Many dyslexic learners struggle with the retention and retrieval of their learning due to working memory difficulties, yet because exams are such a widespread assessment method for university courses, dyslexic learners not only need to be structured in their approach to revision, but they also need to use revision methods that make the learning memorable and easy to retrieve. Additionally, due to the nature of the exam being a time constrained condition which is not suitable for a dyslexic student, dyslexic learners also need to be supplied with strategies for tackling exam papers to enable time to be used efficiently. This chapter, therefore, firstly, advises on ways of using to-do-lists and setting a purpose for revision to enable the student to keep motivated and to cover topics they may be examined on equally. Secondly, effective revision methods are delivered, such as creating questions, practising past papers, repetition through a process of re-reading information, covering over information to see what can be remembered, followed by leaving for longer periods of time to place learning from short-term to long term memory processes, making summaries of information and carrying them around. Thirdly, guidance on exam technique is provided.

Phonology is the ability to map letters to sounds which is required when spelling words. However, phonological processing and memory is usually impacted by dyslexia which means that dyslexic learners can have difficulty hearing the different small sounds in words (phonemes) and struggle to break words into smaller parts to spell them. Thus, this chapter provides strategies to assist with spelling difficulties. These techniques range from using mnemonics which involves using memorable phrases or rhymes to help with remembering the spelling of difficult words, using the process of sounding out words, not phonetically, but as the word is spelt, using repetition by using the Copy, Cover, Compare (CCC) technique combined with sounding it out, the Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check method, copying words down from academic papers, or dictionaries and thesauruses to become familiar with the visualisation of the word, and using technology, such as Grammarly, the spelling and grammar checker on word processing software, and / or Google dictionary.

As producing written work and writing essays is such a commonly requested academic task of university programmes, this chapter focuses on delivering strategies students with dyslexia say they find useful for essay planning and techniques they find effective for writing. As such, essay planning techniques include utilising university resources, starting written assignments early in the term, making plans and writing guides by using mind maps to visually see the links between ideas, breaking the main essay question down into a series of smaller questions to provide hooks for gathering the right type of information, and using mind-mapping software and technology. Effective techniques that students with dyslexia say they use to support writing tasks covered in the chapter, involve setting small goals by breaking up the required word length of the essay, using subheadings to help with essay structure, applying the point, example / evidence, comment /criticism (PEC) method of writing to ensure that paragraphs are well composed, designating proof-readers to check through written work, and using assignment cover sheets on coursework submission to ensure examiners are aware that the student is dyslexic.

The basis of this chapter is techniques that students with dyslexia find productive for dealing with presentations. These strategies include, making a plan, using visual images, preparation by continuous rehearsal and timing, using activities for audience participation for the purpose of taking the spotlight off oneself, and ensuring the topic selected for presentation is interesting and enjoyable to assist with motivation, planning and delivery of the presentation, and also to ensure audience questions can be answered due to student wider interest in the topic. As with all chapters, advice on techniques is punctuated by quotes from dyslexic learners who use the methods presented. For example, below, a student uses marks on her presentation script to help with alleviating nervousness in connection with the presentation, ‘If I do panic and start to talk too fast, I can see from the slashes where I can pause and breath and then restart.’ Thus, quotes from dyslexic learners not only help to illustrate appropriate methods but are also a way to give the dyslexic reader of the book something to identify with in terms of the emotional aspect of learning, i.e., the quote here illustrates the student worrying about panicking during the presentation.

This chapter focuses specifically on types of emotional coping techniques that students with dyslexia may want to employ to help with overcoming negative emotion in association with their studies. Admittedly, whilst many cognitive techniques presented up to this point in the book, do help to alleviate negative emotion such as anxiety, particularly through use of organisation, preparation, and rehearsal, dyslexic learners need additional methods to supplement these techniques as ways to help them to cope more effectively emotionally. As such, this chapter presents a range of productive emotional coping methods, as used by dyslexic learners that readers may want to consider as mechanisms for helping to deal with negative emotion. These include developing metacognition by identifying anxiety triggers, using cognitive restructuring to alter the inner critic, talking to someone; planning and using strategies; implementing breaks; participating in exercise; seeking comfort; and using mental resilience, such as persistence and determination.

Effective organisation techniques and the ability to break down larger projects into a series of more manageable time framed steps are key to student progression and success. Competent organisation skills help to overcome academic weaknesses and abilities in time management can alleviate negative emotion, such as stress around study tasks. As such, this chapter told from the dyslexic learners’ perspectives provides advice on developing proficient organisation strategies. These include developing systems to control events, using technology, using plans, daily to-do-lists, and making timetables into visual posters to display on walls. Visual examples of different types of academic calendars, timetable templates and to-do-lists are provided so that the reader can select methods suitable for how they work, and advice on using organisation to maintain motivation and prevent procrastination of work is supplied. Meeting deadlines and multitasking on several assignments due at the same time are anxiety provoking experiences for students with dyslexia, so guidance on ways to cope with this, such as using support networks for encouragement and motivation, starting work on assignments early in the term to meet deadlines, and identifying and breaking down tasks into smaller components by imposing self-made goals to make the work more manageable is presented.

