My 10 year old son has dyslexia and is extremely forgetful. I am reading a couple of books on dyslexia currently, and they're good but a little tedious. Any tips on how we can give our son better tools to use to help him remember to bring things home from school? We are already working with his teacher on this, and we don't want her to remind him of every single thing every single day because obviously, he won't learn how to ever do it on his own! We've tried making lists, but obviously, with dyslexia, the written word is especially challenging for him.
C.,
Try taking a picture of what he needs and using this as your list instead of the written word. Pictures will have more meaning for him. Anytime you are using words only, try and give a visual too. Good luck and remember some of the most talented and creative people had dyslexia. At school as soon as homework is assigned, he needs to put what he needs in his backpack. Also, many parents have bought or borrowed a second set of textbooks for home. that way just forgetting one book won't have repercussions for two days.
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A.F.
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St. Louis
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Pictures are a good idea, but be sure to pair the written words with them (or emphasize the words but pair small picture cues of some kind with them). He still needs exposure to the written word if he's going to overcome his dyslexia. Over time, you may be able to scale-down and eventually eliminate the pictures all together. After you create a "picture/word board" of everything he might need to remember, laminate it and he can use a wipe-able marker to circle what he needs throughout the day. You can buy self-laminating sheets that are easy to apply and make the paper nice and sturdy. At the end of the day, wipe it clean and it's ready to go the next day. You might pair this with some type of incentive program, too (for exmple, he earns points for remembering his stuff and then cashes in those points at the end of the week for a special activity of some kind). Finally, for any parent or child looking for a better understanding of learning disabilites, I highly recommend "All Kinds of Minds" or "Keeping A Head in School" or any other book by Dr. Mel Levine. He writes them for the kids to read and develop a better understanding of themselves. (Excellent!)
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T.R.
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Hi C.,
I know a friend who has taken pictures of the items that need to be brought home and have stuck them on the inside of his notebook. She took actual pictures of his notebook, pencil, backpack, etc. She put them on the computer and added it to a word document with pasteing and cutting. This really helped their situation. I hope this helps yours.
T.
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P.H.
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St. Louis
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HI C.! I was going to suggest the same things that the other ladies have. Use pictures with one or two words. I would make a small card, maybe 3x5 with the most important things he needs to remember, laminate it and put it on the zipper of his book bag. Talk to you soon. P. Hilderbrand
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H.M.
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St. Louis
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hi there...how about pictures instead of words...take pics of everything he might have to take home...you can velcro them to a little cardboard or something and put them whereever he keeps his things to take home at the end of the day...good luck