Our Community Weighs In: Small Classroom Changes, Big Impact for Kids With Dyslexia

For many students who struggle with reading, small classroom changes can make a big difference in their school performance. We asked our Facebook community to share how accommodations or informal supports have helped their children with dyslexia. Here’s what they said.

“My son’s teacher gives him spelling words, but also asks him to draw a picture of each word. It helps him remember it better.” —Misty W. L.

“A scribe and having a quiet place to work if needed have been the most significant things so far. The resource teacher has been a great ally, helping us get a good 504 plan and giving our son a quiet space to work. The teacher noticed a huge difference after he got help with his writing.” —Jennifer M.

“Our teacher uses SnapType, an app that lets her take a picture of my son’s worksheet so he can complete it on a tablet.” —Veronica H. M.

“Allowing extra time for assignments and tests was always a big help.” —Amy W.

“Our amazing teacher is very conscientious about sensory stimulation. She uses lamps in her classroom instead of the overhead lights. Because of her compassion, our son has had an amazing year!” —Michele S.

“Little things that help include: not correcting spelling on a writing assignment, not worrying about penmanship during spelling and not harping on a backwards “3” during a math lesson. We let other little errors slide until the time comes for that subject to be worked on individually. That is very freeing and builds confidence to work on each component in its turn.” —Eleanor R. M.

“Having fidget toys!” —Kendra S. M.

“Having an availability of audiobooks has been helpful, and using organization tools for writing papers.” —Heidi K. B.

“Using Chromebooks has really leveled the playing field for my son, because of the speech recognition and text-to-speech functions.” —Michelle A.

Looking for more? See a list of classroom accommodations for dyslexia. And hear more ideas from the Understood Facebook community: Read our families’ most surprising IEP and 504 accommodations.