 Studies
have shown that for children with difficulties learning to read, a multisensory
teaching method is the most effective teaching method.
This is especially crucial for a dyslexic child.
Using a multisensory teaching approach means helping a child to learn through
more than one of the senses. Most teaching in schools is done using either sight
or hearing (auditory sensations). The child’s sight is used in reading information,
looking at diagrams or pictures, or reading what is on the teacher’s board.
The sense of hearing is used in listening to what the teacher says. A dyslexic
child may experience difficulties with either or both of these senses. The child’s
vision may be affected by difficulties with tracking, visual processing or seeing
the words become fuzzy or move around. The child’s hearing may be satisfactory
on a hearing test, but auditory memory or auditory processing may be weak.
 The
answer is to involve the use of more of the child’s senses, especially the
use of touch and movement (kinetic). This will give the child’s brain tactile
and kinetic memories to hang on to, as well as the visual and auditory ones.
An example
The majority of dyslexic children experience confusion over the direction of ‘b’
and ‘d’. They can both be seen as a stick with a circle at its base.
But on which side does the circle sit? A teacher might give the child a tactile
(touchy/feely) experience of the letter ‘b’ by getting the child to
draw the letter really large on the carpet. This will involve the child using
their arms, their sense of balance, their whole body. They will remember the day
their teacher had them 'writing' on the carpet with their hand making this great
big shape, and can use that memory the next time they come to write the letter.
 Some
teachers purchase letters made out of sandpaper so that the children can run their
fingers over the letter ‘b’, giving them a strong tactile memory. The
thought of it sends a shiver down my spine!
Writing the letter ‘b’ in cursive handwriting on paper and with a big
movement in the air puts a quite different slant on this letter. The letter starts
on the line and rises to begin the down-stroke: there is nowhere else to put the
circular bit but ahead of the down stroke.
Yet another way to give a strong tactile memory of ‘b’ is to make the
letter out of plasticine, play-dough or clay.
A commonly used ‘trick’ to remember the direction of ‘b’ and
‘d’ is to show the child the word ‘bed’ on a card. This word
begins with ‘b’ and ends with ‘d’, so that if you draw a bed
over the letters, the upright part of ‘b’ will become the head of the
bed, and the upright part of the ‘d’ will become the foot. You can draw
a child lying on the bed to complete the picture. This gives a strong visual memory
for the child to use each time the letter has to be written.
 You can also
show the child how to hold up their index finger on each hand, with the thumb
and second finger touching, making the word ‘bed’, but without the ‘e’.
If they learn to do this, they can make this shape discretely with their fingers
each time they need a reminder in class.
 The net result
of these activities will be that a child has a visual memory from seeing the letter,
an auditory memory from hearing the sound it makes, a tactile memory from writing
the letter in cursive handwriting, in the air, and from touching the sandpaper
letter, and a kinetic (body movement) memory from having drawn the letter really
large on the carpet. Altogether a multisensory experience!
This tried and tested method has been used successfully for a long time, and its
success lies in the fact that the dyslexic child is not limited to visual and
auditory experiences but can make use of other areas of the brain in trying to
establish clear memories of letters, words and numbers that are difficult to remember.
John Bradford (with
apologies for my drawings!)
2000
References •
Multisensory learning •
Sensational Strategies for Teaching Beginning Readers
(Orton-Gillingham) •
The Dyslexia
Institute Literacy Program Feedback
 •
We have made
words and letters in various ways and used plasticine. This was quite successful
but it does go hard after a while. We have also used pipe cleaners. These
are easy to bend into shape and very tactile. They can be carried with us on holiday
etc and are not messy or sticky. My 11-year old daughter enjoys making letters
with pipe cleaners. When making words she uses only one color. She has a very
good visual memory and can recall the color used and how it felt. When she has
made words or letters we feel them with our eyes open and closed. She seems to
be able to store the words in her memory best with her eyes closed. (R.H., Switzerland)
•
You
mentioned that some parents/teachers had the children use sandpaper letters to
give them another sensory approach to letters and you cringed at the thought.
I am a Montessori pre-school teacher and the sandpaper letters (and numbers) are
part of pedagogical materials that Montessori designed. These letters and numbers
are made of sandpaper that are the equivalent of an emory board used to file your
nails - very fine sandpaper. In addition to using the fingers directly on the
sandpaper, velum paper can be placed over the letters to help the pre-schooler
"feel" the letter as they trace over the letter, sending a vibration up the arm
and to the brain. If you are not familiar with Maria Montessori, she initially
developed her materials and methods to foster learning and self-esteem to children
that were deemed "unteachable" and realized they would work for "normal" children.
(M.P.) • I
would like you to know that I have tried the suggested method of 'bed' with one
of the children and it has helped him tremendously. (D.M., India) | 
