Dyslexia and dysorthographia: how to effectively support your child with both disorders?
When a child has both dyslexia and dysorthographia — which is the case in 60 to 80% of situations — support must take both dimensions into account at the same time. Here are the most effective strategies for helping a child who has both of these written language disorders.
Understanding the dual difficulty
Dyslexia affects reading — the decoding of written words — and dysorthographia affects writing — orthographic encoding. When the two coexist, the child is limited in both directions of written language: they struggle to read and struggle to write. This dual difficulty is particularly impactful at school, where almost all learning goes through the written word. A child who cannot easily read instructions or respond to them correctly in writing is in a situation of significant academic disability that requires substantial adjustments.
Speech and language therapy: targeting both at once
The good news is that speech and language therapy targets dyslexia and dysorthographia simultaneously, as the two disorders share common mechanisms — in particular, a phonological deficit. By working on grapheme-phoneme correspondences, phonological awareness and verbal memory, the speech and language therapist strengthens both reading and spelling. Remediation is therefore time-efficient — a single course of therapy for two related disorders.
Compensatory tools suited to both disorders
For a child with both dyslexia and dysorthographia, the most effective compensatory tools target both dimensions. Text-to-speech allows texts to be listened to rather than read — compensating for dyslexia. Advanced spell checkers and voice dictation compensate for dysorthographia. The computer thus becomes a central and indispensable tool, which should be mastered as early as possible and built into the adjustments in the PAP.
School adjustments that cover both disorders
A well-designed PAP for a child with dyslexia and dysorthographia provides for: texts supplied in digital or audio format, instructions given orally as well as in writing, the right to use a computer with a spell checker and text-to-speech during assessments, extra time, no penalty for spelling in subjects other than French, and, where necessary, oral rather than written assessment. These adjustments allow the child to be assessed on their actual knowledge rather than on their difficulties with written language.
Keeping the pleasure of reading nonetheless
When a child has both dyslexia and dysorthographia, they may develop a complete rejection of books and writing. Maintaining the pleasure of literature is essential — and possible. Audiobooks, illustrated picture books, comics with little text, and shared reading where the parent reads aloud — all formats that give access to stories and culture without the barrier of decoding. For resources on supporting DYS children in their relationship with the written word, ladyslexie.fr offers guides and selections of suitable books.
