Dyslexia and You
Making Secondary School Work for You
Secondary school asks you to manage more, faster, across more subjects. These are the adjustments and conversations that tend to make the biggest difference.
Key message
Your part in this
You are part of finding the solution, but you are not responsible for solving everything alone.
What you notice — which tasks drain you, which adjustments actually work — is the information adults are missing. Teaching that is inaccessible is not your fault to fix.
How it can feel
You are allowed to be fed up with dyslexia sometimes
Being positive about neurodiversity does not mean pretending difficult things are not difficult. Some of these may sound familiar. Some will not.
- You know the answer but cannot get it onto paper fast enough.
- Everyone else has turned the page and you are still on the question.
- You have checked a word three times and it still does not look right.
- Reading aloud makes you tense, because you do not know which word will trip you up.
- You revise something properly and it is gone when you need it.
- Someone tells you to try harder when you are already trying harder than most people in the room.
- You are fed up with needing help, or with being the one who gets extra.
- You avoid something rather than risk getting it wrong in front of people.
Angry, embarrassed, exhausted, or simply done with it — none of that means you are bad at learning.
Doing the same hard thing repeatedly is draining. Understanding why it is hard is what lets you find a different route through it.
Honest bit
Things you might not say out loud
Things you might not say out loud
- I hate being asked to read aloud.
- I don’t want everyone knowing I get extra time.
- I know what I want to say. I just can’t get it written down.
- I don’t want another adult telling me to slow down and check my work.
- I worked really hard on that.
- Sometimes I just want to do it the same way as everyone else.
If any of those sound familiar, you are not the only person who has felt like that. The useful next step is usually not reassurance — it is deciding what you want to be different, and who can change it.
What can I do?
Try this
Practical moves
- If reading a whole page feels overwhelmingCover part of it and work through one section at a time, or listen to it with text-to-speech.
- If you know the answer but writing slows you downAsk whether you can type, use speech-to-text or answer in bullet points first.
- If instructions disappear from your headAsk for them written down as well as spoken, or take a photo of the board.
- If reading aloud is the part you dreadAsk your teacher in advance whether you can read a section you have already practised.
- If an adjustment is making you feel singled outSay so. Ask whether the same support can be arranged more discreetly.
- If revision will not stickSwap rereading for saying it out loud, recording it, or teaching it to someone.
None of these will suit everyone. Try one, keep it if it helps, drop it if it does not.
Practical
Twelve things that come up
Different teachers, different systems
Each subject expects something slightly different. It is reasonable to ask what a teacher actually wants.
Homework
One place for everything beats several. Photograph the board rather than copying it.
Organisation
Colour, checklists and phone reminders are tools, not shortcuts.
Listening and writing at once
Very few people can do both well. Ask for slides, key points or permission to record where allowed.
Subject vocabulary
Build a short list per topic with the meaning in your own words.
Longer reading
Text-to-speech, headings first, then detail. Reading with your ears is still reading.
Extended writing
Plan in bullet points or voice notes, then turn the plan into sentences.
Revision
Short, repeated, active. Explaining a topic out loud beats rereading it.
Examinations
Practise in the same conditions you will get on the day, including any arrangements.
Access arrangements
Any arrangement is decided by your school under exam board rules, based on your normal way of working.
Assistive technology
Speech-to-text, text-to-speech, spellcheck and reading rulers are worth trialling properly.
Asking for support
Naming the exact task that is hard gets better results than saying it is all hard.
Watch
Video
British Dyslexia Association
A short animation on what dyslexia is and how it is often misread by other people.
More videos are being added
Space is kept here for teenagers talking about dyslexia, and for practical study and revision strategies. Only videos we have checked are added.
Wording you can use
Saying what you need
Sentence starters
Send them as a message, use them in a lesson or bring them to a meeting.
- I understand the topic, but I am struggling to record my answer.
- I cannot listen and copy all of this at the same time.
- Could I have the slides or key information?
- The current adjustment is not helping me.
- Could we look at the recommendations in my report?
- I am not sure what would help yet, but I need to talk about it.
Who to go to first
Your subject teacher for anything about one subject. Your form tutor or head of year for patterns across the week. The SENCo or learning support for adjustments, technology and exam arrangements.
If nothing changes
Ask a parent or carer to come with you and to put the request in writing. Reference the recommendations in your assessment report and ask which ones the school can put in place.
Next
Where to go next
My Learning Snapshot
A private page for setting out what helps you and what you want teachers to understand. It is not sent or stored anywhere.
Open My Learning Snapshot