These photographs are used with the permission of Dr. Todd Richards, University of Washington. What Can Be Done According to Dr. Shaywitz, most children are not diagnosed with dyslexia until the third grade. If a diagnosis could be made earlier, students could be given extra help before they start to have difficulties in their schoolwork. This may mean that parents need to work with the school to make sure their child receives the help needed. Federal legislation in place since 1975 requires that special funding be available to provide learning disabled children equal opportunities in the educational system.
Research indicates that early training in phoneme awareness helps dyslexics read better.
This specific type of language training focuses on the sound structure of words, not simply on overall reading skills. There are now software programs available that slow down or stretch out the sounds of words, helping children practice breaking words into phonemes. Dyslexics may also have trouble with long or novel words. It is difficult for dyslexics to master rote memorization, as they need contextual clues to help them gain the meaning of words. Therefore, multiple choice exams are more challenging for dyslexics, and many schools offer other test formats for dyslexics, ones that fairly test knowledge while providing context for the questions and answers, such as essays or oral exams.