SPELD: Action needed now!

SPELD Wellington, in partnership with many Wellington schools and classroom teachers, is doing just that!

Mark, principal at Berhampore School says, “We have had a long term relationship with SPELD tutors participating in the school day.

“The school welcomes SPELD Tutors engaged by parents to support their child’s learning. To make this successful the school provides easy access to a quality work space.

“The SPELD tutors have become a part of our professional learning community. The tutors are encouraged by our teachers to put forward ideas and strategies in professional discussions in the staff room.

From a principal’s perspective this relationship with the tutors can only enhance the capacity of the community of professionals that work with the children in my school.

“The inclusion of the tutors in the staff room enables the teacher to discuss with the tutor what strategies they’re using with their child and can give good feedback to the tutor about the child’s literacy behaviour in the classroom.

“To me it’s a win, win situation.”

Classroom teacher Richard said, “In our primary classroom we find a fair chunk of our kids present with some kind of learning difficulty. Parents enrolling their children in SPELD have been a part of the way these learning needs are addressed.”

He commented that the focus of the students’ work with SPELD fits easily into the class as it addresses spelling patterns, rules and reading comprehension. In addition the regular catch-ups with the SPELD tutors mean “we can co-ordinate our efforts in addressing the kids learning needs.”

Dyslexia impacts on more than decoding words says Lyn Prentice, (SPELD president and teacher). It makes it extremely difficult for students to follow multiple instructions, write and finish work on time. Therefore they suffer a lot of anguish and frustration. They feel different from their peers.

“I used to think I was dumb. Going to SPELD has helped me understand I learn differently from other kids. I can learn, but just in a different way, using the right side of my brain,” says one student.

Lyn explains, “There are often under-pinning learning issues like co-ordination, sensory integration, visual and auditory memory, concentration and processing speed, as well as learning strategies for planning and organisation in the classroom. These are what I focus on with the students.

“I use a multi-sensory approach with a variety of resources including books, card and board games, computer programmes and physical activities in order to help meet the specific needs of each student.

“My programme is specific to each student. I believe it is important that I have time to work with the student away from the distractions of the classroom.

“It is very helpful when I am welcomed into the staffroom because I can then talk to the classroom teachers in an informal and relaxed setting and on a regular basis.”

Sometimes it can be confusing when an otherwise bright student is consistently under achieving in literacy and sometimes mathematics and it seems to be due to carelessness or a lack of effort… “just not trying”.

One student described his experience of dyslexia as: “When I am writing a story the word comes out of my brain, travels down my neck and shoulder but when it gets half way down my arm it does a u-turn and heads off to my wrong hand.”

It is essential to see the student with learning difficulties as a whole person complete with strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths are often oral skills, comprehension, good visual spatial awareness and artistic abilities. In a positive encouraging environment a dyslexic student will experience the feeling of success and self value.

Remember literacy is not a single skill, it takes time.

Dyslexics need a high level of over learning and repetition.

There are some simple things schools and parents can do to make it easier to learn.

Arrange the seating to ensure the auditory sensitive child is away from the noises like fans or the door etc and that the board is easy to see.

Some students can find copying a struggle. Provide notes or extra time for copy­ing.

Ensure printed material is large and in a dyslexia friendly font otherwise the print can be so overwhelming the student cannot even begin.

Break the lesson into achievable parts so the student confirms what they know and then can draw a line as to where it gets hard. “I get it to this point.”

Timed activities usually result in a poor profile of the student’s knowledge. They panic, go blank and can’t recall the facts, so consider an oral discussion while the others get on with the assessment, as the goal is to assess their understanding of a concept and a much clearer idea of the student’s progress will be gained.

Dyslexics are often global learners. Sally Shaywitz (Yale University) noted that they are top down thinkers and not bottom up. They learn from getting the big picture or overall idea or meaning first and then fill in the detail. To respect this give an outline of what is going to be taught in the lesson. This will be of benefit to all the children.

Be specific about what the praise is for. The student needs confirming of what is correct and then positive feed -back as to how to do better next time.

Success builds confidence. Remember these students have experienced a high level of failure already.

Remember they work exceptionally hard to keep up and at times to catch up, so structure the day with easy tasks interspersed with difficult ones.

— Wellington SPELD