Does your child read slowly, stumble over words they have seen a hundred times, or still mix up certain letters at the end of primary school? These signs may point to a simple delay, or to dyslexia, a lasting reading disorder. Here is how to recognise it, who to consult in Belgium and how to help your child every day.
What is dyslexia?
Dyslexia is a specific learning disorder that affects reading. The child struggles to identify written words quickly and accurately, which makes reading slow and tiring. It belongs to the family of “dys” disorders, along with dysorthographia for spelling and dyscalculia for maths.
Dyslexia has nothing to do with intelligence, laziness or upbringing. A child with dyslexia can reason sharply and have a rich spoken vocabulary. It is the step from written text to language that costs them a lot of energy.
The disorder is lasting: it does not disappear with age. With the right support, however, a child with dyslexia makes clear progress and finds strategies to complete a full school career, right up to higher education.
Signs of dyslexia that may alert parents
Some signs deserve your attention, especially if they persist despite regular practice:
- they find it hard to understand that spoken or written words can be split into syllables and sounds;
- they struggle to decode new or unfamiliar words;
- they do not quickly recognise words they read often;
- their reading remains slow and halting, with long pauses;
- they confuse similar sounds (b and d, p and q, f and v) or reverse letters;
- they understand a text well when an adult reads it aloud, much less when they read it alone;
- reading tires them quickly and they avoid it as much as possible.
A single sign is not enough to draw conclusions. Many children go through a difficult phase when they start learning to read without being dyslexic. It is when difficulties accumulate and persist that a specialist’s opinion is warranted.
Dyslexia or a temporary reading difficulty?
A reading difficulty often comes from a lack of practice, a poorly understood method, a sight or hearing problem, or a lack of confidence. It usually fades with time and suitable explanations.
Dyslexia, on the other hand, resists this usual practice. The child works hard, but reading does not become automatic and the gap with classmates of the same age remains. That is why the diagnosis is made after a period of learning to read, once the difficulties have been observed over time.
Who diagnoses dyslexia in Belgium?
The diagnosis is based on an assessment by a speech therapist (logopède in French, logopedist in Dutch). Using standardised tests, they assess reading, phonological awareness, speed and comprehension, and compare the results with those of children of the same age.
Other professionals are often involved around this assessment:
- the GP or paediatrician, the first point of contact, who can have sight and hearing checked and refer you to the right specialists;
- the school’s PMS centre (CLB in Dutch-speaking schools), which advises you and liaises with the teachers;
- the neuropsychologist, when attention or memory also need to be examined and other causes ruled out.
Speech therapy can be partly reimbursed by INAMI/RIZIV, through your health insurance fund, under certain conditions: a medical prescription, an assessment using recognised tests and the approval of the medical adviser. Check with your health insurance fund and the speech therapist before you start.
How to help your child with dyslexia every day
The speech therapist works on reading itself. At home, your role is mainly to ease the effort and keep the joy of learning alive. A few ideas that help many children:
- read aloud to them the instructions, the texts they need to understand and the lessons they need to learn;
- take breaks while reading a long text so they can summarise aloud what they have just read;
- support reading with diagrams, drawings and colours;
- let them recite their lessons or explain their approach orally rather than in writing;
- give them well spaced, structured texts, typed in an easy to read font;
- avoid explaining things while they are reading: reading and listening at the same time demands too much attention.
Keeping the joy of reading
Reading a story together, a page each, or listening to an audiobook while following the text keeps the pleasure of stories alive without exhausting your child. Short, regular sessions work better than one long session that discourages.
Protecting their confidence
A child with dyslexia often hears that they “are not trying hard enough”. Praise their progress, even small steps, and their successes in other areas. A child who regains confidence accepts the work asked of them more easily.
At school: reasonable adjustments
In the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (French-speaking education), a pupil with specific needs, such as diagnosed dyslexia, is entitled to reasonable adjustments in mainstream education. They are set out in the decree of 7 December 2017, in force since 1 September 2018.
In practice, they may include:
- extra time for tests and exams;
- instructions read aloud or rephrased;
- enlarged, well spaced documents in a suitable font;
- use of a computer or text-to-speech software;
- spelling weighing less when it is not what is being assessed.
The request is made to the school’s head, on the basis of the diagnosis, and the adjustments are discussed with the teachers and the PMS centre. Adjustments also exist for external exams, such as the CEB (end of primary school) and the CE1D (end of the first stage of secondary school).
In Flanders, pupils are also entitled to reasonable adjustments (“redelijke aanpassingen”); since 1 September 2023, support has been organised by the learning support decree (“decreet leersteun”), with the CLB as the point of contact.
Support from a coach for French and study skills
Alongside speech therapy, one-to-one support helps your child keep up with their class programme without wearing themselves out. The coach goes over lessons with them, orally and with visual aids, and helps them find a way of studying that suits them.
At My Sherpa, an educational advisor chooses the coach according to your child’s needs, for private French lessons, homework help in primary school or work on study skills, at home anywhere in Belgium or online.
Do you have other questions about how we work? See our frequently asked questions.
