Welcome to Dyslexics.org.uk

The site includes plenty of well proven, practical advice and information for any parent (or grandparent) whose children need help with the basics of the three R's. Primary teachers, SENCos, Basic Skills tutors, in fact anyone involved with teaching or remediating reading will find the content useful, too.

*Synthetic phonics is the science-based method mandated by the UK government for the teaching of early reading. Though not a simple panacea, it is usually very effective as long as it is used first, fast and exclusively. Synthetic phonics is also the method recommended by Sir Jim Rose (Rose 2006 para153), and the UK government for remedial intervention (DfES 2007.PNS). Go to synthetic phonics to find more about this uncomplicated and common-sense way to teach reading and spelling.

A couple of the pages on this website provide information on home education (known as homeschooling in the USA) and its benefits for dyslexic young people, but I must emphasise that this is not an anti-school site. The content is simply the knowledge that I wish I'd had 'at my fingertips' many years ago when I first realised that my youngest son was having serious difficulties learning to read.

This website is an on-going project and the content is subject to constant revision. New information and weblinks are added regularly, much of it challenging to conventional and established beliefs concerning dyslexia and the teaching of reading.

*Synthetic, in this case, doesn't mean artificial or plastic, it means 'blend together'; beginning readers are taught to read words by saying a phoneme for each grapheme and then blending (synthesising) the phonemes all-through-the-written-word to arrive at a pronunciation for the whole word.

Susan Godsland.
Independent, remedial reading tutor using the Sound Reading System
Active member of the Reading Reform Foundation www.rrf.org.uk
Former Trustee for Devon Dyslexia Association
Trained in the Sounds~Write and Jolly Phonics programmes.
Part of the 2006 Caribbean Literacy Project team
http://www.senmagazine.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=113&Itemid=60
Mum to three, grandma to four.

Friendly correspondence always welcome:
susan at godsland dot net
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If you are interested in synthetic phonics or want to ask questions about any aspect of reading instruction, join us on the Reading Reform Foundation message board (you'll need to register before you can post): www.rrf.org.uk/messageforum/

Did you know that many intervention programmes for children struggling with reading and basic skills programmes for adult illiterates consist, mostly, of activities that will not help them to learn to read and write, in fact, some of the most common activities will actually damage the development of accurate reading skills? “A lot of existing approaches are founded on lies. There’s no scientific evidence for their efficacy” (Phil Beadle. SundayTimes 20/07/08) See- What NOT to do

''There is an established, and very rewarding, dyslexia industry. There is considerable academic and commercial vested interest. There seem to be as many aetiologies for (causes for or origins of) dyslexia as there are researchers into it, give or take, and as many wonderfully special assessment methods, remedial schemes, dedicated schools and distinguished gurus as the market will carry'' (Kerr p89) See - Room 101

Do the Infant classes in your school teach reading through the use of colour coded, Book-Banded books i.e. whole language books with predictable or repetitive text? See- Guidance on choosing a ‘decodable books’ scheme

http://www.ourrighttoread.com/englishalphabet.html
Prof. Diane McGuinness: A brief guide to the English Alphabet Code.
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The UK government's education department, the DfE (was DCSF), has placed dyslexics.org.uk on its website for families in the 'Family Services:Learning and Skills' section: http://informationforfamilies.dcsf.gov.uk/

The Channel 4 TV 'Lost for Words' website has dyslexics.org.uk on its links page www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/L/lost_for_words/ :'If you are worried that your child's reading difficulties may be more complex than at first thought and you would like support and information about how your child can learn, this website can help'.

Dyslexics.org.uk receives the top 'five star' rating for educational content on Schoolzone: www.schoolzone.co.uk/ ''This is a very comprehensive and well laid out site which is well worth a visit both by teachers and parents...."

N.B. This website has NO political or religious affiliations.

I have NO commercial connection with any literacy programme or educational product. I am partial to the Sound Reading System as it's the intervention programme I use very successfully in my work as an independent tutor.

Apologies for any mistakes (typos, incorrect/dead links etc...) which appear on this website. I do try to correct them as quickly as possible, but I'd really appreciate it if you let me know about any that you notice. Thank you.

COPYRIGHT. You are welcome to link to this website. You may also copy pages for personal or professional use as long as www.dyslexics.org.uk is clearly acknowledged as the source, content is not used out of context or altered in any way and it is NOT for commercial use. If you wish to copy several pages from the website for use in the public domain please contact me for permission first. Thank you.