Supporting Dyslexia in the Classroom: Practical Strategies for Teachers
Dyslexia can affect the development of accurate and fluent reading and spelling, but its impact in the classroom can reach much further.
A learner may understand a topic well but struggle to read the instructions quickly, remember several steps, organise their ideas or get those ideas onto paper.
This can sometimes create a mismatch between what a learner knows and what they are able to show.
👉 So, how can we make the classroom more accessible without lowering expectations?
The answer is not about making learning easier.
It is about reducing unnecessary barriers so learners have a fair opportunity to access learning and demonstrate what they know.
Start With the Learner, Not the Label
No two dyslexic learners are exactly alike.
One pupil may find reading particularly difficult. Another may read reasonably fluently but struggle significantly with spelling and written work.
Others may experience difficulties with aspects of:
📖 reading accuracy or fluency
✏️ spelling and written expression
🧠 remembering verbal information
🔢 sequencing
⏱️ working efficiently under time pressure
🗂️ organisation
📝 taking notes while listening
This means there is no single “dyslexia strategy” that every learner needs.
👉 The best starting point is always to ask: where is the barrier for this
particular learner?
Keep Instructions Clear and Manageable
Imagine being given five instructions at once.
By the time you have processed the third, the first may already have disappeared.
For some dyslexic learners, lengthy verbal instructions can place additional demands on memory and processing.
Simple changes can help:
✅ Give instructions in short, manageable steps
✅ Allow time to process before expecting a response
✅ Use written or visual prompts where helpful
✅ Keep key information visible while pupils work
✅ Check understanding rather than simply asking, “Do you understand?”
Where a learner hasn't understood, repeating the same wording can sometimes be more helpful than immediately giving a completely different explanation.
The aim is to reduce the amount of information the learner has to hold in mind while also completing the task.
Give Time to Process
A pause does not necessarily mean a learner does not know the answer.
Some pupils simply need a little longer to process the question, retrieve information and formulate their response.
Adults naturally want to help, so we may repeat the question, rephrase it or provide another prompt.
But this can sometimes add more information to process.
👉 Ask the question.
👉 Give the learner thinking time.
👉 Then offer additional support if it is needed.
A few extra seconds can make a significant difference.
Reduce Unnecessary Reading Barriers
We cannot — and should not — remove reading from the curriculum.
But we can think carefully about when reading itself is the skill being assessed and when it is simply the route to accessing something else.
For example, if the aim of a science lesson is to understand evaporation, does a pupil need to struggle through a densely written instruction sheet before they can demonstrate their scientific understanding?
Helpful approaches might include:
breaking longer text into manageable sections
highlighting key information
explaining unfamiliar vocabulary before a task
avoiding unnecessarily cluttered layouts
providing additional reading support where appropriate
using text-to-speech when this reflects the learner's usual support
🎯 The goal is access to the curriculum — not removing opportunities to develop reading.
Support Writing Without Lowering Expectations
Writing can require several processes to happen at once.
A learner may be trying to:
🧠 remember an idea
🔤 work out a spelling
📝 construct a sentence
📚 remember subject vocabulary
✏️ physically record the answer
🔍 check punctuation
➡️ and remember what they wanted to say next.
That is a lot to coordinate.
Practical support can include:
✅ word banks and key vocabulary
✅ sentence starters where appropriate
✅ planning frameworks
✅ examples or models
✅ spellcheck and writing-support tools
✅ speech-to-text where appropriate
✅ additional time for planning and checking
One particularly useful question is:
👉 What is this task actually assessing?
If you are assessing historical understanding, for example, excessive focus on spelling may obscure the quality of the pupil's historical knowledge.
This does not mean spelling doesn't matter.
It means recognising when transcription difficulties are preventing a learner from demonstrating the skill or knowledge that the task was designed to assess.
Break Larger Tasks Into Smaller Steps
“Write a report about the Romans” may look like one instruction.
