Helping your child or young person
There are three areas in which both you and the school can help your child.
Together it is important to:
- help your child to develop strategies to access the curriculum and develop their knowledge and understanding in spite of their literacy difficulties
- help your child to develop literacy skills
- help your child to maintain or develop self esteem
Ways to help
The most important thing you can do as a parent is to help your child to develop and maintain good self-esteem.
You can help raise your child’s feelings of self-worth by:
- Working with the school to find ways to support and guide your child
- Encouraging your child to talk about their difficulties and successes
- Praising your child when they achieve success in any area.
- Encouraging your child to take up activities at which they can be successful
- Avoiding negative comparisons with other children or siblings.
- Avoiding talking to others about your child’s difficulties in the child’s hearing.
- Making them aware of positive role models – the BDA has a good list – and encourage ambition. Many employers are very supportive to people with dyslexia (for example, the Royal Navy, British Gas)
- Being positive – focus on what they can do, not what they can’t.