| Studies
from the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development have shown
that for children with difficulties learning to read, a multi-sensory teaching
method is the most effective teaching method.
This is especially crucial for a dyslexic child. But what does it mean?
Using a multi-sensory teaching approach means
helping a child to learn through more than one of the senses. Most teaching in
schools is done using either sight or hearing (auditory sensations). The child’s
sight is used in reading information, looking at diagrams or pictures, or reading
what is on the teacher’s board. The sense of hearing is used in listening
to what the teacher says. A dyslexic child may experience difficulties with either
or both of these senses. The child’s vision may be affected by difficulties
with tracking, visual processing or seeing the words become fuzzy or move around.
The child’s hearing may be satisfactory on a hearing test, but auditory memory
or auditory processing may be weak. The
answer is to involve the use of more of the child’s senses, especially the
use of touch and movement (kinetic). This will give the child’s brain tactile
and kinetic memories to hang on to, as well as the visual and auditory ones.
An example
An example will make this clear. The majority of dyslexic children experience
confusion over the direction of ‘b’ and ‘d’. They can both
be seen as a stick with a circle at its base. But on which side does the circle
sit? A teacher might give the child a tactile (touchy/feely) experience of the
letter ‘b’ by getting the child to draw the letter really large on the
carpet. This will involve the child using their arms, their sense of balance,
their whole body. They will remember the day their teacher had them 'writing'
on the carpet with their hand making this great big shape, and can use that memory
the next time they come to write the letter.
Some teachers purchase letters made out of sandpaper so that the children can
run their fingers over the letter ‘b’, giving them a strong tactile
memory. The thought of it sends a shiver down my spine!
Writing the letter ‘b’ in cursive handwriting on paper and with a big
movement in the air puts a quite different slant on this letter. The letter starts
on the line and rises to begin the down-stroke: there is nowhere else to put the
circular bit but ahead of the down stroke.
Yet another way to give a strong tactile memory of ‘b’ is to make the
letter out of plasticine, play-dough or clay.
A commonly used ‘trick’ to remember the direction of ‘b’ and
‘d’ is to show the child the word ‘bed’ on a card. This word
begins with ‘b’ and ends with ‘d’, so that if you draw a bed
over the letters, the upright part of ‘b’ will become the head of the
bed, and the upright part of the ‘d’ will become the foot. You can draw
a child lying on the bed to complete the picture. This gives a strong visual memory
for the child to use each time the letter has to be written.
You can also show the child how to hold
up their index finger on each hand, with the thumb and second finger touching,
making the word ‘bed’, but without the ‘e’. If they learn
to do this, they can make this shape discretely with their fingers each time they
need a reminder in class.
The net result of these activities will be that a child has a visual memory from
seeing the letter, an auditory memory from hearing the sound it makes, a tactile
memory from writing the letter in cursive handwriting, in the air, and from touching
the sandpaper letter, and a kinetic (body movement) memory from having drawn the
letter really large on the carpet. Altogether a multi-sensory experience!
This tried and tested method has been used successfully
for a long time, and its success lies in the fact that the dyslexic child is not
limited to visual and auditory experiences but can make use of other areas of
the brain in trying to establish clear memories of letters, words and numbers
that are difficult to remember. John
Bradford (with apologies for my drawings!)
Email: admin@dyslexia-parent.com
2000 Feedback
 •
I
was on your site today. I am a great-grandparent by marriage working once a week
with a soon to be 9-year old. These two little "tricks" will help me immensely
as I work with Maranda. Thank you, thank you!
Sending smiles! (A.R.O.)
•
I would like you to
know that I have tried the suggested method of 'bed' with one of the children
and it has helped him tremendously. (D.M., India)  •
We have made words and letters in various ways and used plasticine. This
was quite successful but it does go hard after a while. We have also used pipe
cleaners. These are easy to bend into shape and very tactile. They can be
carried with us on holiday etc and are not messy or sticky. My 11-year old daughter
enjoys making letters with pipe cleaners. When making words she uses only one
color. She has a very good visual memory and can recall the color used and how
it felt. When she has made words or letters we feel them with our eyes open and
closed. She seems to be able to store the words in her memory best with her eyes
closed. (R.H., Switzerland)
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