Stop Explaining English. Show the Code. Guided Self-Teaching for All Neurotypes
The Dys-Code Course Launches July 1
Because literacy difficulties don't start with print. They start with speech-to-print connections.
Dys-Code describes upstream dyslexia risk screening and prevention for children aged 3+, designed to identify and support children before they are taught phonics, and before they experience reading failure when attempting to crack the written code.
Adapted from the 10-Day Speech Sound Play Plan used in Reception before explicit phonics instruction, Dys-Code uses structured speech sound play to reveal difficulties with phonemic awareness, phonological working memory, speech sound processing, and phoneme articulation. Rather than waiting until children start learning phonics,
Dys-Code helps identify those at increased risk and provides immediate support through playful, evidence-informed activities. This gives parents, nurseries and early years practitioners the opportunity to strengthen the foundations needed for successful bi-directional word mapping, the process that underpins reading and spelling and can be developed long before a child starts school. By supporting children to unlock the speech-to-print code early, Dys-Code aims to reduce the likelihood that literacy difficulties associated with dyslexia will emerge later.
We don't screen for dyslexia at age 3. We screen for risk.
We start with an adapted version of the Ten Day Speech Sound Play Plan used in Reception classrooms using visual prompts built from six speech sounds, for example pin, sip and tap. After a short period of play, which can easily be integrated into nursery sessions, we see which children can give the sounds for the words when shown the visual prompt and which can identify the correct visual prompt when given the sounds. Children can respond verbally or by clicking the Phonemies® on the Monster Spelling Piano app or MyWordz.
What this does is expose underlying speech sound processing difficulties that often don't become visible until a child is taught phonics. It allows us to identify children who may need support with phonemic awareness and phonological working memory before formal instruction begins.
It also helps us support parents who may understandably assume their child will learn to read without difficulty. By identifying risk early, they can begin strengthening speech-to-print connections through everyday interactions.
Children who start school with strong phonemic awareness are far less likely to struggle when reading instruction begins. Until the education system moves away from a wait-to-fail model, screening early and empowering parents are our best weapons against literacy struggles.
Speech Sound Mapping leads to earlier and easier reading and spelling for at-risk brains because it builds from speech to print and makes phoneme–grapheme mapping visible. This especially benefits the 1 in 5 children who are likely to struggle to connect speech, print and meaning when introduced to traditional print-to-speech phonics instruction.
During the Speech Sound Play Plan, the focus is on just six phonemes and their Phonemie® characters to reduce cognitive load, as children in England are likely to start with that grapheme–phoneme grouping within synthetic phonics ie <s> <a> <t> <p> <i> <n>
Speech Sound Mapping starts earlier than phonics, and wires the brain for bi-directional word mapping.
Prevention is easier, and far less costly, both emotionally and financially, than intervention.
Thank fully Rory's Mum enrolled him onto a Speech Sound Play 'prevention' pilot and we prevented the dyslexia paradox.
This is so much easier when we screen for risk at age 3 however!
Dys-Code®: Early Risk Screening for Dyslexia (Age 3+)
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Dys-Code helps identify children who may be at risk of later literacy difficulties before they enter formal phonics instruction. Rather than waiting for reading failure, it screens underlying risk factors such as speech sound awareness, phonological processing, verbal memory and articulation, allowing practitioners to put preventative support in place during the critical early years.
