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.
We can figure out which children are at risk from as young as six months of age, and prevent the dyslexia paradox by supporting speech, language, and sound awareness in specific ways from birth to three. We can ensure that your child does not experience the mental anguish of struggling to read and spell. Prevention is key. By preventing difficulties, we also support speech and language development, and help children feel good about themselves as they learn to read early and with confidence.
Miss Emma MEd SEN
The Neurodivergent Reading Whisperer®
Supporting speech sound articulation and clarity
Supporting Phonemic Awareness with Duck Hands
Duck Hands before 2!
Children use their hands as a duck’s beak to segment words from left to right, finishing with a sweeping motion to blend the sounds. This helps them link speech sounds to how they are represented on paper from a very early age. We soon introduce ‘speech sound lines and numbers’ to extend this understanding. See the Speech Sound Play Plan for details.
Duck Hands in grade 2!
Speedie Readies: Preventing the Dyslexia Paradox from Birth to Three
The foundations for reading and spelling begin long before school. During the birth-to-three years, children are developing the speech, language, and sound awareness skills that underpin later reading success. When these skills are nurtured early, the risk of future reading difficulties can be greatly reduced.
In an opaque orthography like English, difficulties appear in phoneme awareness, phonological working memory, and therefore letter–sound mapping, unless speech sound processing issues are prevented before introducing their representation in print.
In transparent languages such as Finnish or Spanish, children may read accurately but slowly, as weak phonemic awareness means more cognitive effort is required. Again, if the underlying speech sound processing issues are resolved early, this does not occur.
In morpho-syllabic systems such as Chinese, the challenge lies in linking spoken syllables and tones to written symbols. The same principle applies: resolving these difficulties early and engaging in rich speech sound play with larger sound units supports later reading development, even if this play happens in English, as the underlying processing benefits transfer across languages.
Across all languages, dyslexia stems from weak or imprecise speech sound representations.
At the Early Dyslexia Screening Centre, we screen for these risks early and use speech sound play from birth to three to strengthen processing pathways. By doing so, we are re-routing dyslexia before it takes hold, whatever the language.
By helping families, nurseries, and early-years practitioners tune into speech sounds, encourage sound play, and model clear language interactions, we can prevent the dyslexia paradox before it starts. Early attunement is the key to literacy for all.
We offer Speedie Readie workshops for parents, in-house training for early-years practitioners, and one-to-one sessions for parents of babies aged six months and older at the Early Dyslexia Screening Centre.
Use of Screens in the Early Years
Some people believe toddlers should not use screens, but evidence shows that screen time can be beneficial depending on what children are doing. When used briefly, interactively, and under adult supervision, technology can strengthen early attention, memory, and speech-sound processing skills.
Research increasingly highlights that the quality and purpose of screen use are what matter. For example, Kirkorian et al. (2016) found that interactive screen experiences that prompt turn-taking and auditory attention support early language processing and executive function.
Roseberry et al. (2014) showed that toddlers can learn new words and sounds from responsive video interactions that include social cues. Hirsh-Pasek et al. (2015) further demonstrated that contingent, guided media experiences (where adults or the app respond to the child’s actions) are linked with stronger cognitive and linguistic outcomes than passive viewing.
In short, when young children engage in short, supervised, and interactive technology activities that focus on speech and sound, we are supporting the neural wiring for the auditory processing and working-memory skills that underpin later learning.