Parents of children with dyslexia can be overwhelmed by conflicting advice about how best to help their children.
Often well meaning friends and others professing to have a “cure” for dyslexia can confuse parents anxious about their child’s inability to read as well as other children of the same age.
Fortunately there is a lot of well conducted science now available to inform us about how to improve the learning outcomes for those with dyslexia. The scientific research is clearly indicating that there is a strong link between many children’s poor auditory processing skills and their struggles with reading, including dyslexia.
A study by scientists Jane & Hornickel and Nina Kraus, published in the Journal of Neuroscience in 2013, evaluated 100 children aged 6 to 12 and found a “highly significant relationship” between auditory processing skills and reading difficulties.
Children with dyslexia had difficulty distinguishing between different consonant sounds – an auditory processing skill. For example, if a child has trouble recognizing that the first consonant in “cat” is not the same as in “bat”, they will have great difficulty learning to read well.
So there is no doubt that there exists a strong link between auditory processing disorder and dyslexia and consequently, helping auditory processing disorder will help dyslexia.
So how can parents help their dyslexic children? The good news is that science can help there too.
There are easily accessible online exercises that children can do to improve auditory processing. These have been developed by neuroscientists. In only a few months training on these exercises, children can be improving their reading and ability to learn because children’s brains are highly adaptive.
Get a free paper on "Auditory Processing Skills and Reading Disorders in Children" by Hallie Smith MA, CCC_SLP, Scientific Learning Corporation.
Related Topics
What is dyslexia - How do I know if I have it?
Dyslexia - Symptoms & Treatment
Dyslexia & Intelligence: Is there a Connection?
