Teaching Children with Dyslexia to Self-Advocate in the Classroom

Self-advocacy is a vital skill for children with dyslexia, empowering them to understand their unique learning needs, communicate them effectively, and gain the support they need to thrive in school. Learning to self-advocate builds confidence and independence—skills that will benefit them throughout their lives. This blog post aims to suggest some practical steps and tips to guide children with dyslexia on their journey to becoming their own best advocates in the classroom.

Start with Self-Awareness

Before children can advocate for themselves, they need a clear understanding of what dyslexia is and how it affects them personally. This self-awareness helps them understand that their brains just work a bit differently, and that’s completely okay.

Explain Dyslexia in Simple Terms: Describe dyslexia in a way that makes sense to them. Try phrases like, “Your brain learns in its own special way, so you might need extra time or different tools to help.” Knowing there’s nothing “wrong” with them helps build a positive mindset.

Help Them Identify Strengths and Challenges: Guide children in recognising their strengths (like creativity, problem-solving, or good memory for visuals) and their challenges (like reading or spelling). This understanding is empowering and allows them to confidently speak about their needs.

Normalise Asking for Help: Reinforce that everyone needs support at times, and asking for help is a skill, not a weakness. Share examples of times when even adults need help. Knowing this can help children feel comfortable requesting support.

Teach Self-Advocacy Language

Once children understand their needs, they can benefit from learning the language to communicate them. Specific phrases can give them the confidence to express themselves clearly and politely.

Practice Key Phrase: Teach them simple, direct phrases such as:

  “Could I have extra time, please?”

  “Can you help me with reading this part?”

  “It would help me to have directions in writing.”

Role-Playing Exercises: Practise self-advocacy through role-playing. Create scenarios where they might need to ask for support—like needing help with reading a test question or asking for a reminder of instructions. Role-playing prepares them for real-life situations, making it easier to ask for help when they need it.

Use Positive Reinforcement: Praise them whenever they use self-advocacy language, whether in practice or real situations. This reinforces that advocating for themselves is a valuable skill.

Create a Self-Advocacy Toolkit

A self-advocacy toolkit can provide children with quick, easy-to-access resources for asking for help when needed. It can be a physical or digital collection of tools they can use in the classroom.

Create a Notebook or Cards with Helpful Phrases: Have children write or draw cards with phrases they might use, like “extra time” or “reading support.” They can keep these cards on hand to refer to whenever they need a reminder.

Introduce Tech Tools: Teach them how to use helpful apps or technology, such as text-to-speech software, audiobooks, or spell-check tools. These tools can make it easier for them to access and process information on their own. Knowing how to use these tools can also give them confidence in advocating for specific supports.

Practice Using Visual Reminders: Visual aids like colour-coded folders, checklists, or picture symbols can help them stay organised and remind them of their options for support. For example, a bookmark with key self-advocacy phrases can be a discreet reminder during class.

Encourage Communication with Teachers

Building positive, open communication with teachers is essential. When children feel comfortable talking to their teachers, they’re more likely to ask for support when needed.

Teach Them How to Introduce Themselves: Encourage children to introduce themselves to their teachers at the start of the year and explain, in simple terms, that they have dyslexia. Practising an introduction like, “I have dyslexia, so I might need help with reading,” can go a long way in establishing understanding.

Explain Specific Needs: Help them identify and communicate specific needs. For instance, they might say, “I need both written and spoken instructions,” or “It helps me if I can have extra time on reading assignments.” Specificity makes it easier for teachers to provide the right support or the support that is most beneficial for the student. These types of specific strategies are one thing that is developed in specialist tuition sessions.

Encourage Regular Check-Ins: Suggest that children schedule a regular check-in with their teacher, maybe weekly or monthly. This gives them an opportunity to discuss what’s working, address any new challenges, and keep open lines of communication.

Celebrate Efforts and Growth

Building self-advocacy skills is a journey that takes time and practice. Celebrate each step forward to reinforce confidence and self-esteem.

Acknowledge Small Wins: Every time they ask for help, use a tech tool, or speak up about their needs, celebrate it. Recognising these small victories helps build confidence and motivates them to continue self-advocating.

Encourage Self-Reflection on Growth: Ask them to think about how they’ve grown in advocating for themselves. They might write about their progress or draw a picture of something they’re proud of achieving.

Create Positive Reinforcement Rewards: Set up a reward system, like a sticker chart, to acknowledge each time they practice self-advocacy.

Self-advocacy is a lifelong skill that can help children with dyslexia thrive not only in school but in all areas of life. By focusing on self-awareness, teaching specific language, creating a self-advocacy toolkit, fostering open communication with teachers, and celebrating every bit of progress, we can help dyslexic children in building the confidence and independence they need to succeed.

I would love to know your thoughts. Are there any self-advocacy tips you have tried and tested that have worked for your child/student? Drop us a comment below.