Higher education courses generally demand students to undertake enormous amounts of reading. It is therefore important for students with dyslexia to develop effective approaches to reading as they may become overwhelmed or frustrated due to their slower reading speeds and the amount of time taken to read to comprehend information. As such, this chapter featuring what dyslexic university students say about the way they read includes providing advice on using selected reading methods, such as the preview, ask and answer questions, summarise, and synthesis (PASS) strategy, survey, question, read, recite, and review (SQ3R) strategy, employing skimming and scanning approaches, reading using selectivity to minimise the amount of unnecessary reading, utilising colour coded highlighting, making notes in the form of summaries of the readings, using metacognitive awareness when reading, for example, picking the right environment to read in and taking breaks when feeling overwhelmed or tired, using multisensory methods, and using technology to read. Each one of the reading strategies specified above is presented in the chapter as a clear step-by-step method to apply to reading. That way the reader can trial out, experiment, and select a technique or combination of strategies appropriate for fulfilling their purpose in reading academically.

The book has combined a focus on both cognitive coping strategies and socio-emotional techniques for overcoming negative emotion. As such, the book has built on work completed for Dyslexia in Higher Education: Anxiety and Coping, but rather than aiming to raise awareness of the prevalence of anxiety and negative emotion, the book instead has focused on expanding the research undertaken on effective cognitive and emotional techniques used by dyslexic learners. This has enabled provision of a pragmatic, study skills development book for the purpose of supporting students with dyslexia to deal more effectively with their study tasks and learning experiences whilst at university. Consequently, the book’s main themes have focused on the presentation of strategies for overcoming barriers prevalent for the dyslexic learner both cognitively and emotionally. These have included ways in which technology can be utilised, making learning multisensory, applying practicality to study tasks and exemplifying the dyslexic learners featured in the book favourite ways of studying to make learning enjoyable. These have been presented with the aim of improving metacognition and metacognitive awareness, helping to reduce scotopic sensitivity, and ultimately have been intended to help the reader to cope with academic life cognitively and emotionally.

The chapter focuses on cognitive strategies to assist with overcoming working memory difficulties, as told from the perspectives of dyslexic learners. These techniques range from using memory palaces, saying it out loud, highlighting keywords and using image association, using sense of smell as memory activator, using multisensory methods, using mnemonics, using repetition, writing things down, and using chunking, categorising, and organising of information. As in previous chapters, the strategies are introduced by using a clear step-by-step approach to each method. Some of the strategies are also highlighted by being punctuated with student quotes emphasising the benefits of a method.

Note taking in lectures is one of the most problematic tasks for students with dyslexia due to processing, retention, and retrieval difficulties under time constrained conditions. As such, strategies delivered in the chapter to help with vanquishing barriers include using active learning methods, such as the Q Notes, two-column, four quarter, mind map and outline techniques, using shorthand and symbols to replace sentences, using drawing to replace words, and using coloured pens and coloured paper, using multisensory methods that utilise all the learning senses, and using technology such as a Dictaphone to record lectures supplemented by the Q Notes method to be more engaged during lectures.

If dyslexic learners have phonological difficulties combined with deficits in short term / working memory, this causes anxieties around any form of public speaking, such as delivering presentations, verbally contributing to seminar discussion and debate, and attending interviews. That is because these deficits impair the acquisition and production of spoken language and manifest word finding difficulties. Therefore, students that present with these problems would benefit from techniques used by their peers that help to deal with the anxiety connected to providing ideas verbally and would also help with combating any issues around speech production. As such, key techniques students with dyslexia say they use to deal with these obstacles, presented in the chapter, include preparation by using brief notes written in an ordered structure to guide verbalisation, using the method of asking questions to demonstrate critical thinking and to develop debate, using the multisensory method of hearing ideas spoken aloud during preparation stage, capturing these on a recording device, playing them back to hear, then jotting down keywords from the recording to take along to the seminar or interview to act as visual memory joggers.

The purpose of the Introductory Chapter is to set the scene on the nature of dyslexia. Firstly, dyslexia is defined in the chapter as a multiple deficit disorder characterised by difficulties with phonological processing, rapid naming, working memory, processing speed and the automatic development of skills that may not match up to an individual’s cognitive abilities. These difficulties present differently in each dyslexic individual. Secondly, the specifying of the characteristics of dyslexia leads to outlining the types of cognitive difficulties that students with dyslexia face when undertaking various academic tasks. Reading, writing, spelling, exams, presentations, organisation, seminar discussion and note taking all present barriers for dyslexic learners. These difficulties are explained in relation to each study skill and reasons for these problems specified. Consequently, the reader will gain an understanding of how dyslexia deficits such as problems with phonology, information processing, working memory, retention and retrieval impact negatively upon the ability to competently undertake study tasks. The ways in which this affects dyslexic learners emotionally is also presented and it is explained how negative emotion such as anxiety can also impede on academic performance, perhaps to a greater extent than the cognitive difficulties associated with dyslexia.