Use it, or lose it.

I just love these Neuroplasticity Rules from Brain Chat. How do we relate the “Use it or Lose it” rule to reading, writing, and spelling for neurodiverse learners? Simply put, neurodiverse learners may need many, many more repetitions on a regular basis of reading and writing skills than a neurotypical brain needs, in order to cement literacy skills to long-term memory. We want these skills to be automatic. When we think about “use it or lose it” in context, I find I can introduce a spelling pattern like the longer spelling of /k/ being ‘ck’ for example to a student, however, if there are not enough opportunities for repetition and using the skill within reading, writing, and spelling, then this pattern may not be secure, making it hard for the learner to remember how and in what way to apply the spelling pattern.

As we head into the new teaching term, I know that some of my students may not have had much opportunity over the long summer break to “use” the skills we learned towards the end of last year. More than likely they may have become quite rusty on quite a few literacy skills! How do we solve this problem? By providing ample opportunity for learners to fold back to skills previously learned in fun and engaging ways (games are the best here). Build up that repetition, and use the skills regularly and repetitively to reactivate those neural pathways.