You must get your sister to try the coloured overlay. The emotion I felt when my son said 'it stopped moving' was unbelievable. At age 9 he saw writing as we see it, for the first time ever. His reading is coming along and he is now the proud owner of a pair of coloured glasses. His confidence has really come on. He now realises that he is not 'stupid'.
But be aware that the coloured overlays do not work with everyone. I was warned that they may make no difference but do try it because it has changed my sons life literally.

i have also been told that colour preference may change with puberty etc, so they need to be tested to see if they prefer a different colour too

Coloured overlays worth a try but don't build your hopes up. So many different aspects to dyslexia. I have 6 different shades to try with my pupil. His problem is largely tracking from left to right. I have ordered tracking sheets from

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Her website is well worth a visit because there is parent information as well.

There are actually 32 colours possible for the overlays but schools can rarely afford the whole set. Shame really.

For younger children, there is also this test

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Only supposed to take about 10 mins, I think - but it is around £50 ...

Quote:

Who can be assessed using the GAPS test? Any child between the ages of 3½ and 6½ can be assessed using the GAPS if you wish to have a quick and easy assessment of their grammar and phonological abilities. For children falling into this age range standardised scores are provided. Heather van der Lely's aim is that all children in the UK will be tested prior to or when they enter school to try to ensure that any child with language weaknesses or impairment or at risk for dyslexia is identified. Can children older than 6½ be tested using GAPS? If the child or person you wish to test falls above this age range you can still use this test, although no standard score would be available. However, it would be expected that after 6½ years old that no errors should occur. Can children whose first language is not English be tested using GAPS? Yes. GAPS can provide teachers and parents with a quick estimate of whether their English is at a level expected for their age. GAPS can also be used to measure progress in learning English grammar and phonology when administered again 6 months or more after first testing. Can children who have other learning difficulties be tested? Yes. Children with other learning difficulties or developmental disorders (autism, downs syndrome) also have language impairments. Can adults with acquired language impairment (aphasia) be tested using GAPS? Although GAPS has not been evaluated for providing a quick and easy assessment of grammar and phonology in adults, we see no reason why it cannot be used. Further work will be evaluating this application.

i don't actually support in english/lit, but i do support a year 9 boy who for many reasons (mainly behaviour) is reading at the same level as a 6 year old. i do 2 20 minute sessions a week with him outside of lessons, one i do brain gym, and the other we do things like games (memory based) his behaviour has improved and he is far more confident, i have been slipping in a bit of ruth miskin and he is soaking it up. he is a bright boy really but for years has hidden this as he was embarressed by his lack of reading writting skills.

i would be very interested in any advise or links that would be suitable for a 14 year old that loves cars and history and can only understand text that is aimed at 6 year olds.

he is improving with the ruth miskin stuff, and was surprised that a does not sound like a when read in a word with other letters.

does anyone else use ruth miskin? and what do they think about it?

you may want to try the bbc skillwise site, it has some work related areas but unfortunately not motor vehicles yet

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also there are links to RAW which is about improving literacy and have 'quick reads' which he may be interested in,

you could also look at the E2E materials, you can order them for yourself, they have cds and employment skills exercises which he may enjoy, or you could adapt

phone 0845 60 222 60
ref. embedded/EE

they are produced by the Dfes, the website is

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thanx dq, i will try anything to move him along.

i work mainly in it and humanities, i have been given this chap as his behaviour was unwanted and no one in the learning centre (where all the good stuff is and the training) would give him a chance. he is so bright and i feel frustrated that he has been left this long with out his issues being addressed.

i have started with ruth miskin, and we are finishing book 1, we sit there making the sounds together, i dread to think what it sounds like to any one listening, but he now understands that t and d sound different! the vowels are very hard for him to get his head around.

the good thing is he is trying to write now, i feel like bursting with pride when he shows me what he has done. i meet him at breaks and we do his homework together, mum does not read or write, and he needs someone to help him through it all.