Dyslexia is effecting my child's Personal Organisation. What to do?

Question

My daughter has been declared dyslexic by her school teachers due to her spelling. To get around this I taught her to touch type and use dictionary software (happily, with nice carrot!) but the big difficulty I see is her poor personal organisation which is holding her back. I am at a loss as to how to help. All suggestions welcome.

Answer 1

I am not certain if a eye Dr. or a neurologist may both be in order But do it a.s.a.p

As it can slow down learning and understanding.

Answer 2

Since when were teachers qualified to diagnose dyslexia?

next they will be wanting to put her on Ritalin because she is seen as ADHD because she spoke in class.

Dyslexia can be a major problem for some kids as it can affect their learning and  ultimately their self esteem.

Involve a school psychologist or a professional in the field of dyslexia , sometimes it can be fixed with something as simple as colored glasses.

Personal organization can be hard to learn and what is good for this is a 5S type system that is used in some big manufacturers.

Essentially it teaches a place for everything and everything in its place , even to the point of drawing silhouettes of items where they go back on a desk after use.

It is very easy to use and very effective.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5S_%28metho...

Good luck and I wish you and your daughter well!

Answer 3

I feel your pain because I was your daughter in school...now I am a special ed teacher (go figure).  

She needs to be explicitly taught organization.  Step by step, the same steps over and over again.  It just doesn't come naturally to her.  That's all.  

It would have helped if you gave specific examples of how she is disorganized, but in the absence of that I will take a guess...

Teach her how to organize her notebook step by step(papers go in here, homework in there, notes for parents in this pocket, supplies in that pocket, etc.)  Break it down into steps, write it out on flash cards, do it with her every day or evening.  

If it is organizing words, word games can help.  Computer games, flash games online, etc.  Learning word families helps:  Pack, sack, tack....if she learns the "ack" part , for example, it is all a matter of what letter you put in front of the "ack".   Dr. Seuss is good for phonemic awareness and the sounds of words.  

It is not the end of the world to be dyslexic.  I have a Master's Degree, and I am dyslexic.  You are not a bad parent and did not make any mistakes to cause it.  She just learns differently than the average kid, that's all.  If I can finish college, so can she.  If you believe she can, she will believe she can.  So believe it- ITS TRUE!   Now go give your daughter a big hug- hugs always help!

Answer 4

I recommend that you look around in your area for someone who performs evaluations of learning needs for children. Sometimes these people are educational psychologists or neuropsychologists (for a more thorough study if needed). Because there's a lot of dyslexia out there, I think there may be reading specialists who do this kind of evaluation as well.

Your school itself should have done such an evaluation if they believe your daughter has dyslexia, which would have consequences beyond spelling. It doesn't sound like they have, though, and I think you'd learn a lot by seeing someone on your own.

An evaluator could also look at what's called executive function, which is a problem for many kids who have some learning issues. Executive function is kind of the boss of all the other things our brains do -- organization, time sense, planning, regulation, and so on. It can affect academic performance as well as daily living.

There are a lot of strategies that can be applied for helping kids who have these troubles -- checklists, diagrams, study skills support to help them organize their time and get through large projects. You could try a web search for "executive function" and see if it sounds like your daughter, and maybe get some suggestions that could be tried at home and school.

Congratulations on the typing strategy, by the way -- great idea.

Answer 5

The above suggestions are good...I just wanted to expand a little. Developing routine will help your daughter a lot. If there are particular routines to follow each day (an order in which things are done after school - example: come home, eat snack, do homework, play, dinner, bath, bed) it will make her day more predictable and easier to remember things to do. Also, by having a notebook with sections for specific subjects, homework, etc., and by even having things labeled, it will help. Create written schedules or reminders for school and home. My daughter does not have dyslexia but she is very ADHD and I have to do these same things to help her. You being consistant will help her to develop these routines and become more organized.