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Why does it often take so long for a child with dyslexia to explain something?
(#4/5 Stick Shift Blogs)
A person with dyslexia can take a long time to explain themselves. Including me. It’s cute when you’re young, but can be undermined as you get older. People can get the wrong idea. It can look like you don’t know what you’re talking about, or you’re attention seeking etc.
In the last few emails, I shared how a child can learn to read, underline to understand and take notes in a dyslexia friendly way. Essentially they learn to translate what they read into something visual. It means they can “Read to Learn”. The next gear is learning to explain yourself.
We all want to be understood. For ‘manual’ thinkers what gets you from knowing stuff (3rd gear) to explaining stuff (4th gear) is telling it as a story. Not telling an endless bunch of experiences and/or facts but something with “a beginning, middle and end”. I never really understood what the teachers meant by that until recently.
Story Star Image
Dyslexic people need much more explicit visual teaching. For example in BulletMap™ Academy we use a ‘Story Star’ with 5 visual prompts:
- Face = Who are the characters involved?
- Eye = What does the main character want or have their eye on?
- Foot = What trips them up, or is the problem?
- Hand = What helps them find the solution?
- Crown = What’s the reward or outcome?

With this structure you can tell a 1 min memory or a screenplay. I can do a history essay, or even retell a science experiment.
It’s great fun and really productive. The best bit is when a parent or teacher is engaged in your story and ‘gets it’. When your child discovers how to do this, it’s the beginning of them sharing their ideas and being understood.

The next step, I will talk about how to finish school work! Click next
The BulletMap Academy
BulletMap Academy is the only online dyslexia study skills club in the world. We help parents get their kids high school ready; fusing innovative e-learning with 1-to-1 coaching, a motivational community, and seal the deal with the rewards and recognition dyslexic kids deserve.
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