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Supporting Dyslexia Guide
Discover how technology can help you minimise literacy barriers and maximise learning outcomes.
Understanding Dyslexia
Dyslexia is estimated to affect around 10% of people globally, and is the most common Specific Learning Difficulty (SpLD) we encounter in the classroom.
Dyslexia can present challenges with both reading and producing written content, as well as acquiring and retaining information across subjects. It’s important to note that dyslexia does not impact intellectual ability. It’s simply a difference in how the brain processes and retrieves information. The challenges individuals with dyslexia face can drive them to become resilient, resourceful, creative thinkers.
Without proper understanding and support, students with dyslexia can be unfairly judged as less capable than they really are. They may fall behind their peers and become frustrated or disengaged from learning altogether. This can have a long-lasting negative impact not just on academic performance but on self-confidence and career opportunities.
What is dyslexia?
Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling. Characteristic features of dyslexia are difficulties in phonological awareness, verbal memory and verbal processing speed. Dyslexia occurs across the range of intellectual abilities. Co-occurring difficulties may be seen in aspects of language, motor co-ordination, mental calculation, concentration and organisation. Rose (2009)
Our research at Everway has explored the impact of unaddressed literacy barriers. In 2022 we partnered with Censuswide to survey over 2,000 Australian adults about their literacy skills:
56% reported having difficulties with literacy during their education.
Of those, 27% didn’t seek help with their literacy challenges because they feared being judged or bullied.
Overall, 71% said they think technology could have helped them address their literacy difficulties at school.
The responses show that literacy challenges are far more common than we might imagine. Many people don’t ask for help due to persisting stigma. And lastly, there is widespread interest in how technology can offer solutions.
Recognising the signs
Before we look at effective ways to support dyslexia, it’s useful to consider some of the potential signs of dyslexia and how they might present in your students. By understanding how dyslexia affects learning, we can be better equipped to meet student needs.
Dyslexia varies in presentation and severity from person to person, but there are some common patterns in how it affects linguistic processes. Here are some signs to look out for:
Reading and decoding
- Difficulty associating letters with sounds
- Difficulty identifying separate syllables within a word
- Difficulty sounding out unfamiliar words
- Slow, hesitant or inaccurate reading
- Challenges with reading fluency and comprehension, particularly with longer, more complex texts
- Unwillingness to read aloud
With this understanding, we can be more equipped to understand our students and adjust our teaching strategies to their needs. If you’re reading this, you’ve already taken the first step.
In the next section, we’ll get started on building your dyslexia support strategy.