Understanding Dyslexia: A Practical Guide for Parents
Updated: Oct 2
If you are wondering whether your child has dyslexia, or they have recently received a diagnosis, you may be trying to make sense of quite a lot of information.
You might be worried about school, unsure what support to ask for or wondering how to explain dyslexia to your child. Perhaps your biggest concern is their confidence: they are beginning to believe that finding reading or spelling difficult means they are not capable.
You do not need to understand everything at once. A helpful starting point is to understand your child’s particular difficulties, listen to their experiences and work with school to identify what will help.
What is dyslexia?
Dyslexia involves persistent difficulties with developing reading and spelling skills. Its effects vary from person to person.
Some children find it difficult to read unfamiliar words accurately. Others read correctly but slowly or with considerable effort. Spelling may remain difficult even when reading improves.
These difficulties can make schoolwork more demanding. A child may need additional teaching, more support to access written material or changes to how tasks are presented.
Dyslexia does not tell us everything about a child’s abilities, interests or future.
Understanding the individual matters more than making assumptions from the diagnosis.
What might dyslexia look like in everyday learning?
You may notice that your child:
Needs considerable help to work out unfamiliar words.
Reads slowly, even when the words are mostly correct.
Finds spellings difficult to remember and use independently.
Takes a long time to complete written homework.
Avoids reading or becomes tired during literacy tasks.
For example, your child might enjoy discussing a story you have read aloud but find reading it independently exhausting. They might learn spellings for a test, then struggle to retrieve them while writing a sentence.
These experiences provide useful information, but no single behaviour confirms dyslexia. Persistent difficulties need to be considered alongside development, teaching, support and the wider evidence.
Can my child have dyslexia if they are doing well at school?
Good results do not automatically rule out dyslexia.
Some children achieve well while spending considerable time on work, receiving support or developing ways to manage their difficulties.
Ask what sits behind the finished task. How independently was it completed? How much time did it take? How did your child feel afterwards?
Equally, needing help or finding work tiring does not automatically establish dyslexia. These observations help inform a fuller investigation.
What if my child has other difficulties too?
Dyslexia can occur separately or alongside other developmental differences, including ADHD and developmental language disorder (DLD).
A child may need support with reading and spelling as well as attention or understanding language. These needs should be considered in their own right.
If a child struggles to follow instructions, for example, it is important to explore why. The explanation might involve unfamiliar vocabulary, the amount of information, attention or other factors.
The aim is to understand the whole picture without attributing every difficulty to dyslexia.
How should I explain dyslexia to my child?
Begin with what they have noticed.
You might say:
“We’ve found out more about why reading and spelling take so much effort for you. It isn’t because you aren’t trying. This information helps us work out what support will help.”
Keep the explanation appropriate to their age and leave room for questions. They may feel relieved, uncertain or not particularly interested at first.
Avoid promising that everything will become easy. Instead, explain that adults will help them develop skills and make learning more manageable.
They also do not need to discover a special talent to balance out their difficulties. Their worth does not depend on being exceptionally good at something else.
How can I protect their self-esteem?
Listen to how your child talks about learning and themselves.
Comments such as “I’m stupid” or “Everyone else can do it” deserve attention. Try to understand what has prompted them rather than immediately offering reassurance and moving on.
Acknowledge the difficulty and the effort:
“I can see this is hard work. Let’s work out which part is getting in the way.”
Notice their ideas, interests and qualities, as well as school achievements. Make sure family life includes enjoyable activities that do not revolve around reading practice or homework.
In my work, self-understanding and self-esteem are central. Children need an explanation that helps them understand their experiences without making their difficulties the defining feature of who they are.
What should I ask school?
Arrange a conversation with the class teacher and, where appropriate, the SENCo.
Useful questions include:
Which reading and spelling skills need further teaching?
What support is already in place?
How often does it happen, and who provides it?
How are you checking whether it is helping?
What adjustments could make everyday lessons more accessible?
When will we review progress together?
Share what happens at home, including the time homework takes and the help you provide. Include your child’s views where possible.
School does not need to wait for a formal diagnosis before responding to identified needs.
What support might help?
Support should combine teaching to develop skills with approaches that make learning accessible.
Appropriate reading and spelling teaching
Teaching should be explicit, structured and matched to the child’s current skills. New learning needs opportunities for practice and review.
Ask school or a specialist teacher to explain the priorities and how progress will be monitored.
Access to written information
Adult reading, audiobooks or text-to-speech may help your child access ideas beyond their independent reading level.
This can sit alongside reading instruction. A child should not have to wait until their reading improves before enjoying interesting books or learning about a subject.
Support for writing
A planning framework, word bank or discussion before writing may make some tasks more manageable.
Typing or speech-to-text may be useful for particular learners and tasks, but children need teaching and practice to use these tools effectively.
Clearer task instructions
Breaking a longer activity into stages and providing instructions the child can refer back to may reduce unnecessary demands.
The approach should address the difficulty identified, rather than be chosen simply because it is described as “dyslexia-friendly”.
How much should we practise at home?
Discuss this with school so that home practice supports the teaching your child is receiving.
Keep practice manageable and use suitable material. If sessions regularly end in tears, review the difficulty, length or approach.
Continue reading aloud and enjoying stories together. Shared reading does not need to become a lesson every time.
You are your child’s parent. You do not need to recreate the school day at home or take responsibility for solving every difficulty.
What should I do with an assessment report?
Read the explanation of the findings as well as the recommendations. Ask the assessor about anything you do not understand.
Share the report with school and discuss which recommendations are relevant, how they will be implemented and who will take responsibility.
It is usually more manageable to begin with a few priorities than to attempt everything at once.
Recommendations should be trialled and reviewed. If an approach does not help, consider whether it needs adapting, more practice or a different context. Some strategies may become useful later as your child’s needs and demands change.
Does a diagnosis guarantee particular support?
A diagnosis does not automatically guarantee a specific school provision, funding or extra time in exams.
A report can explain needs and support discussions, but different processes have their own requirements.
Ask the relevant setting what evidence is needed and how decisions are made. Focus conversations on the child’s difficulties and the support required to address them.
When might an assessment help?
An assessment may be useful when reading or spelling difficulties persist, progress remains a concern despite support, or a clearer explanation is needed to guide next steps.
At Lexety Education, I offer diagnostic dyslexia assessments from the age of eight. Younger children should still receive appropriate teaching, support and monitoring.
The assessment considers background information, observations and standardised results. It investigates whether dyslexia is present rather than promising a diagnosis.
If dyslexia is not identified, the child’s difficulties still matter and the findings can inform recommendations or further investigation.
Finding a way forward together
Understanding dyslexia is a process. You do not need to become an expert overnight.
Start with your child’s experience, work with school and review what helps. Alongside developing literacy skills, keep their confidence and sense of self at the centre of the conversation.
If you would like to discuss whether an assessment could help your child, you are welcome to book a free advice call. We can talk through your concerns and consider an appropriate next step.
You can also explore my free courses, videos and self-help guides for further information and practical support.
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