How Do You Deal with Your Dyslexic Teen?

Ok, I have dyslexia and what really helped me was calligraphy. The letters look totally different from one another (a p and a b look like a circle with a line next to it in most fonts but in calligraphy they look totally different!)

Is your daughter on a 504? My dyslexic daughter is on a 504 and the accommodations we have in place have really helped her to be successful in class. She started High School this year, and we got her an iPad. We had the use of her iPad included in her 504 so that she can use it in the classrooms. She can record lectures or even how to work problems in math. The school has the internet blocked, so no questions about her using it inappropriately at school. It has really helped her immensly. Several of her classes also have the textbooks available on line. Most of the books they read in English are available on her Kindle (pre-copyright are free) and if not, the teachers generally have them on a cd that they let her use. She has extreme difficulty taking notes as it is just to much processing to get things written down. She has gotten better, but it still takes her considerably longer than her peers. Before the iPad, teachers were required per her 504 to provide her with a copy of notes. If she isn't on a 504, I would strongly encourage you to talk to the counselor about get that in motion. You would have input on what accommodations the school/teachers would be required to follow. Greatschools.net is a great source of information and would help you to help her. Here is a link to a video on Dyslexia. I recommend that all parents, teachers and administrators watch it so that they have an idea of how difficult it really is for dyslexic students and the frustrations they face continually. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4f4rX0XEBA&feature=au... It has helped my daughter to use a planner. She has found it easier to write her assignments on sticky notes and then place them in her planner or inside her locker door. That way she doesn't forget any homework. I still help her occassionally with her homework, expecially if there is a lot of reading. Like others have said, these kids are not stupid, in fact most are very intelligent. They just happen to learn differently. Hope that this helps you.

I am dyslexic and it is so hard sometimes. Just help her know she can take as long as she needs to do her work. Help her know that it's Okasy to ask for help, to ask for the teacher to explain things as many times as she needs. Not everyone learns at the same pace or even the same way. She is not alone. There is nothing wrong with her, she just learns a little differently then most. NOTES, make sure she takes notes. She only has a few more years of highschool, it might be a good ideato look for tutoring programs that help students with Dyslexia if she wants to attend college. Getting her professional help to teach her new study habits that are made perfect for her.

First of all you have to reassure her that dsylexia is no measure of intelligence, some of the greatest minds in history have had dyslexia. Leonardo di Vinci and Albert Einstein both were dyslexic. In our time Jay Leno, Whoppie Goldberg, Henry Winkler (who has a Master's degree from Yale), Tom Cruise and many others are all dyslexic. Tom Cruise can't read at all he has to have someone record his scripts and he plays them over and over again until he learns his lines.

I would look into audio books for her. If they can have audio books for the blind why not for a dyslexic. There are also programs in many schools to have a tutor read test questions and the options to the student and the student answers the questions. In the case of an essay question the tutor can write down the answer.

I would go to the closest university who offers a teaching degree and talk to a department head or counselor. They may be able to lead you to a support group that offers tutors, and other help for kids. You can also contact organizations like Easter Seals who work with disabled kids.

Good luck--I wish I had had this info when my kids were young. My oldest and youngest are both dyslexic. My oldest in the traditional sense, difficulty reading, my youngest and myself in math and direction. If I get too many verbal directions go left on ___ street 2 blocks right on ___ then right then left I will screw it up everytime. I have to write down directions and take them step by step or I end up in a totally wrong place. And though I can do Geometry, Algebra makes no sense to me it could be written in sanskrit and not confuse me more then it does now.

No real advice to give, but I think it's fantastic that you and her teachers try to help, without everyone trying to harp on her and force her to do better when it is a struggle.
One of my children struggles in school, and I just want my kids to do the best to their own abilities-not the best in the class, the grade, or the school!
I appreciate hearing this in other parents as well. =)
We have a young man in our church that is dyslexic, and he told us of a while back before we met him, that an adult man "took him under his wing" (I don't think he sees his father very often-parents are divorced), and because reading was difficult for this young man, the older man wanted to help him learn a trade so he could still do well in an area. So he taught him to work on motors.
He's now in his early 20's, and is a very hard working young man, with great work ethic (he works on a farm), and a few good skills under his belt-a young man any mother would be proud of, and a young man that will make a great husband someday!
Just had to throw that in! =)