What things can we do to worsen or improve reading motivation in boys and girls with Dyslexia?
By Araceli Salas. Early Childhood Educator and Founder of DISFAM.
Sometimes with the best will we can lead a child who is in the process of internalizing reading, to feel rejection and live this moment with fear and anguish.
We must be aware that something happens when a child shows discomfort when reading.
Being respectful and being advised should always be the first option.
Children with difficulties or with little motivation need a large dose of patience and creativity, in the face of an activity that is difficult for them.
What is clear is that depending on these first reading experiences and how their emotions are, some feelings or others will develop, in the face of this reading process and it totally depends on the strategies that we as adults have put in place.
Reading should be a great pleasure and a universe full of possibilities. Reading can never become suffering, fear, rejection or anguish.
All boys and girls are capable of enjoying a story, a book, a comic… some will need glasses to be able to read, others will need to read in braille, others in sign language…. and many others will need readers or audio books.
What do we need to be respectful of the different ways of accessing this wonderful world of reading?
If we really believe that an education should be inclusive and of quality, let us offer different ways and tools to be able to live this reading process, with authentic pleasure and being respectful of the different ways of accessing content.
You need glasses and I need a reader… it's that simple.
- Force reading aloud, in front of all your classmates.
- Make him read every day at home, against his will.
- Offer him stories or books that are not at his reading level.
- Push words to 'encourage' him to read.
- Make them read dense texts or with few drawings or images.
- Give advice to the family, if we are not specialists in DEA, or if we doubt our strategies.
- Ridicule or make value judgments, in public (also not in private).
- We read them at home daily, stories chosen by them.
- Take into account their preferences when buying them or giving them a story.
- Be creative when reading. If the story is about pirates, look for related objects or clothes, to be able to live the reading in a fun and pleasant way.
- Use audio books at home and at school.
- Use reading programs at home and at school.
- Respect the one who does not want to read in front of the whole class.
- Do not put pressure or force them to read against their will.
- Be respectful of their preferences when choosing a text.
- Advise us with specialized professionals, in case of any doubt.
- Use stories with lots of pictures and little text.
- That the stories or books are easy to read.
- That if we read with them at home or at school, they can always start reading and decide when they feel tired, so they can then relax and enjoy the rest of the text.
- Take into account the accumulated fatigue.
- Create our own stories with photos made by them and be able to narrate close stories that they have lived.