How to Help a Child with Dysorthography

When you learn that your child is dysorthographic, you often feel an urge to do everything to help them, right away. Yet piling on dictations is not what will make things better. Here are practical tips to support them at home, protect their confidence and work hand in hand with the school and the speech therapist. The aim: to make writing achievable again, without family life revolving around it.

Understanding before acting

The first help is to understand what dysorthography is. Your child is neither lazy, nor distracted, nor less intelligent: their brain simply finds it harder to memorise and recall the spelling of words. Understanding this will help you respond with more patience to repeated errors.

Read the assessment report and ask the speech therapist your questions. Knowing whether your child struggles mainly with sounds, with words or with grammar changes the way you help them. The speech therapist can also tell you which points to focus on, and which to set aside for now. The better you understand their difficulty, the more targeted and effective your help will be.

Explain to them what is happening, in simple words. Many children feel relieved to discover that their difficulties have a name. It helps them stop believing they are lazy or less capable than others. See explaining dysorthography to your child.

Protecting their self-esteem

A dysorthographic child receives a lot of comments about their mistakes, at school as well as at home. Over time, they may come to think they are useless and stop daring to write. This negative image can then affect every subject, and even their life outside school.

Value what they do well: their ideas, their vocabulary, their reasoning, their progress, however small. When you read through a text, always start with the content before talking about the form. They need to feel that what they have to say matters more than how it is written. Your encouragement counts enormously, even when results take time to come.

Avoid correcting every mistake at once. Choose one or two errors to work on, the ones that come up most often. The rest will follow later. Correcting less, but better, is often more effective and far less discouraging.

Organising homework more calmly

Homework is often the moment of tension. Set a framework: a regular time, a quiet place, a limited duration. Better 20 effective minutes than an hour of tears. Plan a short break between school and homework so that they can unwind.

Break tasks down. For a lesson, work on it orally first, then move on to writing. For an exercise, read the instructions together and check they are understood before starting. This method prevents them from getting lost in a task that is too long. A visible timer can help them concentrate, knowing that the effort has an end.

Feel free to write down their dictation from time to time, when the goal is to work on the content rather than the spelling. You can also have them recite their lessons orally rather than in writing. More tips in organising homework.

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Working on spelling differently

To learn words, visual and playful methods often work better than repetition: writing difficult letters in colour, drawing the word, linking it to its family (“dent”, “dentiste”). This multisensory approach helps the brain retain words better.

Games are good allies: letter games, simple crosswords, word-based board games. They allow practice without feeling like a punishment. The child learns without pressure, which supports memorisation. Word games in the family, in the car or at the table are also a natural way of playing with language.

Follow the speech therapist’s advice so as not to muddle things. They can tell you which techniques to use at home. Consistency between home and the clinic makes the work more effective. See learning spelling differently.

Using the right tools

Depending on your child’s age, certain tools can really help. Memo sheets with the essential rules, kept in the pencil case, serve as a reference when writing. They are particularly useful for agreements and homophones.

From the end of primary school, the computer often becomes an ally. The spell checker can pick up a large share of errors, and voice dictation relieves children who are very embarrassed. These tools take time to learn, so plan for this at home. For younger children, an illustrated list of learned words can serve as a reference.

These tools do not replace learning; they complement it. They allow your child to produce texts that match their ideas. Ideally, choose them together with the speech therapist or an occupational therapist. See the spell checker.

Working with the school

Inform the teacher as soon as the diagnosis is made, by passing on at least the conclusion of the assessment report. They can adapt their expectations and corrections, even before the official introduction of a PAP. Explain what helps your child at home, so that they can draw inspiration from it.

Request a PAP to formalise the adjustments: spelling not penalised outside French, adapted dictations, photocopied lessons, extra time. This guarantees they will be applied by everyone. The PAP is reviewed every year, which allows it to be adjusted. An informed teacher is often a valuable ally for your child.

Keep in regular contact, without waiting for problems to arise. A constructive exchange with the school is worth more than tension. Share progress too, not just difficulties. See PAP and dysorthography.

Thinking about the rest of their life

Your child is not only their dysorthography. They need free time, activities where they succeed, and moments when neither school nor spelling is discussed. These moments are essential for their balance and their confidence.

Sport, music, drawing, drama or any other hobby allows them to feel competent and regain confidence. This is not wasted time; it is time that helps them. Encourage them to take part in an activity they have chosen themselves. Successes outside school also fuel the desire to try in class.

Look after yourself too. Supporting a dys child takes energy. Talking with other parents, through associations or groups, can help a great deal. You do not have to carry everything alone: asking for help is part of the journey.

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Questions that keep coming up

Should you do dictations at home? ?

Not necessarily. Long, repeated dictations often discourage the child. It is better to do short activities focused on a few words or a rule, following the speech therapist’s advice. Games and regularity often work better than repetition.

My child refuses to write, what should I do? ?

This is often a sign of discouragement. Reduce the amount of writing, value the content, offer the computer or voice dictation, and talk about it with the speech therapist and the teacher. It is important that they keep writing, even a little, without feeling judged.

Can you help a dysorthographic child without a speech therapist? ?

Advice at home is useful, but it does not replace remedial therapy. If waiting times are long, start with adjustments at school and playful activities while waiting for follow-up. Also get in touch with the teacher to put adaptations in place quickly.