Dyscastia
A podcast for parents and educators about the best way to support kids living with learning difficulties. Hosted by specialist teacher Michael Shanahan, Dyscastia takes a positive, respectful look at supporting students living with dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia and associated neurodivergences such as autism and ADHD. Each episode focuses on practical, realistic strategies for reducing barriers to learning and building safe, supportive environments where students can achieve success. Conversations draw on Michael’s teaching experience and lived experience of ADHD, dyslexia, and dysgraphia, along with the perspectives of parents, educators, allied health professionals, and students themselves — all working toward the shared goal of supporting every child to feel understood and supported at school and beyond.
Episodes
In this episode, I chat with Dr Shae Wissell. Shae is an award-winning advocate and entrepreneur specialising in dyslexia and other neurodivergent conditions. We talk about what happens after students living with learning difficulties leave school and we become adults!
We cover
- The anxiety spiral around grades and "what are my options?" in Years 11 and 12
- Alternative pathways into uni and TAFE (and why the scenic route is fine...
In this episode, I'm joined by Brisbane-based psychologist Leanne Tran to talk about how to look after your own mental health as the parent of a child living with disability. We work through the journey as a timeline covering five stages. The pre-diagnosis worry and anxiety, receiving the diagnosis and working through the guilt and adjustment that come...
In this episode, I’m joined again by clinical psychologist Valli Jones to talk about the mental health issues she most commonly sees in children and young people living with learning difficulties. We framed the conversation as a “top five”, not to rank problems, but to help parents and educators feel less alone and better able to recognise patterns in what they’re seeing.
We talk about anxiety and school can...
Why Word Problems Are So Hard In this episode, I talk with intervention teacher Sue Griffith about why word problems in maths are especially difficult for students living with learning difficulties, including dyslexia, dyscalculia, ADHD and autism. We explore how language, ambiguity and working memory overload can block understanding, and share structured strategies like CUBES and C.O.P.P.E.R. to support clearer problem solving.
In this episode, I am joined by Sharon Collon from The Functional Family. We discuss ADHD coaching and how it works to support students living with ADHD, their teachers and families. We focus on practical strategies for supporting executive function, increasing engagement, dealing with emotions, and solving predictable problems.
Sharon is an award-winning, credentialed ADHD Coach & Parent Consultant (who is families trained). S...
In this episode, Michael Shanahan is joined by experienced specialist dyslexia tutor Sally Andrew to discuss The Literacy Support Kit (LSK)—a comprehensive set of resources designed to support children for whom standard literacy intervention programs are too difficult.
Sally AndrewSally holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Dyslexia and Literacy from the University of York, UK. Sally has been tutoring s...
In this episode, we have Liana McCurry back to talk about her Churchill Fellowship findings on what the top PISA performing countries are doing with maths instruction and how we can use that information to improve outcomes for kids living with learning difficulties.
Show notesLiana McCurry’s Churchill Fellowship has come just in time. Liana travelled abroad to investigate best practices in teaching mathem...
Sue is a registered teacher with many years of experience in primary teaching. She has specialist Maths training in programs designed to support students experiencing difficulties or delays in Maths skills, including students with dyscalculia and/or dyslexia.
- QuickSmart Numeracy Intervention
- Ron Yoshimoto Multisensory Maths program – based on the Orton-Gillingham principles
- Singapore Maths ...
In this episode, we chat with math teaching expert Liana McCurry. We delve into best practices for all students when teaching maths. We hope Liana's insights will help create inclusive learning environments where every child can succeed.
For the full show notes, including Liana's R-6 scope, sequence and content breakdown, visit our website.
https://dyscastia.com/episodes/episode-14-maths-and-learning-difficulties/
In this episode, we talk with Psychologist Benita Ranzon about one of the most misunderstood and stigmatized conditions that affect kids and adults - ADHD.
About BenitaI have been working in private practice at Fullarton House since 2005. The focus of my practice is on educational issues for students and adults.
- I offer diagnosis of specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalcu...
In this episode, Bill, Michael and Sally discuss morphology teaching and begin to demystify a body of knowledge that sometimes feels like the next frontier for teachers. Most of us have got our heads about the importance of phonemes and training young brains to work with them at a highly proficient level (phonemic awareness), and how to teach synthetic phonics in more effective ways.
Most teachers also get the imp...
In this episode, we chat with educational consultant Debbie Draper about handwriting, why it's back and what we need to do to set kids up for successful writing.
About Debbie
When Debbie was in year five at primary school in rural South Australia, she decided she wanted to be a teacher. After ...
Not keeping up at school and feeling like you aren’t able to do what the other kids can do is soul-destroying for young peop...
In this episode, we chat with Kate Cole, a determined parent who managed to secure NDIS funding for her child living with dyslexia. Kate tells us exactly how she did it!
In this episode, we chat with Kate Cole, who tells her NDIS funding story. Kate tells us why she applied and how she navigated multiple rejections to ultimately have her funding approved.
It&rsqu...
In this episode, we chat with two wonderful pre-service teachers, Lara (left) and Robert (right), who have just completed level one of Teaching Students with Dyslexia (TSD1). We thought this would be the perfect opportunity to ask Lara and Robert to reflect on what they’d just learned at TSD and how this contrasted with what they were learning about teaching literacy at University.
La...
In this episode, we talk to Bill, Sally, Karen, and Louise who run specialist dyslexia teacher training. We find out what’s involved and help you decide whether you should take up the challenge.
Sally Andrew
holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Dyslexia and Literacy from the University of York, UK. Sally has been tutoring students with dyslexia for 20 years and has trained many parents and educators in evidence-based multisen...
In this episode, Michael and Bill discuss a blog that Bill wrote called Schools that teach Reading and Spelling in a Research Informed way: Picking a Winner.
In the episode, we focus on tips for parents to get beyond the sales pitch to make an informed decision about whether the school might be a good fit.
The first part of this episode discusses six red flags to look out for that may indicate that the school doesn't have a s...
This episode answers the common questions schools and parents have when changing from a whole-language or balanced literacy way of teaching to one supported by scientific evidence.
- “Why wasn’t my older one taught reading this way”
- “Why have the take-home readers changed and why do the new ones look so basic compared to the old ones?”
- “Where have the levelled readers and Running Re...
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