The Reading Hut®
"On a mission to inspire every child to read, learn, and find joy in words. To achieve this, we must stop making learning to map words so difficult for so many."
Dyslexia Support in Hampshire and Dorset
Miss Emma and Dr Grace have partnered to launch a not-for-profit company in England
Early Dyslexia Screening CIC
MAPS - Memory, Awareness, Processing, and Speech - SCREENING
Immunising Children Against Illiteracy
Recent research has called for scaling up both screening and intervention with widely available evidence-based practices (Snow et al., 2024; Snowling & Hulme, 2024). Screening toddlers to identify the 1 in 4 at risk of developing reading and spelling difficulties and PREVENT this from happening is such a worthy cause. By 2027, we aim to have the technological capacity to screen, store, and analyse data for 1.5 million 3- and 4-year-olds in England each year. We ‘screen and intervene’ before they even realise they were heading towards a school life no child deserves. We ensure they won’t struggle to read and spell, allowing them to focus on their strengths—while increasing the odds of them reading for pleasure early on. With the adoption of MAPS Screening worldwide, we offer a clear path to eradicating illiteracy globally, and are excited to now offer the 10 Day Speech Sound Play Plan in KS1.
Dyslexia Support in Hampshire and Dorset
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Teaching a 'severely dyslexic' eleven year old to read, when synthetic phonics hasn't helped
A Message from Rory's Mum.
When our eldest son was in Grade 3 he was diagnosed with dyslexia. Unfortunately by then the damage was done, his reading age was assessed as being below the age of six (he was 8.5 at the time). The most heart-breaking part of his journey was the devastating effect it had on his self-esteem.
The psychologist at the time introduced me to the Speech Sound Pics SSP approach, which turned out to be life-changing! Under Miss Emma's guidance, we cleared the slate and started his journey again at home after school. He warmed very quickly to the approach and in just five weeks he had increased six reading levels. I am extremely proud to announce that he is now in Grade 6 and reading at grade level!! In fact, he is doing so well that in his LP meeting recently I was questioned whether he even had a learning disability.
This brings us to Rory, our youngest. From a young age, he showed signs of possessing the same strengths and weaknesses as his older brother. Not willing to sit back and watch him suffer the same fate we jumped at the chance to be part of the ICRWY 'Monster Mapping' pilot, he was two months shy of his fifth birthday at the time.
Now at six, he is doing so well, this video is proof of that. This is Rory reading his home reader to me. So proud and so very grateful for Miss Emma and her innovative ideas and approach.
*Story remains the property of the owner.
​
A Picture Paints a Thousand Words
Tommy sinks further into his chair, damning grey brows hover over him.
“Are you stupid or something?”
Sniggers punctuate the condescending silence where the words hang like stagnant cigarette smoke.
Tommy shakes his head.
“I asked you to document the journey of the First Fleet.” The teacher’s presence closes in. “And all you’ve done is play around with crayons. This is not Kindergarten.”
Tommy turns his nose from the puff of murky breath being fired at him at close range.
“I..I did Sir.” He wasn’t telling lies; he’d spent hours drawing and colouring each part of the map making sure he included every tiny detail, just like the teacher asked. The ships the most fun to draw, all eleven of them.
The teacher’s jaw hardens, “You will spend the remainder of the week in lunchtime detention.” With a devastating swipe he tears the page from the book.
Tears prick the back of the Tommy’s eyes; it takes all his might to keep them from running down his heat ridden cheeks. The bell rings out as the crumpled the piece of paper drops down onto the desk in front of him like a bomb. With a wave of the teacher’s hand the other children snatch at their bags and race for the door. Tommy remains seated. Outside in the corridor his mother will be awaiting his departure with a barrage of questions about his day, hopeful it has been different from the ones before it. He stays because he cannot bear to disappoint her again.
“You’re dismissed.”
Tommy doesn’t move.
Gleeful chatter outside the window roars then fades. The teacher pounds his way out the door where infant whispers grow to sturdy conversations. Tommy sighs and takes his pencil, defiantly he begins to draw, his ear pricking at the peak in his mother’s voice when it bursts through the classroom door.
She approaches, with a quiver she asks, “Where’s the picture you drew darling?”
Sheepish, Tommy pokes the end of his pencil at the crumpled piece of paper now petering on the edge of the desk. She unwraps it; her palms sweeping across it in aggressive motions. The teacher watches on arms crossed tight across his chest.
“You asked for him to document the journey of the First Fleet.” Her head snaps toward the developing scowl. “And he has.”
“I asked for an essay, not a silly drawing.”
Her tightly pressed lips form a despondent smile.
"You see words, he sees pictures. It’s only intolerance that separates them.”
With a gentle tap on the shoulder and a nod toward the door, Tommy knows it’s time to go. He packs his things away and follows his mother.
"Other than to insult, what is your point?” The teacher calls after them.
Tommy’s mother turns, her blazing glare softens, “There’s more than one way to tell a story, Sir. What makes one greater than the other?”
Tommy’s breath returns as his head drops soft against his mother’s arm.
Dyslexia doesn't just affect the child, it affects the whole family. Not the dyslexia so much as the attitudes of those around the child.
Rory's Mum captured this beautifully.
"Last month I was fortunate (and very shocked) to be awarded first prize in the open section of the local CHArts Art of Words competition. I am flattered by the requests I have received for a copy since and apologise if I haven't got back to you.
I do not find it easy to put myself out there but I wrote this story to create awareness, and it's doing anything but sitting in a file on my computer. So here goes nothing...
This is a story about a little boy caught up in a system content on exploiting his weaknesses rather than his strengths. It's important to remember that we all obtain and convey knowledge in different ways. It's not a flaw but a fundamental requirement of our existence.
To the educators out there who are making a difference, I thank you"
Ruth Forrest Jeremy Rockliff Felix Ellis MP Dyslexia Victoria Support Georgia Ryan - Dyslexic Warrior Made By Dyslexia
Imagine a world in which children didn’t have to first fail to get the support they need as individuals. The feelings associated with that are often devastating to their mental health.
Perhaps the recent changes to decision-makers will prioritise early screening. Dr Grace Elliott (British Dyslexia Association practice manager) and I will be offering free dyslexia screening to children BEFORE they start learning phonics. She is on maternity leave at the moment, and as someone diagnosed with dyslexia as a child, she also has lived experiences of exactly what is outlined here.
Why would we be so ‘keen to screen’ children for phonemic awareness and phonological working memory before they start learning about written English?
Phonemic awareness (PA) at school entry—the ability to isolate, segment, and blend individual speech sounds in words—is identified as the leading predictor of reading success, even above intelligence (National Reading Panel, 2000; Snowling et al., 2011; Stanovich, 1986; Gough & Tunmer, 1986; Ehri et al., 2001).
The International Dyslexia Association emphasises that children with weak PA, the core deficit among dyslexic learners, struggle with letter-sound relationships, causing reading difficulties. It is vital that ALL children START school with phonemic awareness. The idea that synthetic phonics adequately develops this, so that all become readers, has created huge issues for at least 1 in 4 children.
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) pre-school framework sets learning standards, specifying the need for explicit PA instruction. However, PA is not currently assessed at the national level, and screeners vary considerably. Even teachers struggle to understand the differences between phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, and phonics, causing misunderstandings around effective diagnosis, data collection, tracking, and starting points for instruction.
Aligning with findings from global research, the Department for Education (DfE 2018) reports that 1 in 4 children start school without PA, highlighting the discrepancy between expectations and outcomes. Would you want your child to be the 1 in 4? This has nothing to do with their oral language skills or intelligence, and parents could have been reading to them daily.
As a neurodivergent ‘reading whisperer,’ I have flipped how children connect speech, spelling, and meaning. So we can engage 3-year-old children (even when pre-verbal) with ‘Phonemies’ as the visual hook, to isolate, segment, and blend speech sounds without letters. We don’t wait for them to fail a phonics screener check at the end of Year 1. We figure out why they will struggle, for example with synthetic phonics, and avoid the difficulties in the first place—two years before they enter those gates.
We want every child walking through school feeling happy and confident with who they are as unique individuals who are listened to, understood, and celebrated for their differences, not in spite of them.
Every Child an Avid Reader by 7
Written by the Neurodivergent Reading Whisperer®