Home Educating Children with Dyslexia

My dyslexic son (home educated since the age of 6) eventually readwhen he was 12. He didn't have expert teaching but was left alone to develop an interest in reading. At 18ish he did bench joinery (NVQ III) and sign-writing (NVQ II)at the local FE college and this summer he's just finished a BSc (Hons)in Architectural Design Technology and we await his results with interest.

My second child, also dyslexic, has just completed a BA (Hons) in Fine Art. She has no qualifications at all but was able to put together a good portfolio on her Access course,which she didn't pass as there wasn't time to do both, she said. She has never been to school and began to read at 10. She didn't do much writing until she was about 14 when she began corresponding with various penfriends.

My youngest didn't go to school either. When she began reading at 10, she systematically read all the books the other two had read and then went on to "The Man in the Iron Mask", "John Halifax, Gentleman", "Barnaby Rudge", etc. She's just finished the second year of an honours degree in Chemistry. When she was 6, a Sunday school teacher took me aside and said in hushed tones, "She's doing perfect mirror writing - she needs special teaching!"