Help for Dyslexia

Dyslexia Treatment and Therapy in Toronto

What is Dyslexia?

Dyslexia is a learning disorder in which an individual has difficulty reading, spelling, writing, and speaking. Fortunately, there are many effective virtual and in-person treatments and therapies in Toronto that can help children manage the challenges faced with dyslexia.

What are Common Symptoms of Dyslexia?

Children with dyslexia may show the following symptoms:

• Difficulty learning to speak and read

• Difficulty learning letters and sounds

• Difficulty with spelling and writing

• Difficulty with math problems

• Slow at reading and comprehending long assignments

How does Dyslexia Present in Children, Youth, and Adults?

• Preschool-Aged Children:

  • Learn new words slowly

  • Start talking late

  • Difficulty pronouncing familiar words

  • Difficulty remembering or naming letters, numbers, or colours

  • Difficulty learning nursery rhymes

• School-Aged Children:

  • Reading below expected age level

  • Difficulty processing and understanding what they hear

  • Difficulty forming answers to questions

  • Difficulty finding the right words and uses vague language instead

  • Difficulty remembering sequences of things/instructions

  • Difficulty seeing or hearing similarities and differences in letters and words

  • Difficulty sounding out unfamiliar words, often guesses

  • Difficulty spelling

  • Spending a long time completing tasks that involve reading or writing

  • Avoiding activities that involve reading

  • Act out to distract from their learning difficulty

  • Appear unmotivated, become withdrawn

• Adolescents and Adults:

  • Difficulty reading and reading aloud

  • Spending a long time completing tasks that involve reading and writing

  • Mispronouncing names or words

  • Difficulty understanding jokes or idioms

  • Difficulty summarizing a story

  • Difficulty learning a new language

  • Difficulty memorizing

  • Difficulty with math

How to Support Children with Dyslexia?

• For learning:

  • Use multisensory activities to help the child process information easier (i.e. physical activity and spelling)

  • Highlight key ideas/words for the child on their papers or on a board, and summarize what was taught at the end of the lesson

  • Provide a glossary of terms used in the lessons

• For emotional regulation:

  • Use role-playing and scenarios to teach the child self-advocacy skills

  • Teach the child self-regulation strategies to use when they feel overwhelmed (i.e. muscle relaxation, squeeze a stress ball)

Dyslexia Support for Families

For individuals and families in Toronto struggling with dyslexia, there are a variety of in-person and virtual treatments that may be beneficial, including:

• Dyslexia programs and groups for kids that focus on behaviour and self-regulation

• Social skills training

• Emotional regulation training

• Cognitive behavioural therapy

• Play therapy

• Dyslexia parent training programs in behaviour management for kids