What are some good ways to teach dyslexic children how to read?

I’m guessing that converting what she reads into cursive would help. I don’t think there are any mirror images in cursive, especially if it’s properly slanted.

My daughter has learning disabilities and I took a class on human life and disabilies to help me to understand and teach her the way she needs to be taught. In the class we had to watch a F.A.T. City video on Youtube call How Hard Can This Be? about Understanding learning disabilities and how someone with a learning disability sees things. I suggest watching the video it will I think give you, your 11yr old’s perspective and give you some ideas on how better to teach him/her at least it helped me see things from my daughters perspective.

My youngest step-son is dyslexic and had years of only marginally successful tutoring from reading specialists. There was nothing magical; he just stumbled along and discovered eventually that he had a really good ear and ability to memorize; he began listening to books (first on tapes, then on CD’s and finally on MP3 players) the material stuck.

His handwriting was chickscratch and slow and laborious. The era of the keyboard and word-processing changed his life.

I worked for several years as part of a multidisciplinary child evaluation team, and have learned that there is a range of what works and what doesn’t for kids with learning differences. The best thing to do is to find out what the child’s idiosyncratic strengths and weaknesses are from reviewing the results of which evaluations have already been performed. Ideally, all learning modalities should be evaluated in order to know which where those strengths and weaknesses lie, and which co-morbid learning challenges are present for that individual. If the child has auditory processing weaknesses, as well as visual processing weaknesses, then auditory compensations may be of no help at all.

In your situation as a tutor, I would ask the parents to share the reports of all evaluations that have been performed to date, and also to ask their permission in writing for you to consult with the professionals who performed the evaluations, as well as the special educators working with the child in the school, as they will be the best source of suggestions specific to this child’s needs. It will also benefit the child if you and the school-based professionals are providing continuity in the treatment process. In my experience, the Occupation Therapists have the best grasp of the visual processing concerns, as well as the global awareness of how the different modalities can be used together for learning.

I read once that putting a blue piece of clear plastic “paper” over the words helps in someway. Don’t know if it’s true.