A dyslexia tutor sees many different symptoms of dyslexia when working with their dyslexic students, and one of the most common of these symptoms is the act of adding extra letters.
For a dyslexic student, adding extra letters to a word can be as common as mixing up the lowercase “b” and “d”. In my years of dyslexia tutoring, I have seen examples of this symptom again and again. Even when a dyslexia tutor has the student return to a word that they added letters to, the dyslexic student may still have a hard time seeing that they added letters, and they may, in fact, do it several times over before realizing their mistake. For example, a dyslexic student may see the word “ring” and pronounce it as “bring”. Even when asked to repeat the word, they may still mispronounce it repeatedly.
This is common sign of dyslexia, and a dyslexia tutor will often deal with it in a specific way. When the dyslexic child adds an extra letter at the beginning, ask them which letter starts the word. In the case of “ring”, they will probably look at it and respond that it’s “r”. Then, ask them what sound “r” makes. This will help to untangle their confusion about how the word starts. If they are having problems with a blend, like the “tr” in the word “trip”, ask them what “tr” says by itself. Once they have that, you can ask them sound out the word again.
Peter
Thank you. I have been doing exactly what you said above. Does it get better or will they always need the extra guidance not to add letters?
Hi, Christine. Thanks for your question! This does tend to improve as a student makes progress in reading. Have a great day!