This week on Parenting, one listener asked for tips on encouraging their son to keep reading after a recent dyslexia diagnosis.

“Our son has been diagnosed with dyslexia, and I want to make sure that this does not hold him back in life,” they told Moncrieff.

“I’m dyslexic, so we recognised the signs early on, and I feel like we’re on top of it in terms of getting the school to acknowledge that he has difficulties.

“The other thing I really want is to make sure that he doesn’t give up on reading altogether.

“I know as a child, I felt completely stupid and dreaded reading aloud, to the point that it really impacted me later in life.

“How can I encourage his reading and not let dyslexia hold him back?”

A woman reads a book to children, Alamy

Family psychotherapist Joanna Fortune said this child is really lucky to have a parent that will understand and be able to empathise with his experience.

However, she said it is still important this letter writer is careful not to project their own anxieties onto their son.

“This is a parent who has had such a negative experience of education with dyslexia, how your dyslexia was responded to and how you were made to feel,” she said.

“A lot of that might still be quite unprocessed for that parent and now getting quite activated by their son’s diagnosis.

“So, just be really careful about what of this is your fear and your anxiety versus your son’s experience.

“Just taking that time to [process that] you deserved better; it doesn’t matter that things have changed now, and they weren’t great then.

“No matter what, you deserved better - so, it might be something that you want to explore and deal with yourself.”

Dyslexia-friendly books

Joanna recommended this parent look into Irish writer Serena Molloy, who has two dyslexia-friendly books that could be of interest.

She also said that there are often dyslexia-friendly versions of popular children’s books available.

“I’m not going to say, ‘shop around’, because you could end up spending a fortune before you know what you’re looking for, and I think our libraries are underutilised resources,” she said.

“So, go to the library, have them talk to you about what dyslexia-friendly text for his age group they have.

“Have a look at those with him, see what he’s interested in and really keep that alive that way.

“But I think it’s also about focusing on effort over outcome; so, if there are books and he’s much more interested, say for example, in graphic novels where there’s less text but the story is also told in images, go with that.”

According to Joanna, the boy’s parents could buy their own versions of the books he’s reading to engage him in discussions about the stories.

One listener, who is also dyslexic, texted in to say that Kindles can be a brilliant resource, as they often come with dyslexic-friendly typefaces.

Main image: Cute little boy listening to his father reading bedtime story in hut at home. Image: Pixel-shot / Alamy. 25 November 2024