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Every child has their own challenges with their learning and one difficulty some young people face is dyslexia.

To explain what dyslexia is and to offer advice on the best way for you and your child to approach it, Parents' Toolkit has spoken to the British Dyslexia Association and to Professor Maggie Snowling, Emeritus Professor in the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, who has been involved in dyslexia research for almost 50 years.

What is dyslexia?

“Dyslexia is very simply put, a difficulty in learning to read and write fluently,” says Professor Snowling, “The first manifestation is usually a difficulty in learning letters and how to decode words, or problems with reading accuracy.”

“Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty because it impacts particular aspects of learning and is not connected to intellectual ability. It is a hidden condition, and the signs are not always obvious,” explains the British Dyslexia Association, “It will probably be once a child starts school that signs of it are noticed. It is usually first noticeable in the reception year as dyslexic children usually struggle with phonics and learning to read and may not pass the Phonics Screening Test* at the end of Year 1. It is important to add that not all these children will be dyslexic, and not all dyslexic children will fail the phonics test, but this screening test can be an early indicator of dyslexia.”

*The Phonics Screening Test takes place in June of Year 1 at primary school and is used to assess a child's ability to decode words from a mix of real and nonsense words.

A dyslexia diagnosis for your child means they can be properly supported, explains Professor Snowling, “In the past a lot of children who had this unexpected difficulty in reading - while everything else was ok - were thought of as “just slow”. It's important to label it to distinguish children who have this rather selective or specific difficulty with reading from children who have more general learning problems. And if you don't diagnose it, it doesn't get noticed and it doesn't get any help.”

It is important to note that dyslexia affects everyone differently. Though dyslexia is commonly thought of as a difficulty with only reading and spelling, it can actually affect much more, such as information processing, organisation, time management and communication. While dyslexia presents challenges, many people with dyslexia have significant strengths and skills in areas such as creativity, problem solving and dynamic thinking. Many dyslexic individuals have achieved great accomplishments, including some famous names you may recognise: Steven Spielberg, Jennifer Aniston, Jay Blades, Lord Alan Sugar, Holly Willoughby, Salma Hayek and Whoopi Goldberg.

“It is often misunderstood and labelled as lazy, or not trying hard enough,” says the British Dyslexia Association, “In fact, dyslexic children are usually already working considerably harder than their classmates just to keep up.”

How can I help my dyslexic child in school?

There are ways that you can support a dyslexic child while they are at school.

“It is important to build a positive and trusted relationship with the school and work together to support the needs of the child. This can take time,” explains the British Dyslexia Association, “Parents should make an appointment with the school to discuss any concerns, sharing an agenda in advance. It is better to make a specific appointment rather than try and cover this on Parent’s Evening, or quickly before or after school. It is helpful to have collated some evidence or a list of specific concerns so that these can be discussed.”

You can use this meeting to set up a learning plan for your child, “By the end of the meeting, there should be an agreed list of action points and a timeframe set for review. This should be an on-going process where the school can evidence the progress that the child is making, and jointly, parents and teachers can decide if and when additional support may be needed.”

It is also useful to try and be across what is happening in class so you can support your child in areas they might be struggling in, explains the British Dyslexia Association, “It is helpful to understand the learning objectives or topics that are being covered each term, taking an interest in what the child is learning and looking for fun activities outside of school that might support this. For example, trips to museums or libraries or finding games or videos to watch to support the learning.”

How can I help my dyslexic child at home?

As a parent to a dyslexic child herself, Professor Snowling has tips on how to best support them at home, “Ask the teacher what areas they need more help in, this could be practising spellings or doing a little bit of reading but it's important that that doesn't take over.

If you try 10 minutes every school day, that's 50 minutes extra support a week.”

As well as this kind of structured support, the British Dyslexia Association says there are ways to get moments of learning into everyday life too, “Read everywhere – road signs, cereal packets etc.”

It is important to be positive and to make sure you’re looking for your child’s strengths, says the British Dyslexia Association, “Find ways to help build their child’s self-esteem by finding something that they can be successful at which will build their confidence and encourage them to try new things.” Professor Snowling agrees, “It's really important to give them the sort of support that they need to develop in their areas of strength, be that music or football or drama or drawing - try to think, what are they good at? How can they get positive affirmation for those areas because that's important in terms of developing resilience.”

This Parents' Toolkit article shows five ways to support your child with dyslexia at home.

How can I get support as a parent?

It’s important that you also make sure that you have the support you need as a parent of someone who is dyslexic. “Having a child with a specific learning difficulty is stressful,” says Professor Snowling, “I think the best approach is to reach out to other parents, to be connected with somebody else who's got a child with dyslexia to try and share what's worked for them. Also don't blame yourself but try and enjoy some of the things the child is good at.”

Having dyslexia might mean someone has different strengths and weaknesses to you, but that isn’t a bad thing, says Professor Snowling, “Sometimes parents worry about dyslexia - they’ll never be able to get a job and never be able to go to university. Actually the truth is, they may just be on a different pathway.”

It's also important to remember that dyslexia doesn't define someone as a person. “It’s about knowing yourself and knowing your dyslexia as part of you, but it doesn't need to be thought of as a disadvantage,” says Professor Snowling, “We have to take a very positive view, it’s a difference in learning.”

Further advice and support

If you’re looking for more on dyslexia and how to support your child, the is full of practical information and includes the latest information on the support available for parents.

If you are a parent with dyslexia, and feeling like you struggle when reading to your child, find tips and advice from Tiny Happy People - Being a parent with dyslexia.

This article asks - can dyslexia inspire success?

Musician Freya Ridings talks to Newsround about what it's like to have dyslexia.

Hamza Yassin: 'Who I am now is a result of me being dyslexic'.

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