Loses their place, tires when writing, forgets the instructions: which adaptation for which difficulty?
Start from what you see when the child works, not from their diagnosis. Fifteen difficulties, practical adaptations, in pictures.
9 min read · An article to keep handy
"He's dyslexic, what should I change on his worksheet?" The question comes up a lot, and it is a hard one, because the word "dyslexic" does not tell you what gets stuck on the page.
It is simpler to start from what you see when the child is working. That is what this guide does: for each difficulty you observe, concrete adaptations to try.
Jump to: Reading · Writing · Attention · Layout and maths · Memory
📖 Reading
He loses his place when reading
He skips a line, reads another one twice, follows with his finger.
The little grey cat was sleeping in the sun
on the windowsill.
A bird came and landed next to him,
on the branch of the old apple tree.
- Increase the line spacing (1.5 to 2).
- Shorten the lines: text in a narrow column rather than across the whole width.
- Align the text to the left, not justified (uneven gaps between words make it harder to keep your place).
- Alternate the colour of the lines, or use a reading ruler.
He gives up in front of a dense text
He looks at the page, sighs, doesn't start.
- Space it out: wider margins, short paragraphs, room between blocks.
- Break a long text into parts with subheadings.
- One exercise per page, or at least a box around each exercise.
- Remove what is only decorative (pictures with no purpose, busy borders).
He mixes up letters that look alike (b/d/p/q)
- Choose a sans-serif font with clearly distinct letters (Andika, Luciole, Marelle…).
- Increase the size and the letter spacing.
- For younger children, colouring syllables or the sounds being practised can help… as long as the colour does not bother the child (see below).
He reads slowly and tires quickly
- Cut down the amount of text to read: shorter reworded instructions, targeted questions.
- Offer an audio version of the instructions or text when reading itself is not what is being assessed.
- Put the key words of the instructions in bold.
✏️ Writing
Handwriting tires him out
His writing gets less and less legible down the page, and he complains about his hand.
I eat an apple.We play football.
I an apple.
(eat)
- Cut down the writing: tick, circle, match, underline, fill in a word rather than a sentence.
- Provide the frame (the sentence to complete) instead of having everything copied out.
- If their support plan allows it, let them use a laptop or a scribe.
He struggles to organise his page
Answers all over the place, sums in the margin, he no longer knows where he is.
- Provide clear answer areas that are big enough.
- Number each exercise and put a box around it.
- Always keep the same layout (instructions at the top, answer underneath).
Copying from the board is hard
- Give the text or the question on paper rather than having it copied.
- Provide a gap-fill: the child only writes the essentials.
🎯 Attention and organisation
He loses track in long instructions
- Read the text.
- Underline the verbs in red.
- Circle their subject in blue.
- Write the tense above.
- Break the instructions into numbered steps, one action per line.
- An action verb at the start of each line: "Read", "Circle", "Write".
- If the instructions contain two tasks, split them into two questions.
He needs short, step-by-step instructions
- Same idea: one question at a time, with room for the answer just underneath.
- A worked example at the top of the exercise, to show what is expected.
He is easily distracted
- A stripped-back page: no decorative pictures, no unnecessary colours.
- Hide what is not part of the current exercise (one exercise per page, or a cover sheet).
- Clear boxes around each exercise.
📐 Layout and maths
He lines up the digits badly in column sums
+ 85
- Set the calculation out in a grid or on large-squared paper.
- Colour the columns (ones, tens, hundreds) consistently.
- Give the calculation already set out when the goal is the calculation, not the column layout.
He finds his way badly around a table or diagram
- Make the table bigger and the lines thicker.
- Alternate the colour of the rows.
- Reduce the number of visible cells, or break the diagram into parts.
He mixes up left and right
- Add a fixed visual cue (a colour or a symbol for the left-hand side).
- Avoid instructions that rely only on "left / right": prefer "next to the cat", "in the first column".
🧠 Memory
He needs reminders and visual examples
- A "remember" box with the rule or method at the top of the exercise.
- A worked example before the first question.
- Consistent pictograms for each type of task (read, write, calculate).
He struggles to remember spoken instructions
- Always give the instructions in writing too, even when they have been said aloud.
- Short instructions that he can reread at any time.
What if the child ticks several boxes?
That is the most common case. The same child loses his place and tires when writing and is easily distracted. You then have to combine, and decide when two adaptations contradict each other.
This is where a profile becomes useful: you describe the child once, by what you observe, and every worksheet is adapted taking the whole profile into account. That is how DysAdapt works: you tick the difficulties you observe, set the font, size and spacing that suit them, then take a photo of the worksheet. The exercise comes out adapted to that particular child.
Year 4 · what his parents and teacher observe
Andika font · size 18 · line spacing 2
Set Léo's needs once:
every piece of homework follows, and the profile grows with him.
Sources
Department for Education and Department of Health, Special educational needs and disability code of practice: 0 to 25 years, 2015, chapter 6 (the graduated approach): gov.uk.
The worksheets shown are illustrative examples.