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Unless a child is totally absorbed in a school topic, it can be hard for a child with dyslexia to be motivated to study. John Hicks explores what parents should consider in helping a child to boost concentration at home.

Having a child with dyslexia is confusing for parents, at least it was for me. When we received my daughter’s dyslexia assessment report, I thought I had a grip on her learning needs but the reality was that her needs were affected by so many factors and the main one was motivation. It makes sense doesn’t it? If we are motivated to achieve an end, we may actually decide to spend more time and effort to do things that perhaps we struggle with. When we are not feeling motivated, our inherent struggles with dyslexia become all the more apparent.

So for my daughter, there were times when the struggles with dyslexia were so hard when doing homework. For Jess, homework could be exhausting and uninteresting and as parents we would have to deal with push back. But sometimes the process wouldn’t seem so hard and Jess would be more motivated to study subjects that she loved and overcome some of the challenges associated with dyslexia.

In hindsight, I believe that there were three aspects that helped my daughter to concentrate more with studying at home and these are as follows:

• Understanding and awareness of her learning needs.

• Making studying as enjoyable as possible.

• Set up the studying environment such that it makes studying easier.

In this article I want to focus on the last two points. The first point about understanding and awareness I have written about a lot, but effectively this is a learning process that will, inevitably, have highs and lows for all involved in the family. Developing understanding and awareness though feeds into the last two points because as parents we need to use our understanding and awareness of dyslexia to inform our approach to making studying as enjoyable. If we can make studying enjoyable then we have a greater chance of boosting concentration.

Making studying as enjoyable as possible.

We know that when a child has a diagnosis of dyslexia, their dyslexic profile will consist of a range of strengths and weaknesses that will not only come about as a result of experiencing dyslexia but also , to a greater or lesser extent, other neurodiverse conditions too. As parents we may observe behaviours associated with dyspraxia, dyscalculia, ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder and so on. Given that no two people with dyslexia have identical presentations of the condition, as parents we have to be focuse on our child’s specific learning needs rather than our interpretation of what we think the label of dyslexia means.

For example, my daughter struggled to read books and struggled with handwriting. She would get tired and handwriting would be uncomfortable. Studying was just not pleasant for her and so how could she concentrate when studying was like this?

So it made a huge difference to change aspects of how she studied so that the experience was a little more pleasant and a little less overwhelming. Thankfully, being given the use of a laptop to type on made that difference for her and thus she concentrated more and ultimately achieved great results that she was pleased with. I guess, through trial and error we made the home studying environment easier for her to function in thus removing some of her barriers to learning.

Set up the studying environment such that it makes studying easier.

In my family we have a range of neurodiverse learning needs at play mostly relating to aspects of dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD etc. So it stands to reason that what works for one child may not work with another. In our experience I was also working out my own strengths and weaknesses that come from being neurodiverse too.

The needs associated with studying will be affected not only by the ability to learn, but also social and emotional aspects.

For example, a child working on their homework at the dining table with the TV on in the background, may well struggle to concentrate but equally, that may not be a problem for a different child. Some children need silence around them to help them focus whereas for others the silence could cause anxiety and so having, for example, music playing in the background could be soothing and aid concentration.

Recently I have been reading Thomas Armstrong’s book, The Power of Neurodiversity and he uses a term describing setting up a good environment for functioning well cognitively called ‘Niche Construction’.

In my example with Jess about replacing books and pencils with the use of the laptop, this could be considered as niche construction. Equally, there can be so many other strategies that can help including making sure that a room has good lighting and ventilation, maybe the colour of the walls could help or how the furniture is laid out.

I mentioned the sound element earlier in this article. If a home is particularly noisy then this could be very distracting.

I have recently been exploring the use of noise cancelling headphones for my own use as I write blog articles and I have found that the very act of putting on ‘over-ear headphones’ that muffles out the environmental sounds actually helps me to focus. Throw in the feature known as ‘Active Noise Cancellation’ and the world’s noises are turned down enough so that I can completely focus.

I found though that this technology is expensive with the leading products in noise cancellation costing in excess of £200 such as the Microsoft Surface Headphones or the Sony 1000MX4 products. Earphones not only help with drowning out distractions but they also help with productivity too. For a child who struggles to express in writing the learning that is in their heads, then they may find that dictating into Microsoft Word is useful.

I found a reasonably priced option for a pair of headphones that could provide some noise cancellation but also provide a good enough ability to allow a child to dictate into Microsoft Word. I was sent a pair to review and these were the Lindy BNX-60 headphones. The noise cancellation at this price isn’t impressive but it was enough to increase my concentration. The sound quality for music was good too and that enabled me at times to feel good which increased concentration. I could also easily dictate into Microsoft word that meant that if I wanted to I didn’t have to use a keyboard to produce content.

I found this pair of headphones to be a useful part of niche construction aka it could be a useful aid for studying and concentration, for some.

Equally, we also have to bear in mind comfort when working. As adults we will be aware of ergonomics specialists charismatically outlining the benefits of ergonomic chairs and correct posture within the workplace. Whilst their recommendations may well be over the top for children and students, it is important to remember that a child does need to feel comfortable when studying. Are they sitting on a comfortable chair at a decent work desk of some sort? Are they warm or cool enough? Hydrated enough? Lighting? More importantly, are they relaxed enough? What are their physical and emotional needs when doing homework?

If as parents we can understand our child’s physical and emotional needs whilst working on homework, then it’s just possible we may be able to help them boost their concentration.

John Hicks is a Cambridge, UK based Parenting and Neurodiversity coach who works with young people, adults and parents to understand and address the emotional needs that arise as a result of experiencing dyslexia. John regularly supports clients with issues surrounding confidence, self-esteem and parenting.

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