The book discusses:

- the rationale for a structured multi-sensory approach

- the development of phonological, reading, writing and spelling skills

- working with learners who have English as an additional language (EAL)

- lesson structure and lesson-planning

- alphabet and dictionary skills

- memory work and study skills

- teaching the programme to groups

- ideas for working with young children.

Designed to help support any learner, from ages five to 18, with dyslexia or specific learning difficulties, the authors encourage the use of the programme as part of everyday teaching to not only develop literacy but to put dyslexic learners in control of their own learning.

There are tried and tested strategies and activities provided, which the reader can use to support their literacy work. Particularly useful for teachers working with learners who have special educational needs and specifically those with dyslexia, this book contains everything you need to help improve and develop the literacy skills of the learners in your setting.

'Teaching Literacy to Learners with Dyslexia' has it all - a feast of practice offering a prescription for success. All teachers will be eager to get their hands on this book! Grounded in solid and up to date research, it combines best practice in teaching literacy with insights into the cognitive and practical skills essential for literacy learning. Part II on 'conquering literacy' is a complete multisensory teaching programme and one that echoes the spirit of recent government initiatives that purport to effectively deal with dyslexia and their desire to boost the training of teachers in this area. This book shows exactly how to achieve this! Steeped in the long established tradition of the most appropriate and successful approaches for teaching children with dyslexia Kathleen Kelly and Sylvia Phillips, using their vast knowledge base and unquestionable experience, have utilised, what is considered by most, to be best practice in teaching literacy and incorporated this into a 'user-friendly' teaching manual. By providing a clear rationale and practical explanations of literacy concepts and conventions they will simplify the task of dealing with the literacy challenges for many teachers. Every school needs to have access to this book' -
Dr. Gavin Reid, Educational Psychologist, International Consultant and author

'This book provides a very thorough description of the different arguments surrounding issues discussed in each chapter. It is clear and to the point, and is backed up with very helpful examples to support teachers' -
Sue Goff, Dyslexia Advisor, Student Support, University of Chichester

'Dr Gavin Reid's enthusiastic endorsement of this book promises 'a feast of practice offering a prescription for success' and certainly gives the reader high expectations of what follows. The authors are very experienced Programme Leaders in the field of Specific Learning Difficulties and together they have produced a very detailed and comprehensive and structured programme for teaching literacy which does not disappoint' -
SEN Magazine

'This has proven to be one of the single most valuable and useful publications I have purchased to support my work as a specialist teacher...Since purchasing this, I use it as the sole programme for teaching individuals with dyslexia or dyslexia-type difficulties in my role of a specialist teacher due to the ease of use and clarity it has'
-World of Dyslexia Newsletter

Dr Kathleen Kelly PhD, MA (SEN), Dip TESL, AMBDA, is a senior lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University in the Centre for Inclusion and Special Educational Needs. She is Programme Leader for the MA in Specific Learning Difficulties and has presented papers at a number of international conferences in this area. For several years she has taught courses on specific learning difficulties (dyslexia) to undergraduates as part of the initial teacher training programme in addition to postgraduate awards. She has considerable experience in delivering courses to meet the criteria set out by the British Dyslexia Association for Approved Teacher Status (ATS) and is Associate Member of the British Dyslexia Association (AMBDA). Kathleen has taught a wide range of learners with dyslexia, from children as young as four years to those at Key Stage 5. She has worked in both mainstream and special schools, for language support and learning support services, as a SENCO in a primary school, and as Head of Sixth Form in a special school. She has many years' experience of supporting multilingual children with special educational needs (including specific learning difficulties). Multilingualism and dyslexia is a particular area of interest and her doctorate was also in this area. Sylvia Phillips, BA, DASE, MEd (SEN), AMBDA, began her career as a teacher of English in secondary schools where she first became interested in why some learners had severe literacy difficulties. She later joined Manchester Metropolitan University where she was a Principal Lecturer, Head of SEN, and then Head of Continuing Professional Development. At MMU she developed the first courses for specialist dyslexia teachers at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. During her time there, she also continued to work in primary, secondary and special schools both with teachers and directly with pupils. She developed and taught on SEN courses for teachers in the UK and was the UK partner (with Italy, Belgium and Spain) developing and teaching EU courses on 'Inclusion and SEN' for European educationalists. She has served on the Accreditation Board of the British Dyslexia Association and has also been involved in several dyslexia research projects. She is currently course leader of the specialist dyslexia teachers' course at Glyndwr University, Wales. She has co-authored Putting the Code to Work (Primary and Secondary editions, 1998, MMU - MET Publications), Inspection and Beyond (1997, Pearson), Management Skills for SEN co-ordinators (1999, Falmer Press), and A Multi-sensory Teaching System for Reading (1998, MMU Publishing), a fully scripted set of materials for teaching small groups of pupils with dyslexia. Sylvia's other main areas of interest lie in 'learner voice', pupils' social, emotional and behavioural difficulties, and supporting teachers undertaking enquires into their practice.