Dysorthographia: learning to write essential words despite the disorder
For the youngest children with dysorthographia, or in the most severe cases, even writing simple, everyday words is a challenge. Here are some strategies to help embed the spelling of essential words — starting with the first name — in a lasting way.
The first name: the first word to master absolutely
The first name is the first word every child must learn to write correctly — and for a child with dysorthographia, it is sometimes the only word they spell consistently without error. This mastery of the first name results from intense, repeated exposure and strong emotional motivation. These same mechanisms — intense repetition and a positive emotional context — can be drawn on to embed other essential words.
The key-word method
The key-word method involves choosing 3 to 5 priority words each week to memorise — words that appear very frequently in school writing — and working on them intensively throughout the week. These words are written in large letters on cards displayed in the child’s bedroom, spelt aloud morning and evening, used in sentences, and drawn (a drawing to illustrate each word). This intensive immersion in a small number of words produces much more solid memorisation than superficial revision of many words.
Function words: an absolute priority
Function words — the small, very frequent grammatical words such as “et”, “est”, “ou”, “où”, “a”, “à”, “on”, “ont”, “son”, “sont” — are an absolute priority for children with dysorthographia. These words appear in virtually every sentence, and errors on them are among the most frequent and most penalising. Working on them intensively and systematically, with specific exercises on their meaning and context of use, produces very significant results for the overall quality of spelling.
Visual and mnemonic associations
For particularly resistant words, visual and mnemonic associations are very effective. “Où” with a grave accent indicates a place — and the accent looks like an arrow pointing downwards, towards the ground, towards a location. “Beaucoup” contains the word “coup” — you hit (“coup”) a lot of blows (“beaucoup” meaning “a lot”). These associations, even whimsical ones, become firmly anchored in memory and make it possible to recall the correct spelling even years later.
Regularity above all
For simple, essential words, regular practice matters more than the intensity of sessions. Five minutes a day working on priority words — spelling them out, writing them, checking, reusing them in context — produces better results than an hour of occasional work. These daily mini-sessions can be built into existing routines — at breakfast, in the car, before bedtime. For resources on spelling learning methods for DYS children, lesdys.fr offers practical guides for families.
