It is necessary for dyslexic children to receive early identification and assessment, and proper intervention. Otherwise, it is possible that their specific learning difficulties will become more serious when they move up to higher levels of learning. This will also lead to other problems such as the decline of learning motivation and self-esteem. Therefore, parents and educators should help the dyslexic students as early as possible.

1. Advice for Parents

Family is the first place for all education, and parents are the first teachers in one’s life. For the dyslexic students, parents are usually the first one who notice their learning difficulties. The earlier parents can spot the problems, the earlier parents can arrange for intervention support. Parents who have a comprehensive understanding of dyslexic children can show greater tolerance towards the children and hence provide appropriate intervention. They should create an appropriate learning environment and implement effective intervention strategies. At the same time, parents should also provide children with care and support so that they will feel less defeated and depressed, thus maintaining positive mental and physical health.

2. Advice for Educators

As the front-liners who impart knowledge to students, educators influence students’ learning through their pedagogies and the learning environment. It is particularly essential for dyslexic students to receive bespoke curriculum and teaching strategies so as to ameliorate their academic performance.

Research has advised that the ‘Three-Tiered Intervention Model’ is an effective intervention to students who have specific learning difficulties. It is suggested that schools should provide appropriate interventions to match with different levels of learning difficulties that the students encounter.

  • Tier 1: Optimizing classroom teaching in order to prevent students with mild learning difficulties from deteriorating into severe cases.
  • Tier 2: Supporting students who have continuous learning difficulties through small-group tutorials
  • Tier 3: Implementing intensive individualised education plans (IEP) for students who encounter severe learning difficulties

Schools may utilize the Learning Support Grant (LSG) from the Education Bureau to provide effective intervention to dyslexic students. Apart from classroom and curriculum adaptation, schools should also make special examination arrangements so that in the assessment the dyslexic students can have ample opportunities to exhibit what they have learnt.

3. Needs of the dyslexic students

Parents and teachers can provide intervention to dyslexic children around the following areas:

Please visit the following websites for teaching suggestions and resources for supporting dyslexic students: