speech therapy can support children with dyslexia

While structured reading programs like Orton-Gillingham or MSL are the gold standard for teaching children with dyslexia, many students also benefit from speech therapy. A speech-language pathologist (SLP) focuses on the foundations of language: how sounds are made, how words are put together, and how children use and understand spoken language. Strengthening these skills makes reading, spelling, and writing much easier.

Why Speech Therapy Helps

Children with dyslexia often struggle with phonological awareness—the ability to hear, break apart, and blend the sounds in words. They may also have difficulty connecting letters to sounds, remembering sequences, or producing certain sounds clearly. Speech therapy directly targets these challenges using fun, hands-on techniques.

Specific Speech Therapy Techniques for Dyslexic Students

Here are some examples of how speech therapists work on sounds and language skills with children who have dyslexia:

1. Phoneme Awareness and Sound Isolation

• Goal: Help children hear and identify sounds in words.

Example Technique: 

1. Using picture cards, an SLP might ask: “Which word starts with /s/—sun or dog?”
2. Or: “Say the word ‘cat.’ Now, take off the /k/ sound. What’s left?”

This helps children hear individual sounds (phonemes) and build the skills needed for decoding words.

2. Articulation Practice for Tricky Sounds

Some children with dyslexia also mispronounce certain sounds, which can make reading and spelling harder.

Common sounds to target:

• /r/: Practiced by showing tongue placement (“curl your tongue back slightly”) and repeating words like red, rabbit, run.
• /th/: Practiced by gently biting the tongue between the teeth and blowing air (think, this).
• /sh/ vs. /ch/: Practiced with minimal pairs (ship vs. chip) to highlight differences.

Practicing these sounds improves clarity and makes it easier to connect sounds with letters when reading.

3. Sound-Symbol Connection (Phonics with Speech Cues)

• Goal: Link letters with the way they sound and feel when spoken.

​Techniques

1. The SLP might say: “/p/ is the ‘lip-popper’ sound. Let’s feel our lips pop as we say it and write the letter P.”
2. Adding a physical cue (touching lips, tracing the letter, clapping) reinforces learning.

4. Auditory Discrimination

• Goal: Help children hear differences between sounds that look or feel similar.
• Example: Listening to recordings of words like pat and bat and identifying which is which.
• Flashcards, rhyming games, and sorting activities make this practice fun.

5. Memory and Sequencing Games

• Goal: Strengthen short-term memory and the ability to hold sound sequences.
  

Example Activities:

• Repeating increasing strings of sounds (“Say /k/ /a/ /t/… now add /s/ at the end—what’s the word?” → cats).
• Playing “Simon Says” with sound patterns.
• Using rhymes, songs, or mnemonics to make tricky words stick.

6. Reading Aloud and Fluency Work

• Goal: Improve expression, rhythm, and confidence in reading.
• Technique:

1. The child reads aloud with the SLP, who models correct pacing and expression.
   
2. Short passages may be recorded so the child can listen back and practice at home.
   

A Parent’s Role

Speech therapy is most effective when parents reinforce skills at home. Here are a few simple things you can do:

• Make every effort to use correct pronunciation and grammar.
  
• Play sound games in the car (“What rhymes with cat?”).
  
• Encourage your child to practice new sounds in everyday conversation.
  
• Use multi-sensory tricks—like writing words in sand or saying them while clapping.
  
• Celebrate small wins to build confidence.
  

Speech therapy doesn’t replace a structured reading program, but it gives children with dyslexia the tools to hear, say, and understand sounds more clearly. By combining speech therapy with structured literacy instruction, children gain stronger reading, writing, and speaking skills—and more confidence in themselves.