Why do some dyslexic students yawn so much when they are reading and spelling? Why do these activities make them so fatigued? For more information on dyslexia, please visit us at http://www.dyslexiaconnect.com .

Parents often ask me why their dyslexic children yawn a lot when they are reading and spelling. I often refer to this symptom as "word fatigue". It isn't a scientific term, but rather, one that I made up after observing so many dyslexic students yawning while reading and spelling! So, what causes this? Reading and spelling can be difficult and exhausting activities for children with dyslexia. A dyslexic child often has to devote a great amount of focus and energy to reading pages or even paragraphs of material. As a result, the activity tends to make them very tired. In spelling, a dyslexic child may have to work very hard to associate letters and letter combinations with the sounds that they are trying to create to spell words. This also leads to them becoming fatigued. These are the reasons why dyslexics tend to yawn so much when reading and spelling.

If you work with dyslexic students as a dyslexia tutor, dyslexia treatment professional or parent, you may notice that a student who seemed alert and awake at the beginning of a session, suddenly starts to yawn after ten or fifteen minutes. This often is not the result of laziness or lack of attention, rather, it is the result of reading and spelling being tiring for the student.

Of course, all this yawning may seem to get in the way when you are trying to work with a dyslexic student! So, is there a solution? In fact, the only effective long-term solution is to help the dyslexic student make progress in the reading and spelling. This progress will have a positive effect on all the academic work that they do, and make these things easier for them. As a result, they will not become as fatigued when they are reading and spelling.

In the short term, there are some other techniques that you can try to help them remain alert. If you are working with a dyslexic student for an extended period of time, you may want to punctuate the session with breaks involving physical activity. Some jumping jacks or playing outside may be good options. The physical activity will help a dyslexic student be more refreshed and alert when they sit down to start working again.

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