In everyday speech, the aspiration of the unvoiced plosive phonemes /t/ and /k/ can sometimes be lost when they follow /s/ and a child may pronounce “st” as /sd/, e.g. saying sdop instead of stop, and “sc” or “sk” as /sg/, e.g. saying sgaf instead of scarf.

Playing games, like this version of /st/ /sc/ noughts ...

As a parent, I have first hand experience of what can only be described as that re-occurring nightmare of trying to help my kids learn their spellings. My kids both found learning spellings challenging and my attempts to help them usually ended in frustration and tears (and I'm not just talking about the kids). They also did little to help their ...

Those of you who have read my posts before will already know that Will, my son, has dyslexic tendencies and ADHD.

Will often finds it challenging to read and understand text, hates comprehension questions and never chooses to read for pleasure.

As a self-confessed bookworm, it took me a long time to realize why the books that I piled ...

Our now grown children, both with learning differences, have recently embarked on what they both call "adulting" and living away from mum and dad. It has been, and continues to be, a steep learning curve for them and all I can say is thank goodness for video calling and text messages!

Without this technology, our kids could not ...

Will said:

"I would have done it but you didn't ask me."

Will has learning differences and finds it challenging to follow generalized instructions. e.g. tidy up.

The Impact:

Will often fails to do what he has been asked and gets reprimanded. He ...

This is part of a series of blog posts about the learning and organizational strategies that have helped Will succeed both academically and socially. A short introduction to this series of posts can be found here

Will said:

"I ...

Visual prompts, e.g. First-Then boards, support communication, language development and the processing of information. They also encourage the development of independence, confidence and self-esteem.

What is a First-Then board?

A First-Then board is a visual prompt ...

Think about the visual reminders that you use every day to help you remember what you need to do. I know that I use several different types of visual reminders including a,

• calendar or diary
• reminders app on a phone
• sticky notes
• to do lists

Just like us, kids need schedules and reminders to help ...