues with reading, writing, or grasping; it indicates a learning issue.
The sooner a child’s learning issue is identified, the lesser the damage caused to their self-esteem. To reiterate, the easier it is to build their self-confidence. When a child sees that they are unable to do what their peers can do so easily, like read fluently, write without spelling errors, etc. it leads them to doubt their own capabilities. This is what mainly happens with a child experiencing the signs of dyslexia. Understanding this part of their life will help any parent or teacher take the right steps of action to nurture that child’s growth and development.
Life before dyslexia is identified
Back when Imaan Javan was diagnosed as a child with dyslexia, it was looked upon as a permanent roadblock for her. Watching other kids excel in school with the burden of being left behind was nothing short of painful for Imaan. In fact, those who knew of her inability to comprehend and learn effectively, made fun of her. It was with the support of her mother and counsellor that helped Imaan frame sentences well, study better and gain the confidence she needed. When Imaan was moved to boarding school in Panchgani, her teachers were her biggest support, giving her the guidance she needed to excel academically. Today, Imaan Javan is the Director of Operations at Suntuity Renewable Energy India.
Likewise, if you look up the net to find people who overcame dyslexia, you’d be surprised. It’s more to do with the success they’ve gained despite the pressing disbelief of society in their capabilities.
Famous Bollywood celebrities like Abhishek Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, or renowned entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs, or Jamie Oliver were diagnosed with dyslexia. The time they were diagnosed versus the intervention they received is related to the difference in impact you see today. Both the aspects – Diagnosis and Intervention were needed to be able to bring about a positive turn in the lives of these people. Another aspect that factors in is the early or late diagnosis of dyslexia, wherein delayed diagnosis is still better than not being diagnosed at all. However, several people have recalled their learning experiences as most unpleasant due to being diagnosed late in life.
It’s also important to note that one can identify a child’s learning issues, whereas the diagnosis is done by an Educational Psychologist or a Specialist Dyslexia Teacher.
Therefore, the two most important steps to creating an impact in a child’s life with dyslexia is 1) Diagnosis and 2) Intervention.
Who has ever stopped right up until the point of identifying an issue and then confirming it through diagnosis? Mostly those who are not aware about the steps of intervention. In this case, it’s about identifying if a child has a learning challenge like dyslexia and then working on ways to help that child cope.
It is of paramount importance for a parent to identify if their child has a learning issue like dyslexia. There are a few early signs in childhood like difficulty in rhyming, and learning sounds and letters. These signs are what can help one identify the child’s ability to learn and at what pace.
Dyslexia is diagnosed – what now?
The problem initially was about identifying whether or not a child is struggling with dyslexia. However, once the issue is recognised and diagnosed, parents and teachers have to work together towards an intervention for the child’s progress.
When introducing an intervention for a child with dyslexia, the approach should be structured. It should include teaching things aimed with the intention to build on previously learnt material. This is because students with dyslexia need to learn spelling patterns and new sounds or phonograms. Of course, this approach of teaching has to take place one step at a time, like teaching the long ‘o’ sound. It cannot be taught including o-e, oa, ow, or oe at the same time, making it confusing for the child. Following this, you can help them practise future texts with the exact sounds already learnt, and nothing too explicit.
Therefore, reading sentences using decodable texts, learning new content with the use of multisensory methods, and other techniques encompass interventions. As a parent and/or a teacher, online dyslexia courses can be your greatest support as well.
At True Literacy, we have a number of online dyslexic courses available that can train you to help your child excel at learning.
Nurturing a child’s growth with these three online dyslexic courses
Online dyslexic courses offer unique ways to teach your child or student to learn effectively. As you rely on the support of an educator who specialises in teaching children with dyslexia, you can also use these online courses to support your child’s growth.
If you are an educator who is teaching a for the first time, these courses might offer you a confident step ahead.
Although we have many online dyslexia courses on our website, let’s look at the benefits of using these three courses.
(1) SCRIBEASY
Teaching through evidence-based strategies – Most of the online dyslexia courses available are designed with a specific goal. For instance, Scribeasy is an online course that helps to build English storytelling skills. It is an inclusive, creative story platform for learners aged 3 to 99. It helps in boosting the skills to read, write, and spell, including improving vocabulary and better storytelling. This course plays to the learner’s strengths by inventing ideas with the use of images. It helps in boosting vocabulary skills and mental agility, and works best due to its visual learning approach.
(2) CLEAR VIEW SPEECH
You get to teach in a conducive environment – Parents may often want their child with dyslexia to learn stress-free, at their own pace, and in a supportive environment. This will further help them learn better and exhibit their improvements when at school. For instance, improving on their executive functioning skills such as mental processing, planning, strengthening their attention span, remembering instructions, organising, managing multiple tasks, and so on.
Clear View Speech is one such two-part series online course that offers children with dyslexia to learn and develop their executive functioning skills. So, while the first part of this series helps the student to learn and understand executive functioning, the second part of the series helps them to draw the link between working memory and dyslexia.
A working memory refers to the ability to hold and manage information mentally over short periods of time. Children with a weak working memory may experience issues with complex reasoning, will frequently engage in daydreaming, and appear highly distractible and inattentive. You can see why developing the child’s abilities in these areas requires a supportive environment to learn at their own pace, which is what makes an online dyslexia course best suited for them.
(3) SUPERDVILLE
Learn with a positive mindset – Children with dyslexia find it difficult to learn anything through the mainstream approach used at school. The more they try with the same methods, the more frustrated they become, losing confidence in their ability to learn. An online dyslexic course can help them learn in a much better environment and also develop a positive attitude towards themselves.
SuperDVille is a video-based Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum for 7 to 12-year olds who learn differently. This program is aimed at improving academic performance, positive attitudes about self, and student behaviour. The videos have also been dubbed in different languages for non-English speaking parents, like Hindi, Nepali, Spanish, French, Italian, Arabic, and so on.
There are several other online dyslexic courses on True Literacy. Feel free to browse through them and select the one most appropriate for your child or student. Moving efficiently from Step 1 of Diagnosis to Step 2 of Intervention can help a child with a learning challenge gain the confidence to excel academically and beyond, giving them the scope to fulfil their potential.
Is it appropriate to use this term, or should I always stick to writing – “child with dyslexia”?