For the learner, however, it contains many separate tasks:
Understand the question
Remember relevant information
Decide what to include
Organise the ideas
Plan the structure
Begin writing
Remember spellings and vocabulary
Monitor sentence structure and punctuation
Check the finished work
Breaking a task into visible stages reduces the amount the learner has to organise independently at one time.
👉 One step. Complete it. Check it. Move on.
Over time, scaffolding can be reduced as independence develops.
Support Memory and Organisation
Some learners with dyslexia may find it difficult to retain sequences, remember instructions or retrieve information quickly.
Rather than relying on repeated verbal reminders, consider making information visible and retrievable.
This could include:
📋 checklists
🗓️ visual timetables
🎨 colour coding
📝 written task steps
📚 vocabulary banks
🔁 retrieval practice and overlearning
📁 consistent routines for organising work
These strategies don't do the learning for the pupil.
They reduce the cognitive effort spent remembering what to do next, leaving more capacity for the actual learning.
Use Assistive Technology Purposefully
Technology can remove barriers — but it should have a purpose.
Depending on the learner, useful tools might include:
🔊 Text-to-speech – allows digital text to be read aloud
🎤 Speech-to-text – allows spoken ideas to be converted into written text
✓ Spellcheck – supports proofreading and spelling
⌨️ Word prediction – suggests words as the learner types
The question shouldn't simply be:
👉 “Should this pupil use technology?”
A better question is:
👉 “What barrier are we trying to reduce, and which tool would help?”
Technology should support access and independence, rather than replacing thinking or learning.
Think Carefully About Feedback
Imagine producing a piece of work containing excellent ideas — only to have every spelling error highlighted.
Over time, the message a learner hears can become:
“What I got wrong matters more than what I had to say.”
Spelling instruction and corrective feedback are important.
But feedback can also recognise:
⭐ ideas
⭐ subject knowledge
⭐ vocabulary
⭐ effort
⭐ improvement
⭐ effective strategies
⭐ creativity and problem-solving
Where correction is needed, consider which errors are most useful to address, rather than overwhelming the learner with every mistake at once.
Ask the Learner What Helps
One of the simplest strategies is also one of the most easily overlooked.
Ask.
👉 What makes this easier for you?
👉 What makes it harder?
👉 Does this strategy actually help?
👉 What would help you work more independently?
A strategy that looks excellent on a support plan is of little value if it doesn't actually help the learner.
Support should be reviewed, adjusted and increasingly personalised as pupils develop.
Small Changes Can Make a Big Difference
Creating a dyslexia-friendly classroom does not require every teacher to completely redesign every lesson.
Often, it is about small, consistent changes:
✅ clearer instructions
✅ manageable steps
✅ appropriate processing time
✅ accessible presentation
✅ memory and organisational support
✅ purposeful technology
✅ thoughtful feedback
✅ listening to the learner
Most importantly, these approaches do not have to mean lower expectations.
The goal is to remove unnecessary barriers while continuing to provide challenge, opportunity and high-quality teaching.
Dyslexia-Friendly Classroom Strategies
Want these ideas in a quick-reference format?
The Dyslexia-Friendly Classroom Strategies Poster brings together practical classroom approaches in a colourful, easy-to-use visual resource.
Ideal for:
🏫 classrooms
👩🏫 teacher reference
🧠 SEND areas
📚 staff rooms
💬 staff discussion and training
🎯 dyslexia awareness activities
When Might Further Support Be Helpful?
Classroom strategies are important, but some learners will continue to experience significant difficulties despite appropriate teaching and support.
It may be helpful to review provision where difficulties are:
persistent over time
affecting progress across subjects
creating increasing dependence on adult support
contributing to avoidance or frustration
significantly affecting reading, spelling or written work.
This does not automatically mean that a learner requires a diagnostic assessment.
It does mean that it may be appropriate to look more closely at the pattern of strengths and difficulties, the support already provided and the learner's response to intervention.
