Lessons learnt from teaching dyslexic children

An international expert claims that by fine-tuning lessons to help dyslexic learners teachers can lift the achievement of all students and ultimately reduce youth crime.
 More than 250 teachers, principals and parents have signed up to dyslexia expert Neil Mackay's workshops in Tauranga this week which bear his message: "New Zealand schools should view autism as a learning preference, rather than a difficulty or disability."
His comments come in response to Autism New Zealand's statement that social stigma, intolerance and ignorance in the education system are holding back children with autism and driving some parents to remove children from mainstream education.
Mr Mackay said a profile of young offenders in the United Kingdom showed many had unresolved learning issues at school.
"The cause of their behaviour was an inflexible approach to the classroom lesson and curriculum," he said.
The children had left school with a truancy record and no qualifications.
Mr Mackay is travelling the country presenting training workshops to educators on how to meet atypical learning needs without affecting the classroom experience of other students.
Mr Mackay said that with the growing numbers of autistic learners, teachers need to understand their learning preferences and employ practical tools and strategies.
Up to 10 per cent of New Zealand's population is thought to be dyslexic, and Mr Mackay said their right-brain emphasis could make them a real asset in the workplace - provided they survive their school years.
"This means fine-tuning learning so students feel empowered and supported to achieve," he said.
For children on the autism spectrum, they often need detail, order and certainty.
Mr Mackay said if a group of 16-year-olds with dyslexia were brought to him - and due to sit NCEA exams in a month's time - he could make a real difference in their results. "It isn't rocket science."
Mr Mackay said it was never too late to make a difference.
"If you don't start at secondary level you write off a whole generation."
Mr Mackay is a consultant to the New Zealand-developed 4D 4:Difference programme which works with teachers in more than 500 4D schools.
Mr Mackay said 4D teaching strategies encouraged teachers to "notice and adjust" when students were "stuck" without having to wait for an official label.
Automatically labelling autistic students as disabled, was not only limiting but damaging, he said.
"I am passionate about people who have missed life chances and I'm passionate about under-achievement and bright, sparky students who are put down because they don't read and write accurately," he said.
The 4D programme encourages teachers to accept evidence in alternative forms, such as storyboards, mindmaps and flowcharts.
With the National Review of Special Education currently underway, Mr Mackay is to meet Ministry of Education officials to reinforce the benefits of teacher training and education as the primary strategy for children with dyslexia.
DYSLEXIA
Many famous scientists, artists and entrepreneurs have been dyslexic, including Albert Einstein, Sir Richard Branson, Sir Winston Churchill, Jamie Oliver, Sir Richard Taylor and Leonardo da Vinci.
TIPS
Neil's tips for Bay parents and kids:
* When learning to spell, give children a bag of plastic letters to make words. Clap the rhythm of the word and split it into chunks, before finally putting the whole word together.
* When doing comprehension passages for homework, get children to look at the title, captions and pictures before reading the actual story. Then read the questions and see how many you can answer by only looking at the images. Then, read the passage.
On the web: www.4d.org.nz