Recoding for Dyslexia
RE-CODING THE WRITTEN CODE FOR DYSLEXIC BRAINS
A spelling routine that reduces cognitive load and gives dyslexic learners the information they struggle to access through traditional phonics instruction.
Skilled readers rely on an internal, invisible mapping between speech and print that beginners do not yet have. When that mapping is missing, reading breaks down, even with good phonics knowledge.
When an unfamiliar word is encountered, a reader cannot automatically add it unless they know how it is pronounced. Adults check IPA, dictionaries, or Google. Children usually cannot. Teachers may recognise or approximate words, but that is not the same as being able to model accurate pronunciation or explain how spellings map to sounds.The video uses a deliberately constrained example to surface this hidden problem. It shows what reading feels like when the internal code is not available.
Some learners only need to see the code once, if the speech sounds, spelling and meaning are shown. Others, including many dyslexic learners, need repeated access through The Spelling Routine to secure the word.
They do The Spelling Routine with the word in front of them as seen here.
The technology provides an on-demand code overlay so users can click to see and hear the information they need, at any stage of learning, without teaching.
Our team are neurodivergent Level 7 SEN and SpLD specialist teachers and assessors. My MEd SEN was completed at the University of Nottingham, and I am a doctoral researcher at the University of Reading. We train SENDCos, and one of the most damaging barriers we consistently encounter is the continued misrepresentation of dyslexiam for example as a visual or picture-thinking problem.
This claim is not supported by the evidence base and is explicitly contradicted by contemporary definitions of dyslexia. Current research clearly identifies dyslexia as a language-based learning difference, not a visual disorder. For those seeking an accurate, evidence-informed understanding, we strongly recommend engaging with the recent Delphi consensus and the position statements of the International Dyslexia Association. These define dyslexia in terms of difficulties with accurate and fluent word recognition, spelling, and the mapping of written words to spoken language.
This is why we urge parents and teachers to use The Spelling Routine. Dyslexic learners often become cognitively exhausted when they are required to consciously decode every word over sustained periods. When words are not yet securely stored through orthographic learning, attention to print can break down, and children may report that text appears to “swim” or blur. This reflects cognitive fatigue, not a visual deficit. Some parents are told to use coloured overlays. We do not advise that, instead we focus on making reading and spelling easier, and less stressful.
We often talk about offering a Code Overlay! This isn’t a physical overlay placed over text, like the coloured overlays. A Code Overlay offers clarity for children learning to read and spell by making clear which letters are functioning as graphemes and the sound value they represent in that word. This is achieved using our ground-breaking word mapping technology.
For the first time, dyslexic children can see the sound–print code with reduced cognitive load, because Phonemies are a direct representation of phonemes (speech sounds) acting as phonetic symbols rather than letters or cues. Anyone, including adults learning to pronounce English words, can immediately see which letters are functioning as graphemes and phonetic symbol alternatives (Speech Sound Monsters) the sound value they represent in that specific word. They can be adjusted for accent!
This clarity supports orthographic mapping, which is how children learn to read and spell well. It is useful for all learners, but essential for the 1 in 4 who do not move into self-teaching through phonics programmes alone.
To support families without financial pressure, we provide a free lite version of the Orthographic Mapping Tool. This allows parents and teachers to map words, see the graphemes clearly, and carry out The Spelling Routine without needing to purchase anything. The aim is to make the written code visible and manageable, so learners can map speech to print accurately rather than rely on guessing or memorisation.
We also recommend using The Spelling Routine with Phonemies as shown on the Mapped Words site, which provide precise support for speech-to-print mapping. In addition, we have shared Monster Mapped high-frequency words, as these words are essential for reading fluency and are often the most cognitively demanding for dyslexic learners when they are not yet automatic.
Introductory training materials are provided free. Full training in the Word Mapping Mastery system, delivered one-to-one with children, is available for £10 per month through the Speedie Readies site. We deliberately subsidise our work for parents to ensure access remains affordable.
We are seeking funding to assess every three-year-old for early indicators of dyslexia risk and to provide free, preventative support for families before children start school. Too often, dyslexia is only identified after years of struggle, once children have already experienced repeated failure with print. Our aim is to intervene upstream, during the most critical period for language and literacy development.
Alongside early family support, we work directly with schools to show teachers how to screen for dyslexia risk in the first term of Reception. This enables schools to identify children who may struggle with speech–print mapping before difficulties become entrenched. Early identification allows support to be proactive rather than reactive.
Our Ten Minutes a Day, With a TA system is designed specifically to support teaching assistants to work with at-risk children as part of everyday classroom practice. The routine is short, structured, and grounded in evidence about how young brains learn to map speech to print. Teaching assistants are not left to manage this alone. We support them directly through a private support area, providing guidance, modelling, and responsive help.
This work is about preventing what is often referred to as the dyslexia paradox, where difficulties are only recognised after the optimal window for intervention has passed. By focusing on the birth to seven period, when the brain is most receptive to language and orthographic learning, we aim to reduce later literacy failure and the long-term emotional and educational costs that follow.
Our approach shifts dyslexia support from late identification to early prevention, ensuring that children, families, and schools are supported at the point where it makes the greatest difference.
Until meaningful systemic change occurs, around one in four children globally continue to struggle with reading and spelling. This site provides a practical starting point, offering clear guidance and tools to help children move beyond decoding and into self-teaching. The focus is on simple, affordable support that parents can use at home. Less teaching, more self-teaching.
Emma Hartnell-Baker, "The Neurodivergent Reading Whisperer"
aka The Word Mapper!
Most parents of dyslexic students have heard of coloured overlays for dyslexic students, which I don’t use, but what I offer is a similar concept in that we give children Code Overlays. When we use code overlays, we make what many can’t see visible, regardless of prior instruction in connecting speech and print.
“We show it when they don’t yet know it!”
The Phonemies uses as sound symbols are easy to learn at any age. Luca knew them all in about 2 weeks!
He is “severely dyslexic” and was in Year 6.
With this word mapping system using Code Mapped text to show which letters are graphemes and their corresponding sounds by looking at the Speech Sound Monsters (Phonemies) he could finally stop running through the Core Code phonics he’d been taught and instead be shown the code he didn’t know, which meant he could learn the word much more easily.
You can see he’s trying desperately to figure out the word ‘heard’. Using the tech means he can do it alone. There’s also a spelling routine I use that takes 90 seconds and then stores the word in the brain word bank.
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We are teachers first. Everything here comes from direct work with children, families, and schools.