Making Maths Dyslexia Friendly

Critical Agendas presents this practical seminar on Making Maths Dyslexia Friendly, led by Shirley Houston, an independent educational consultant with 40 years of teaching experience and a Masters degree in Special Education. This session addresses a critical gap in many teachers' training: understanding how dyslexia affects mathematics learning and what educators can do to make maths instruction accessible and effective for dyslexic students. Approximately 50% of students with dyslexia experience significant difficulty with mathematics, particularly in areas including number bonds, number fact retrieval, number operations, place value understanding, recall of sequences, mathematical vocabulary, word problem solving, and concepts of time and money. This seminar equips teachers with the skills and resources needed to implement effective multisensory, mastery-based intervention that enhances understanding, fluency, problem-solving, and reasoning for dyslexic students and their peers. The focus centres on the Number and Algebra strand of Mathematics, with emphasis on leveraging typical dyslexic strengths in learning. Shirley Houston brings deep expertise to this topic through her long-standing role as a Board member of The Dyslexia-SPELD Foundation of Western Australia and her experience teaching across government, Catholic, and Independent schools in both Australia and the United States. Participants will leave with concrete, research-informed strategies they can implement immediately to create more inclusive mathematics classrooms. This seminar is designed for primary and lower secondary teachers and support staff who want to better understand and respond to the mathematical learning needs of students with dyslexia.