My daughter has just sat her Piano Prep Test. She is mildly dyslexic. She enjoys learning to play but clearly her ability to learn is somewhat slower than others. I don't want her to lose interest as a result of diminished self confidence (her current teacher is not very sympathetic to her needs). Does anyone have any advice on where I can begin to look for teachers who would 'specialise' or be sympathetic to a dyslexic learner? In particular, be open to looking at different teaching strategies from the 'norm'. I have contacted my local dyslexia centre but they haven't come up with any ideas so far.

What about trying a Suzuki method teacher if there is one in your area. My daughter finds reading notation quite difficult. She learns the piano using more 'traditional' methods, but does Suzuki flute. She absolutely loves her flute lessons and is really gaining confidence in her playing, as reading notation currently plays less of a role.

She is learning to read music, as this is an important skill, but she is enjoying her music making without the difficulties in reading notation becoming a barrier.

Thanks for your suggestion, I will look into it.

Hi Leebee and welcome to the forums.

Suzuki is indeed a possiblity. Have you tried contacting the British Suzuki Institute? I'll post a link if not.

If there is no Suzuki teacher in your area, you could try a search by location on

http://www.uk-piano.org/piano_teachers/index.php or on

http://www.musicteachers.co.uk/ and make tentative contact with one or two teachers in your area.

It might be worth looking for teachers who have the CTABRSM as the course does address how to work with pupils who have learning difficulties. A conscientious teacher will have done some reading on the subject. There are some good books out there about Dyslexia and Music which you might find helpful. It is very important too that your piano teacher knows about the slight dyslexia, as it is very difficult for teachers to bring up the subject with parents as it is not usually their 'area of expertise'. Good luck and best wishes

Another option is to phone a few teachers in your area and specifically ask them how they feel about working with dyslexic children, and if they have any experience in it. Threads on the topic pop up all the time in the teachers forums, so there are certainly plenty of children out there in similar situations... and teachers developing suitable techniques.

If they say "It's K.O.", you know you're probably on to a good thing.

Ooops, terribly tasteless, albeit well intended. Sorry!

My daughter has recently been diagnosed with dyslexia and I think it is important to remember that dyslexia effects children differently. Suzuki type learning would, I think, be very hard for my daughter who has difficulty remembering things she has heard in the correct order. I think, as you say, the most important thing is a teacher who is sympathetic to the idea that your daughter may not always follow the same path as her other pupils.

I read Sheila Oglethorpe's book Instrumental Music for Dyslexics. This helped me to clarify what I instinctively felt about what my daughter has problems with and I then translated the relevant parts into French and passed them onto her trombone teacher

I had a new parent ring me up yesterday- the music shop had given my number. Whilst she was talking to me, she said 'She has dyspraxia' and was quite surprised by my response 'So does my son' . There are music teachers out there who are sympathetic to learning difficulties... just keep asking around..... I have a dyslexic pupil too and I have worked closely with her mum- that has helped the most. I invited the mum into a few lessons to show her how to support the practise and to explain what we were trying to do. We are just about to introduce a load of new notes and I know this will be difficult for her- so I contacted the mum again and we've talked about it and how we are going to go forward.

Good luck in your quest!!!

I think a lot of teachers will have experience with dyslexic pupils, because it's not an uncommon condition. I've been teaching for 8 or 9 years and have already had countless dyslexic pupils. The best thing to do would be to talk to prospective teachers about your daughter's specific needs, and ask how they might be able to help her overcome whatever problems she encounters with music (whether with notation, note names or sequencing).