Welcome to the official Speedie Readies Membership site. The only place to access the One, Two, Three and Away series of books online. Speedie Readies: Preventing the Dyslexia Paradox.
Imagine how much easier life would have been for Luca if a teacher in the early years or KS1 had known about Speech Sound Mapping with Speedie Readies.
Luca knew the grapheme <ear> could map to the sound ɪə as in f/ear or eə as in b/ear. They had been drilled into him within his synthetic phonics lessons for 7 years.
But he couldn't figure out how the word 'heard'.
And that shows why passing the PSC will not ensure that every child can read.
Or just having phonemic awareness.
By showing him the code he knew what it was.
So simple. Saves years of stress.
.jpg)
Delphi Dyslexia Definition
Dyslexia is a set of processing difficulties that affect the acquisition of reading and spelling (S8)
In dyslexia, some or all aspects of literacy attainment are weak in relation to age, standard teaching and instruction, and level of other attainments (S16)
Across all languages, difficulties in reading fluency and spelling are key markers of dyslexia (S4)
Dyslexic difficulties exist on a continuum and can be experienced to various degrees of severity (S19)
The nature and developmental trajectory of dyslexia depends on multiple genetic and environmental influences (S14)
Dyslexia can affect the acquisition of other skills, such as mathematics, reading comprehension or learning another language (S17)
The most commonly observed cognitive impairment in dyslexia is a difficulty in phonological processing (i.e., in phonological awareness, phonological processing speed or phonological memory). However, phonological difficulties do not fully explain the variability that is observed (S7)
Working memory, processing speed and orthographic skills can contribute to the impact of dyslexia (S31)
Dyslexia frequently co-occurs with one or more other developmental difficulties, including developmental language disorder, dyscalculia, ADHD, and developmental coordination disorder (S18)
Snowling, M. J., Hulme, C., Ramus, F., Lindsay, G., Elliott, J. G., & the Delphi Consensus Panel. (2023). The definition of dyslexia: An international expert consensus. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 64(11), 1324–1338. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13830
“Dyslexia is a specific learning disability characterised by difficulties in word reading—affecting accuracy, speed, or both—and/or spelling, that can vary depending on the written language system. These difficulties reflect performance at the low end of a continuum of literacy skill and occur despite evidence-aligned instruction that is effective for the individual’s peers. The cause and development of dyslexia involve the interplay of multiple biological and environmental influences. Phonological and/or morphological difficulties are common but not always present. Among the secondary consequences are limitations in language development and academic progress as well as challenges to psychological well-being and vocational opportunities. Although identification and targeted instruction are important at any age, language and literacy support before and during the early years of education can be particularly effective.”
(International Dyslexia Association, 2025)
Changing the Story
LDA: ... “phonological and/or morphological difficulties are common but not always present.”
That statement will be misunderstood and likely used to fuel misinformation. Here is an example of what it can look like, however.
Luca is dyslexic and knows all the GPCs (checked in the PSC) but left primary unable to read. He passes tests of phonological awareness.
In this clip he shows he knows the grapheme <ear> can map to the sound /ɪə/ as in fear or /eə/ as in bear. These patterns had been drilled into him during seven years of synthetic phonics lessons.
But he couldn’t figure out how to decode the word 'heard'. I asked him to check the sound value for <ear> in THAT word, using the tech.
He can then blend the sounds as he has sufficient phonemic awareness.
This shows why passing the PSC does not ensure that every child can read.
Nor does simply having phonemic awareness.
A lot is missing if children are to start self-teaching – when they use partial decoding, set for variability etc, and store new words by bonding the speech sounds, spelling, and meaning. The way phonics is taught in schools prevents large numbers of children from reaching this phase and becoming readers. If we don’t achieve that before the end of Year 1, many children switch off and lose interest in reading.
By showing him the orthographic code (which letters connect as graphemes AND their sound value with Phonemies®), he knew what the word was instantly. He could blend the sounds - just didn't know the sound value for all the graphemes and he wasn't used to using context to recode.
The MyWordz® technology allows him to spell words by typing the sounds or saying the word, and he can check the mapping by looking at the words. All words are orthographically mapped with our MyWordz® technology, so children can use it independently and get the answer straight away.
Synthetic phonics programmes only cover a fraction of the orthographic code (around 100 GPCs) and only intended to kick-start the process so that children can figure out the rest themselves. Passing the PSC does not mean they can transition into self-teaching - essential if they are to read and spell with understanding. Sorry Bridget.
Imagine if Luca had had access to the word-mapping technology when he was in Reception, and a teaching assistant he connected with to guide him through the Speedie Readies system. He could still have taken part in whole-class phonics but wouldn’t have been left behind or believed it was his fault.
Or given Floppy's Phonics to read in Year 6.
A dyslexia diagnosis didn’t help him get what he needed. He was given more synthetic phonics.
So simple. Saves years of stress.
A TA can start Speedie Readies from Term 2 of Reception – ten minutes a day with children on a 1:1 basis, until they no longer need it. They learn to use the bi-directional technology in class, supporting word mapping throughout the day.
Let's offer upstream screening and support
#SpeedieReadies #dyslexia
