Case Study 2: Catherine

How did you initially engage with the individual requiring support?

Catherine came along to a CLD family learning course that I was delivering when her eldest child was at Nursery.

How did you become aware that their support needs?

The registration and induction process included a mention of dyslexia and a chance to tick a box to indicate any barriers to learning. I explained that you should tick the box if you have any difficulties with hearing, or might need bigger print on the handouts or coloured paper…. or maybe your own school experience was difficult, perhaps because of issues such as dyslexia. Catherine ticked this box.

What support did you put in place?

I spoke to Catherine individually to discuss her experiences of learning including any barriers. Through this conversation I identified ways I could help Catherine, including tailoring learning materials and referring Catherine to CLD Literacies Support.

Where did you get support?

I spoke to the literacies worker and they told me about some simple things that I could do to help Catherine like font size and type. I also made sure there were lots of pictures and diagrams to help explain instructions.

 

What was the outcome/impact?

As a result of Catherine’s positive experience of learning, she was keen to attend literacies support. After several months Catherine felt her confidence had improved dramatically. Since then, Catherine has managed to mention her issues with dyslexia to the head teacher at her child’s school and to the school secretary who is now giving her all school information on coloured paper. Catherine is now thinking through her employment and training options and feels much brighter about her future.

Activity 8 - Reflective Log

In your reflective log think of a time when someone you worked with may have needed support with dyslexia and consider the following questions

  • How did you initially engage with the individual requiring support?
  • How did you become aware of their support needs?
  • What support did you put in place?
  • Where did you get support?
  • What was the outcome/impact?
  • Thinking about this experience, is there anything you would change?