Video

Learning with Dyslexia – Dyslexia Simulation

It’s good to see Dyslexia get some attention from the mainstream press! Someday we’ll all stop ignoring this and all Dyslexic students will get the help they need. Good video to raise awareness, even if you’re not personally impacted by the learning difficulty.

Laura Lurns Last updated February 24, 2025 · 1 min read

Dyslexia is a language-based learning disorder which can affect the way a person reads, understands words and spells. It’s estimated that about one in five students have dyslexia to some degree. A group called Learning Alley recently held a dyslexia simulation for educators at Hamilton Middle School in Denver, Colorado. The simulation put the educators through a series of exercises to demonstrate to them what it’s like to deal with dyslexia.

In one exercise, educators tried to decode symbols that represented letters in order to read simple passages. They found it to be difficult and time-consuming to decipher the symbols. The educators displayed a range of emotions, including frustration, stress, anger, anxiety—all emotions that students with dyslexia experience when they try to read. The simulation reminded educators that children with dyslexia may need extra time and attention, and some accommodations in order to succeed.

Key takeaways

Denver’s Hamilton Middle School is offering a program called Learning Ally which offers simulation exercises to educators.
The goal of these exercises is to simulate the experience of a child with a learning disorder, in order to elicit empathy and understanding among educators.
Educators who have taken the program become cognizant of how important it can be to offer students extra time, attention and accommodations such as typical technologies.

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Laura Lurns · Learning Success expert Writes about the learning brain for parents who want plain answers. Every article is grounded in current neuroscience and classroom practice.

Key takeaways

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