Fink cards prove dyslexia need not be a barrier to success

NORTHAMPTON, U.K. - April 1, 2014 - PRLog -- One child in ten has dyslexia. The majority of them are intelligent, good talkers and very creative but there are things that they find difficult. Sometimes teachers, pupils and support staff need a tool to help children talk about dyslexia in a non-confrontational way.

Sal McKeown, freelance journalist and author of the book How to Help your Dyslexic and Dyspraxic Child, devised the cards because she has seen many instances where home and school become a battleground. Each pack contains sets in four different colours and will encourage more positive conversations:

Red cards are designed to draw out opinions.
Green cards will pinpoint the elements of dyslexia that cause significant problems.
Blue cards hint at possible solutions the learner might try
Yellow cards let users think more creatively

Some schools are buying the Dealing with Dyslexia cards with Pupil Premium funding to develop 'Meta-cognition and self-regulation '. This strand has been identified by The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) as, 'High impact for low cost, based on extensive evidence.'

According to the EEF, 'Meta-cognition and self-regulation strategies involve learners being aware of their strengths and weaknesses, setting personal goals, monitoring and evaluating their own learning.' Research has shown that it can lead to, 'between seven and nine months additional progress on average.'

The Dealing with Dyslexia cards can be used one to one at home and at school and for small group support sessions.  Some schools are encouraging students to use them without staff support and to report back. They have been delighted with the responses they have received.

Leicestershire Dyslexia Support tutor Charlie Pitt Miller said: 'I love the fact that you have all the questions ready to go, to tailor-make an interview, stimulate a group discussion, provoke an argument and help with metacognition.  Using carefully chosen cards I learnt more about the learning preferences of an individual child and fed this into a teaching programme. They are a great resource to have in my bag!

Joe Beech is a fan of the Dealing with Dyslexia cards. He is a teacher with dyslexia and won an Outstanding Achievement Award from the British Dyslexia Association for his book The Little Book of Dyslexia: Both sides of the classroom. He said: 'We really need is more resources like this.  The focus is on looking at problems from a different light, thinking about dyslexia in a balanced way, seeing the benefits as well as some of the problems.'

Ends

For further information

Contact

Lisa Warner lisa@finkcards.com 01872 211782

Sal McKeown sal@sallymckeown.co.uk   07722 553257

Notes for editors

The cards cost £14.99 per pack and can be ordered online at http://www.finkcards.myshopify.com/
Fink's mission is to enable better conversations across generations for individuals, families, schools, organisations and communities. Conversations that improve relationships, solve communities' problems, nurture the next generation and have an impact on society finkcards.co.uk.
Sal McKeown is author of How to Help your Dyslexic and Dyspraxic Child, a 'practical guide for parents' which has a foreword by Tom Pellereau, winner of the Apprentice. It is published by Crimson Publishing and can be ordered from Amazon
The Sutton Trust-EEF Teaching and Learning Toolkit (http://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/toolkit/) is an accessible summary of educational research which provides guidance for teachers and schools on how to use their resources to improve the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. The Toolkit currently covers 34 topics, each summarised in terms of their average impact on attainment, the strength of the evidence supporting them and their cost.